EDISON'S PROPHECY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13997, 2 September 1907, Page 6

EDISON'S PROPHECY.

T. A. Edison,, the groat invmtor, who, despite his 61 years, lias a : Soyish faco and ardent hopes of 'living,iuioMier 40 years, has told an. interviewer- that within the next- 10 years the v,ov]<l trill see as many marvellous developments as duiini the last SO. Before long, l;o predicts, science vnll enable the farme? ■ to enrich his lands by means of. nitrogen from the an-. The dement, iieccusrny fnr makin" land fertile, he says, is nitrogen, whicfi exists in almost' inexhaustible quantities m the atmosphere. Until recently,. however, the utilisation of atmospheric nitrogen was regarded n& inorcly «i- luborotorv demonstration; business men said it'COllkl never be obtained cheap enough to sell to the farmer as a fertiliser.

But the day is just about to dawn when the air ■will be made lo give its nitrogen to the earth, to make it yield moro abundant, harvests and fatter herds nf cattle. "In Norway a factory has lieen established which has been conducted jvith such good results that I expect, to sw atmospheric fertiliser on the market in. America .within the next. 10 years. That s\ich a product will soon be imperatively necessary there is no donbt. Every sfiip load of wheat and maize which goes abroad ' leaves tho States go much the poorer, not in gold, but in nitrogen." Mr Edison declares-; that .electricity is still in its infancy Although he has-been working continuously, ho admits that he knows very little more about it now than at- the start. lie expects to see at;an early date the. direct generation of electricity from cOal by a cheap proMss, "Imagine." he said enthusiastically, "what will be the consequences then. 'Locomotives will be tltrown on to the scvap-hcap, • all trains will be run by electricity, no longer will coal be laboriously transported to cities, but thero will be'great power plants established at tho mouths of mines, , from which electricity will.be sent out over the country by wire, There will he no horses in the streets, no stables, no ■ flies, waggons will bo propelled bv electricity, houses will be lighted entirely by ' electricity, for it will be so cheap that it. can be used by tho hunibkst tenement ' dweller. Ships will 110 longer he driven by steam. Electricity will be their motivo power, and tlien it will be possible to cross the Atlantic in three days. At the present timo nine-tenths of the, power obtained from coal is lost by the use of boilers, wheels, and dynamos. With the direct generation of the electric current, therefore, the world will have 10 times more energy than now." Mr Edison concluded Ins chat by bis well-worn counsel not to eat too inuch. He never eats a midday meal himself, and thinks suob a meal generally unnecessary. Eat lees and drink .more water sums up his advice to brain workers.