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Table of Contents

We are living in the age of electricity, just as our fathers lived in the age of steam. Electricity is the world-power, the most powerful and terrible of nature’s hidden forces. Yet, when man has learned how to harness its fiery energies, electricity becomes the most docile and useful of his servants. Unquestionably, electricity is to-day the most fascinating and the most profitable field for the investigator and the inventor. The best brains of the country are at work upon its problems. New discoveries are constantly being recorded, and no labor is thought too great if it but add its mite to the sum total of our knowledge. And yet, ridiculous as the statement may seem, we do not know what electricity is. We only know certain of its manifestations—what it can do. All we can say is that it does our bidding; it propels our trains, lights our houses and streets, warms us, cooks for us, and performs a thousand and one other tasks at the turn of a button or at the thrust of a switch. But what it is, we do not know. Electricity has no weight, no bulk, no color. No one has seen it; it cannot be classified, nor analyzed, nor resolved into its ultimate elements by any known process of science. We must content ourselves with describing it as one manifestation of the energy which fills the universe and appears in a variety of forms—such as heat, light, magnetism, chemical affinity, and mechanical motion. In all probability it is one of those phenomena of nature that are destined to remain forever secret. Thus it stands in line with gravitation, magnetism, the active principle of radium, and the perpetual motion of the solar system.

Electricity was known to the early Greeks; indeed, it derives its name from the Greek word for amber (electron). For many centuries amber was credited with certain special or magical powers. When it was rubbed with a flannel cloth, “the hidden spirit” came out and laid hold of small detached objects, such as bits of paper, thread, chips, or pith-balls. No one could explain this phenomenon. It was looked upon with superstitious awe and the amber itself was regarded as possessing the special attributes of divinity. But as time went on, it was discovered that in various other substances this mysterious attractive power could be excited, at will, through the agency of friction. Rubbing a piece of glass rod with silk or leather generated an “electricity” identical with that of the amber; or the same result could be obtained by exciting hard rubber with catskin. The conclusion followed that electricity was not a property of the special materials employed to generate it, but that it came from without, from that great reservoir of energy, the atmosphere. Then came Franklin with his experiment of the kite, and the invention of the Leyden-jar and the chemical production of the electric fluid by means of batteries. It was shown that the properties of the new and strange force were the same, whether it was produced by the static (frictional) process or by the galvanic (chemical) method. Electrical science as a science, had begun.

And yet, for many years, electricity was hardly more than a scientific toy. It was not supposed to possess any practical usefulness. The entertaining experiments with the static machine and the Leyden-jar (chapter xiii.) were confined to the laboratory and the lecture hall. Electricity was an amusing display of unknown energy, but no one ever dreamed that it could ever be made to serve the practical ends of life. It was not until about 1850 that electrical science became anything more than a name. The galvanic and voltaic batteries (chapter ii.) opened the way for “current” electricity, which flowed continuously, instead of jumping and disappearing like the spark from a Leyden-jar. When the continuous current became an established fact, the telegraph and telephone headed the line of a long series of developments. Finally, the generation of electricity in greater volume, and cheaply, made possible the application of its power for heating, light, traction, and the other forms of activity in which it now does so large a share of the world’s work.

How electricity works is a question often asked, but not easily answered. There are certain so-called laws, but we shall best arrive at a conclusion by simply stating a few of the facts that have been established through the observation and investigation of scientists and electrical engineers.[1]

[1] Explanations of any technical names or phrases used in the text will be found in the simple dictionary of electrical terms which appears as an appendix.

For example, electricity is always alert, ready to move, and continually on the lookout for a chance to obtain its freedom. It will never go the longest way round if there is a short cut; and it will heat, light, or fuse anything in its path that is too weak to carry or resist it. For this reason, it must be generated in small volume—that is, just sufficient to do the work required of it. If produced in larger volume, it must be held in check by resistance, and only so much allowed to escape as may be needed for the specified work.

Again, when electricity is generated this must be done in one of two ways—by friction or chemically. But in both processes there must be air surrounding the generators, and the fluid must be of a nature through which oxygen and hydrogen can circulate freely. Water fluids are suitable for this purpose, but oils cannot be used, as they contain hydro-carbon in large quantities and are non-conductors.

Batteries are chemical generators, dynamos are magneto-electric, and static machines are frictional. Now the theory is that electricity is drawn from the ether and, in its normal state, is quiet. If it be disturbed and collected by mechanical or chemical means, it is always on the alert to escape and again take its place in the atmosphere. As its volume is increased, so its energy to get away is multiplied, and this energy may be transformed, at will, into power, heat, or light. To express the idea in the simplest language, it wants to go home, and in its effort to do so it expresses itself in the form of stored-up power, precisely like water behind a dam. It is for man’s cunning brain to devise all sorts of tasks that this power must perform before it can gain its release. It can’t go home until its work is done.

Nearly every boy has experimented, at one time or another, with electricity and electrical apparatus, and whether it was with some of the simple frictional or galvanic toys, or with the more complicated induction-coils and motors, he has undoubtedly found it a most interesting amusement and an ever new and widening field for study. Then again, many boys would like to know something about simple electrical apparatus and how to make and use it. But his school-books relating to the general subject of electricity are hardly definite enough to serve as a practical manual. And yet there are many things in the way of electrical machinery and equipment that a boy can easily construct and use. In this book it is my purpose to show him just what can be done with the aid of the tools that are usually in his possession. While some things may have to be purchased from an electrical supply-house or other sources, there is still much material to be found about the house that may be put to good use by the amateur electrician.

It is not possible or desirable to describe every variety of electrical equipment. We must confine ourselves to apparatus which can be readily understood and operated. The “practical” idea is the one to be borne in mind. This book shows a boy how to use his brains and the simple tools and material that may be at his command. Care and thought in the construction of the apparatus are the important qualifications for success. The instructions are given in the clearest possible language; the diagrams and drawings are intelligible to any one who will take the trouble to study them. If your finished apparatus does not work properly, read the description again and see if you have not made some error. A misplaced or broken wire, a wrong connection, or a short circuit will mean all the difference between success and failure.

Save in one short chapter, static or frictional electricity (see Appendix) is not considered; for outside of laboratory experimenting and electro-medical apparatus, frictional electricity is but a toy—interesting and useful when generated in small volume, but very dangerous and difficult of control when in great volume. For example, the bolt of lightning is but the many times multiplied spark stored in the Leyden-jar by the static machine. For all practical purposes, galvanic electricity, in its various phases of direct and alternating current, meets the requirements of man. With the improved apparatus and the rapid advancement along the line of invention, electricity is as easily controlled to-day as steam—in fact, its economical use is even more fully under control and its adaptability more practical.

In the following pages there are probably illustrations and descriptions of many things that will seem strange to the boy who has not heard of them; but if a book were written each year on the subject of electricity, every new one would include principles and facts not known before. The field of electrical research is so broad and so many are working in it that new discoveries are being made continually.

To those familiar with the application of electricity, it is clearly evident that, as yet, we are only beginning to deal with this unknown force. For generations to come, developments will take place and invention follow invention until electricity assumes its rightful place as the motive force of the world. To the boy interested in this subject a wide field is open, and the youth of to-day, who are taking up this study, are destined to become the successful electrical engineers and inventors of the future. There is no better education for any boy, in the application and principles of electricity, than to begin at the very bottom of the ladder and climb up, constructing and studying as he progresses. When he attempts to design more technical and difficult apparatus the lessons learned in a practical way will be of inestimable value, greater by far than any theoretical principles deduced from books; he knows his subject from the ground up; he understands his machine because he has constructed it with his own hands.

As I have said already, the necessary tools are few in number and not expensive. They may include a hammer, a plane, awls, pliers, wire-cutters, and tin-shears. The raw material is also cheap—lead, tin, wire, wood, and simple chemicals. The laboratory may be a corner in the attic, or even in a boy’s bedroom, so far as the finer work is concerned, while the hammering and sawing may be done in the cellar. The other best plan, of course, is to get the use of a spare room which may be fitted with shelves, drawers, and appliances for serious work. To enthusiastic beginners, as well as to those who have had some experience in electricity, a needed warning may be given in three words: “Take no chances.” Electricity, the subtle, stealthy, and ever-alert force, will often deal a blow when least expected. For that reason, a boy should never meddle with a high-tension current or with the mains from dynamos. The current in the house, used for lighting, cooking, or heating purposes, is always an attractive point for the young electrician, but the wires should never be touched in any way. Too many accidents have happened, and the conductors, lamp-sockets, and plugs should be carefully avoided.

The boy should keep strictly to his batteries, or small dynamos run by water-power from a faucet; in no case should the wire from power-houses be tampered with. One little knows what a current it may be carrying and what a death-dealing force it possesses. Always bear in mind that a naked wire falling from a trolley equipment carries enough force to kill anything it strikes.

Special attention is called to the dictionary of electrical terms given in the Appendix. The young student should never pass over a word or a term that he does not thoroughly understand. Always look it up at once and every time it occurs, until you are sure that its meaning is fixed in your mind. This is an education in itself, at least so far as the theoretical knowledge of our subject is concerned.

As a final word, I should like every boy interested in electricity to hear what Thomas A. Edison once said to me when I was a boy working in his laboratories. I often recall it when things do not go just right at first.

I asked the great inventor one day if invention was not made up largely of inspiration. He looked at me quizzically for a moment, and then replied: “My boy, I have little use for a man who works on inspiration. Invention is two parts inspiration and ninety-eight per cent. perspiration.”

You will never get what you are after unless you work hard for it. You must stick to it until you produce results. If the history of the world’s most valuable inventions could be fully known, the fact would be clearly established that the vital spark of inspiration is but the starting-point. Then follow the days, weeks, and sometimes years of industrious toil, failures, and disappointments, until finally the desired end is attained. One must work for success; there is no other means of winning it.

As the table of contents shows, Part I. of this book explains principles and the simpler forms of electrical appliances. From this we advance to Part II., which deals with more complex forms of electrical work, most of which, however, are within the reach of intelligent boys who have followed the chapters carefully from the first. In a final chapter we have simple explanations of the great commercial uses of electricity, which we see all about us, although very few of us have a clear idea as to their operation.