History of the United States from the earliest discovery of America to the end of 1902 . treet railways, andmaking city systems nuclei for far-stretchingsuburban and interurban lines. Street rail-ways mounted steep hills inaccessible beforesave by the clumsy system of cables. Evensteam locomotives upon great railways gaveplace in some instances to motors. Horse-less carriages and pedalless bicycles wereclearly in prospect. It was found that by the use of copperwiring electric power could be carried greatdistances. A line twenty-five miles longbore from the American River Falls, atFolsom, Calif
History of the United States from the earliest discovery of America to the end of 1902 . treet railways, andmaking city systems nuclei for far-stretchingsuburban and interurban lines. Street rail-ways mounted steep hills inaccessible beforesave by the clumsy system of cables. Evensteam locomotives upon great railways gaveplace in some instances to motors. Horse-less carriages and pedalless bicycles wereclearly in prospect. It was found that by the use of copperwiring electric power could be carried greatdistances. A line twenty-five miles longbore from the American River Falls, atFolsom, California, to Sacramento, a cur-rent which the city found ample for traction,light, and power. Niagara Falls was har-nessed to colossal generators, whose productwas transmitted to neighboring cities andmanufactories. Loss en route was at firstconsiderable, but cunning devices lessenedit each year. Thomas Alva Edison and Nikola Tesla VOL. v.—8 114 EXPANSION [i8go were conspicuously identified with theseastonishing appHcations of electric , first a newsboy, then (like Andrew. Thomas hy W. A, Dickson, Carnegie) a telegraph operator, withoutschool or book training in physics, rose stepby step to the repute of working miracles onnotification. Tesla, a native of Servia, who iSgo] ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT. 115 happened, upon migrating to the UnitedStates, to find employment with Edison, wastotally unlike his master. He was a highlyeducated scientist, herein at a great advan-tage. He was, in opposition to Edison,peculiarly the cham-pion of high tensionalternating currentdistribution. Heaimed to dispense sofar as possible withthe generation ofheat, pressing theether waves directlyinto the service ofman. The bicycle developed incredible popular-ity in the 90s. Through all the panic of1893 bicycle makers prospered. It was esti-mated in 1896 that no less than $100,000,000had been spent in the United States uponcycling. A clumsy prototype of the wheelwas
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