7
WHAT ELECTRICAL SCIENCE OFFERS AS A LIFE WORK
Dr. W. R. Whitney of the General Electric Company .Discusses the Possibili-
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, NOVE3IBER 21, 1920-
tie Uf His I rui cdoiufi us u uureer unu ifie ipuriui uitcs u vncio uic x uung
...". N .
BT CHARLES DUEB,'
NOT longr ago a magazine in this
country selected by popular
vote the Seven Wonders of the
Modern World. They were to be the
ultimate in modern human achieve
ment. When the votes were counted
it was found the palms had been
awarded the wireless, the telephone,
the airplane, radium, antiseptics,
antitoxins, spectrum analysis and the
X-ray. ......
Can there e anything: more re
markable? Will the world achieve
still greater and more useful inven
tions? Today a business man in New York
may talk with his partner in San
Francisco as- easily and be as clearly
heard as though he were in the next
room. Ships of the sea are in com
munication with each other by means
of the wireless telephone, and ships
in turn are guided by wireless, no
crew .board, no helsman, no engineer
In the pit. Sound Is propelled com
pletely arouod the world on the wire
less wings of ether In, one-seventh
of a second. Men fly above the clouds
on llroera -wings and steel supports.
They travel under the sea as Jules
Vtrne dreamed they would do. They
flit over the land in mile-a-minute
ell-erteel "Balety-f irst" trains or roam
at will over hill and dale In horse
Jess carriages. They train the X-ray
n an object through which the eye
cannot see and the camera records for
them what the object contains. They
utilise the priceless radium In com
bating once incurable disease. In
their gayer moments they sit back In
their homes and hear the golden
voices of the world's renowned sing
ers, or go around the corner and
behold the moving panorama of the
world on the motion picture screen.
What next? Only the other day a
passenger standing at the rail of an
ocean liner bound, for Europe as it
wended its way through the New
York narrows was startled to hear
the voice of one of his business as
sociates hurled from the roof of a
Gotham- skyscraper with so much
force as to be heard miles away with
out the use of a listening device other
than the human ear? No sooner had
the lay world stopped gasping at
this achievement before it turned to
read that Thomas A. Edison was at
work on a delicate apparatus which
.he has designed to effect indisputable
communication between those whom
death has removed from this earth
and those who yet live!
How much further may we expect
to go? Have we reached the ulti
mate? Read the answer of Dr. W. R,
Whitney, director of research labora
tories of the General Electric com
pany, Schenectady, N. Y. Dr. Whit
ney for years has been devoting his
life to ecientif'c research and fee is
one of those who think there are
still more worlds to conquer, despite
all that has gone before. As he put
It to me in a recent interview, grant
ed in the heart of his laboratories In
the Mohawk vaUey. "the unfulfilled
promises in nature's books are greater
than ever."
The writer had gone to him to dis
cuss electricity as a career for young
men and women. Was It. true that
modern scientists had "cleaned up"
everything worth while In sight?
What more was there for the young
'experimenter to do? Wireless, fuel
less, horseless how many more
'Tosses' could be arrived at? It was
along this line we approached the
subject of an electrical career for an
ambitious student.
"The regularity with which we
conclude that further advances in
particular field are impossible," said
Dr. Whitney, "seems equaled only by
the regularity with, which events
prove that we are of too limited
vision. Man seems to be the supreme
mentally elastic organism. He de
velops by trying novelties and by
taking new paths. No one knows to
what extent he may develop; but
every one knows that through acqui
sition of knowledge or, let me say,
production of it, he may transcend
any physical limits. This will not
come about by continuous repetition
of wnat we have already learned.
Monkeys and parrots do as much. It
will come through the continual and
active appreciation of new knowledge.
"We lived in a period when the ex
tent and rate of increase In our men
tal horizon is maximum, when happi
ness has Its grandest possibilities and
when human toil everywhere Is being
displaced and amplified by better
latent energies. Never before was
the individual and collective reward
for new constructive effort so
equitable. We are served by coal, oil,
gas and water, with their countless
accessories, better than ever before.
Within a young man's lifetime we
mined more iron, copper, coal and
other ores, produced more gasoline
gas and kerosene and put into use
more of materials like cement and
rubber than were produced by all the
former inhabitants of the globe. And
still the unfulfilled promises in na
ture's books are greater than ever."
"What promises are yet to be ful
filled?" was my query.
"Who knows?" he exclaimed, Cicero
nian fashion. "Who" can tell the limits
of the mind when it is scientifically
applied to matter? No one can answer.
It is not humanly possible."
"How shall we progress into the
state of newer and greater marvels?"
"By studying something new. In the
advance of civilization it is new
knowledge which paves the way and
the pavement is eternal. While the
physical structures of man are decay
ing the facts he has learned are ever
doing new service. Antitoxic devices
will be increasing when locomotives
are forgotten. Magnetic' induction will
work after the pyramids have blown
away. We ought to see that every
thing distinguishing our lives from
those of the Indians has come from
studying something new."
"And to advance accomplishments
along these lines?"
"Experimentation and more expert
mentation, to be sure. The great in
ventions of recent years were not the
results of attempts to accomplish
what was really attained. They were
the results achieved by highly trained
investigators, who followed a lead
opened by an observation too insig
Elf leant to attract the attention of
less trained men.
"It was a professor at Louvain who
apparently started us in the use of
, : i i IH-JZZ&ML ;
illuminating gas," said, Dr. Whitney.
"He became interested in the distil
lation of coaL He was not aiming
to illuminate ' houses and his first
uses gave no premonition of our pres
ent conditions. He was trying - such
gases in balloons, but he also tried
lighting his room by this means. The
engineering development of this pe
culiar discovery did not take place for
ten or more years, but it was the in
quisitive mind of the trained physicist
and chemist which made the engineer
ing possible."
Thus, many of the world's most
useful modern marvels have come to
pass through the efforts of geniuses
of the long ago who were simply
groping for general knowledge
through investigation and experimen
tation. .'
"And how best are we to train our
young people for this advanced Inves
tigation for modern Tesearch work,
as the world knows it?" I. asked.
The question touched on a matter
close to the mind and heart of Dr.
Whitney. Instead of sending boys off
to schools with bundles of books to
make of their mind "a storage house
for facts," he would have them "share
the inspiration of actual engineering
work in the research laboratory of
the work shop. dusctas in Schenectady
they take the boys from TJnion college
right into the big electrical shops.
"Give the boy teachers who are
themselves investigators," he said.
"Men who are not content to give
their pupils merely the results of the
Talks With T. Roosevelt as Recorded in the Diaries of John J. Leary Jr.
Contimied From Page 8.)
old man who . walked with a cane.
"General," he exclaimed, "this is al
mighty good of you to come and see
me! I wanted to have a talk with
you. I was going, to call at your
home. May I call there, or will I see
you at the hotel? Which is the more
convenient to you?"
"I am surprised you remember me,"
said the old man. "It Is many years
since you have seen me. I will see
you at the hotel.".
"Come right up now. Yes, Indeed,
come right up with me. I am glad to
see you and you must come to the
meeting, I want you on the plat
form."
The old man the colonel Introduced
as General Mueller.
"He lost a leg in the Union army,"
he told me at the hotel. "He's the
kind of man that has saved the mass
of Germans in this country from the
Infamy some of their number would
put upon all: men like him s.nd Adolph
Vogel whom- you Just met. The gen
eral tells me that his grandsons are
all in the army and all but one of
Vogers boys are there too. That one
Roes next month.
"Vogel tells me they have the
largest hall in town and that it's al
ready packed with Germans. He has
no doubt as to my reception. Neither
have I. But I am going to talk
straight at them."
He did. Among the new notes
struck was a hard drive on the teach
ing of German in grade schools. To
my surprise this was the "hit" of the
speech. I mentioned this surprise to
the colonel. -i
"That has been a big issue here," he
dald.
After the meeting a young mart.
evidently a graduate of some German
university, to Judge by the duelling
scars on his cheeks, told'me the colo
nel's talk was "the sort needed." '
"What the Germans here have had,
in private talk at least, has been
abuse," he said. "Loyal men have
been abused as much as those openly
disloyal. This has tVnded to increase
disloyalty. The colonel's talk will
weaken the Bergers and strengthen
men like Vogel. Milwaukee is all
right.
"The young man Is not entirely ac
curate," the colonel commented when
I repeated his remarks. "He is quite
correct on the matter of abuse. But
he is wrong in saying that Milwaukee
is all right. There is a big element
here that is all wrong. Milwaukee to
day may be 60 per cent all right, 15
per cent in the shadow zone and 25
per cent dead wrong. It cannot be
all right with a socialist mayor, so
cialist chief of police and a socialist
sheriff. Remember, the socialist party
which elected these men is not an
American institution."
Springfield, O., like Milwaukee, is
largely populated by persons of Ger
man birth or blood. In addition to
Wittenberg college, which In the com
monly used term is a German school.
it had 13 churches in - which German
was the only language used and four
where both German and English pre
vailed. The school had suffered be
cause of its supposed German lean
ings and Springfield as a whole was
not pleased with the reputation that
it was inclined to be pro-German.
Dr. Hecker, an aggressive type of
college president, more the able ad
ministrator than the great teacher,
was very anxious to overcome the
feeling that had been aroused and as
one way to accomplish the desired re
sult invited the colonel to address the
school. Other interests Joined in the
invitation. -- ' '
"I have," eaid the colonel, speaking
of his decision to accept, "no delusions
as to Dr. Becker's self-interest in in
viting me to address the school. It is
natural and proper on his part. But
I won't toe down one bit.
"It is Just the sort of place I want
to speak, but I am not going to temper
my. remarks to please anybody. Of
course they say there is no pro-Germanism
in that country and that they
are poor, much abused little woolly
lambs. That fools nobody. They are
now trying to run straight. Very
ell. I will help them by giving them
the cleanest-cut Americanism that is
in me. They have agreed to this and
they will get it.
"They have also agreed to my terms
as to arrangements. I will be intro
duced by the president, who is a Luth
eran minister of German blood, and
the prayer will be by a Roman Catho-
lis priest of German birth. Father
Vottman. He is a major in the regu
lar army, an old chaplain and a mon
signor in the church. He belped im
mensely in adjusting the Philippine
church troubles.
"I propose also to say a word to
them on the wisdom of the Lutheran
church makng English the church
language in this country. Otherwise,
the Lutheran "church, powerful as it
now is. must go the way of the
Dutch Reformed church to which I
have the honor to belong. Had it
ctranjed to English, it would in all
probability be one ' of the leading
churches in New York at least. But
it stuck to Dutch too long; the
younger people drifted away until,
too late, English was made the
church language. I would very much
regret a like fate, for the Lutheran
church. I want it to continue, as it
is today, a permanent and powerful
factor in American life."
Returning east. Colonel Roosevelt
spoke regretfully of tne changed
position the German) found nimself
in in this country. "
"T was," he said, "very sorry at
the changes in Milwaukie. ' This was
my first visit there, you know, since
that madman shot me. Before, when
I went to Milwaukee, my German
friends were a happy lot; After a
meeting I would go to their club,
there would be light refreshments,
singing, real good-fellowship. Now
all this is changed. Men like Vogel,
real Americans, who are doing their
full duty, are saddened by the posi
tion some Germans would put all of
their kind in America in. They have
no doubt of the outcome of the war
they know it must end in Ger
many's defeat; but, naturally, they
fear the reaction on the Germans in
this country. Some of them in
Milawukee have behaved very badly.
I do not refer to Berger and his class
I mean a higher, and supposedly
more respectable, type.
"Some few of the wealthier and
more influential' ones have been
foolish enougih to start' a sort of
boycott. Take "V'illett Spooner.
Spooner had a splendid law practice,
largely with Germans here. Over
night almost, I am told, it fell away.
Spooner had given offense by taking
a strong American position. xnat.
of course, is rough on Spooner, but
he will survive it. The very people
who tried to hurt him will' be glad
i to go back to him and ask his help
when- this thing is over. They will
suffer, not he.
"The German In this country has
been a good citizen. Tie nas been
thrifty and hard-workine as a very
general rule; he has contributed to
the welfare of every community in
which he lived. He has been law
abiding in a word, has met his obli
gations squarely. This is particularly
true of the older Germans. Properly
handled there would have been very
little tumculty. with them.
"I have absolutely no sympathy
with the over-zealous patriot who
would persecute everybody here with
a German name. It Is all wrong.
Again, in Toledo, this time before
we entered tse war, and while the
colonel was talking politics, he found
that there were many Germans in
his audience. As in every other place
his talk was mainly preparedness
emphasized. I ' thought, because one
of the committee expressed the hope
that many Germans in it would not
take offense at what he might say.
"My dear fellow," said he, "they
will, not take offense, because I am
going to talk straight Americanism
to them. They will not object to
that. Why, one of the most wonder
ful books of the war was written by
a German in your town at least he
is of German blood. It is called
Their True Allegiance. His name is
Ohllnger. I'll be obliged to you if
you will have him located for m
"Did you notice that I offended
anybody in that audience?" he asked
after the meeting.
I assured him I had not.
"I did not think you would," he
replied, addine:
"Oh. for a little courage and plain
horse sense Iif the handling of this
whole German question! It would
make things so much easier."
, (Another installment next Sunday.)
attainments of scientists of the past.
but who are themselves, experiment
ing to learn new scientific truthts
and who encourage their pupils to ex
periment. ' '
"The boy of today, even. Before he
is sent to college, has received Arling
ton wireless time and listened to
Kauen on hts homemade wireless set.
He knows more about airplanes and
automobiles than his dad. When he
goes to school, if he is sufficiently
tamed, he makes the football squad
and takes part in a system of enjoy
able effort, which is a thousand tiroes
more practically organised, and at
tractive than the rest of the curric
ulum. Later, or incidentally, looks
forward disinterestedly to the grind,
which an inflexible system has ar
rangedi having his eyes ever on tbe
future stopping place, a Job. He
usually concludes that he does not
want . the kind of a Job that his
teacher seems to fill, and frequently
wonders if he would not have beea
better off had he stuck around the
garage."
At this point Dr. Whitivey offered
a series of questions that quite clearly
put this point in popular style.
Would the. , condition above recited
be true If that boy could get his hands .
into real' experimental work with a
professor who was earning $25, 000 a
year as a pioneer?
What would be his reaction if his
profr let' him help in experiments
on. crossing the California redwood
with the rubber plant?
. Might he not at least take natural
Interest In De Vries and the historical
primrose, or Mendel and heredity in '
neas?
If he assisted in diluting mag
nesium with chromium and saw
metals, might not even the freshman .
magnesrum ribbon experiment inter- .
est him?
If he co-operated in subjecting can-, .
cerous mice or tuberculosis rats to
gamma rays, or watched monstrosi
ties produced from fish eggs, might
fare of his- lifetime, the fight against
disease? t
If he wound a coil of wire around a
by the magnetic field produced a new
deflection, might he not keep his
mental trolley on longer and go fur
ther than anyone ever went before?
Our American engineering educa
tion is always at the training table
and practically never ' reaches the
game stage," said Dr. Whitney. "We
seem to have, plenty of ambitious
young men, plenty of schools, in
finite distance to advance and count
less directions, but our engineering
stuaents are seiaomea practiced De
yond the "shoulder arms' stage. We
Americans wish to be foremost in
new constructive work. But there is
something holding us back at school,
and this lack of something is lack of
contact with interesting work and in
spiring workers. Every technical
school is new overcrowded with anx
ious students. But every technical
teacher. Is so swamped by his need
of imparting, in wholesale quantities,
accumulated knowledge that he has
no time to realize the tremendous
strides which science is making,
much less to take any active part in
bringing them about. As for mature .
and material inquisitiveness, it is al
most absent." - -
'Then eo far as electricity as a ca
reer for young men la concerned It is
not so much a matter of getting the
boys into it for they already love It
- but of getting the trained investi
gator as a teacher?" -
'Just it. Few good engineers play
for the gate receipts; they are led on
by the will to accomplish. To the
devotee, scientific research may well
become a religion, but whether ne
Bees in the infinite possibilities of
matter only the necessary results of
permutation among seventy-odd de
caying elements, or the hand of an
all-wise Creator ever uncovering new
principles to hopeful investigators, he .
cannot be blind to the blessings of
new truth. This is not produced to
order. Conventions do not establish
it. It comes only with following with
interest nature's devious and unex
pected wavs. studviner Irrelevant nhe-
nomena, learning by experiment, re
gardless of aim. And sines it is im
portant to us that pioneer effort be
individualistic, wanton, clean, but
vagabond, it is this rare type of
teacher we must support. Our real
need is the teacher who is the in
quisitive searcher of nature. The
boys are ready; willing and on the
Job what. will we do for them?"
Dr. Whitney has been director of
the General Electric lesearch labora
tories ' since 1900. Born at James
town, N. Y., in 186S, he was graduated
from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology In 1890, and numbers
among his degrees a Ph. D. from Leip
zig. Through all his years he has
been a teacher as well as an investi
gator, and always a very busy man,
so busy that he has had no time, as
he put it, for so much as a look at a
game of golf. Yet he is not too busy
to stop and tell you of his work. Over
the door of his office in Schenectady
is printed, "Come in rain or shine."
I askd Dr. Whitney what particu
lar problem was now engrossing his
attention in the research "lab." One
of the things he mentioned was the
perfection of the electric light. It
struck me odd for the moment, espe
cially when one considers the modern
1000-watt or 2000-candlepower incan
descent' light, or the powerful search
light that during the war revealed
the menacing Zeppelin high over
London or Paris. But here is a man
striving to enlarge upon that, which
the lay world might consider now
almost pluperfect,'
The first radical improvement in
carbon Incandescent filament since
Edison first produced it was due to
Dr. Whitney's personal work. . The
"gem" lamp which he developed.'With
its metallized filament embodying a
new form of carbon, gave 25 per cent
more light with the same' wattage
than the standard carbon filament
lamp. Still greater improvements
resulted in his laboratory when the
drawn wire of tungsten gave us the
tungsten lamp. Then came the gas
filled half-watt lamp, and finally, in
arc lighting, the development of the
magnetic electrodes that produced
the successful arc lamp of today.