COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES. 463 



proud, will undoubtedly appear as wasteful and as ineflficient as the 

 engine of one hundred jears ago does to us. 



The advancement made by the electrical engineer in the last thirty 

 years has kept pace with that made by the mechanical and civil. With 

 almost nothing to guide him, he has in a remarkably short time mas- 

 tered the fundamental principles of the science of electricity and has 

 perfected his dynamos, transformers and other machines, so that it is 

 now possible to transmit currents of very high voltage long distances 

 with very little loss. 



By the use of these machines for transmission, the enormous power, 

 which has for ages been going to waste at our waterfalls, can be 

 distributed to the surrounding country. Niagara alone is estimated at 

 20,000,000 horse power, which is 200 times as great as the largest plant 

 where energy from the coal is converted into useful work. 



Since the development of rapid transit has attained such perfec- 

 tion there has been much discussion as to whether electricity will 

 replace steam on our trunk lines. 



Speaking from the standpoint of economy, I think we can justly say 

 it will not. When a man wishes to reach his place of business from 

 his residence, he will patronize the line which can offer him the best 

 accommodations. The electric line will stop for him at his door and if 

 he misses a car it matters little as generall}^ another follows closely. 

 With the steam lines he must board the train and leave it at a station, 

 and as a rule the cars do not run as frequently as do those on the 

 electric line. On the other hand, if the traveler wishes to cross the 

 country, a few hours' delay and a short walk are of little consequence. 

 When frequent trains, then, are to be run, for a comparatively short 

 distance, it has been found economical to have a central station, at 

 which power is furnished for all the cars on the line, but on the 

 other hand, when the trains are composed of several cars and are run 

 with a long interval between them, it is cheaper to have a distinct source 

 of power for each train. The electric and the steam roads serve en- 

 tirely different purposes. Each has its field, just as have the telegraph 

 and the telephone, and it is doubtful if we will ever see the latter 

 entirel}' superseded by the former. 



So much has been done in the last thirty j-ears to perfect our means 

 of transit that some may be inclined to think that men of the engineer- 

 ing professions may turn their minds to other thoughts, and, like the 

 great Alexander of old, seek other worlds to conquer. This, however, 

 is not the case. Prospects are favorable that the next thirty years 

 will produce as marvellous changes in locomotion as have the past. 



Man has long envied the bird in its flight and wondered why 



''The Eobin and Phebe 

 Are smarter than we be." 



As man is becoming more and more master of the slaves he now has 

 but partly under control, he is getting more and more work out of them. 

 Today a little over one-tenth of the energy stored up in the coal is 

 available at the shaft of an engine. The bulk of machinery is gradu- 

 ally being reduced, and with the lightening of the load which man must 



