600 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1008 



The results of the working of this improve- 

 ment proved that it was very much superior to 

 the older form and that his claims were cor- 

 rect. The company then equipped a 50-car 

 train with the improved apparatus. This was 

 taken all over the continent from Boston to 

 San Francisco, giving exhibitions at different 

 points. 



This settled the question beyond any doubt 

 as to which was the best brake, and nothing 

 more was heard of the electric brake, until the 

 latest invention by Mr. Westinghouse within 

 the last few months of the electric pneumatic, 

 which is, as its name implies, a combination of 

 the use of electricity and air pressure. 



He early turned his attention to railroad 

 signaling and was the father of the modem 

 automatic signal, first using compressed air 

 and later electricity and a combination of both. 



The inventions of Mr. Westinghouse have 

 done more for the safety of the railroad travel- 

 ing public than those of all other inventors 

 that have ever lived. People who travel will 

 never know how much of a debt they owe for 

 their safety to him. The fact is that to-day 

 the safest place for a man to be is on a rail- 

 road train. This is proved conclusively by the 

 fact that accident insurance companies pay 

 double the face value of their policies if the 

 death of the insured occurs on a public con- 

 veyance. 



I think that the invention and development 

 of the air brake was Mr. Westinghouse's great- 

 est work. It certainly has done more in sav- 

 ing lives and making travel safe than all other 

 inventions put together. The present genera- 

 tion can never know how much it means to 

 them, but they will remember the name of 

 Westinghouse more in connection with the 

 air brake than anything else. 



Mr. Westinghouse was quick to grasp the 

 possibilities of any great invention or enter- 

 prise. This was shown in his development of 

 the use of natural gas in Pittsburgh. The 

 iron manufacturers of Allegheny County had 

 been watching the use of this wonderful fuel 

 by one mill for 15 years, all of them saying 

 that it could be only temporary and would 

 soon give out. After Mr. Westinghouse's 



attention was called to it and he began study- 

 ing the subject, he made up his mind that the 

 supply of natural gas was immense and would 

 last long enough to warrant the organization 

 of a large company for its development and 

 distribution. He, therefore, organized the 

 Philadelphia company and in a few months 

 had Allegheny County literally ablaze with the 

 gas from many wells and was supplying the 

 mills and private residences with the new fuel 

 at a price which saved them millions of money 

 besides paying handsome dividends to his 

 stockholders. 



To him more than any one else in this 

 country is due the development and introduc- 

 tion of the alternating electric current. The 

 story of its introduction in this country is 

 well known, having been told by better pens 

 than mine. The extent and magnitude of his 

 electric and machine works far surpass any 

 of his other enterprises. At the time it was 

 built the floor space covered by the British 

 Westinghouse Works at Manchester in Eng- 

 land was as much as the combined Westing- 

 house electric works and the Westinghouse 

 machine works in East Pittsburgh. 



George Westinghouse had unlimited faith 

 in himself and he had the courage of his con- 

 victions. He never asked his associates or the 

 public to invest in anything in which he 

 would not risk his own money. All of his 

 stockholders could be dead sure of always hav- 

 ing a square deal from him. 



A frenzied financier once made a proposal 

 to him which involved the sale of a company 

 whose stock he controlled. The scheme as pro- 

 posed by this man was that the stockholders 

 were to get one price for their holdings while 

 Mr. Westinghouse was to receive a much 

 larger price for his. His reply was one of the 

 most indignant, scathing and cutting letters 

 that I have ever read and must have been 

 anything but pleasant reading to the receiver. 



It is given to very few men to be responsible 

 for the creation of such great enterprises as 

 those which were founded by Mr. Westinghouse, 

 and he was justly very proud of them and of 

 what they had done — but more than all else 



