September 5, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



373 



and first in manufacturing industry among 

 the cities of the United States. It leads the 

 world in the production of steel and iron, 

 steel ears, steel and wrought-iron pipe, and 

 tin plate ; of plate glass, tumblers and win- 

 dow glass; of air-brakes and electrical 

 machinery; of coal and coke; of petro- 

 leiun, etc. The freight movement during 

 the year 1901 reached over 75,000,000 tons. 

 The conditions to which the economic pre- 

 eminence of Pittsburgh is due are as fol- 

 lows: (1) Cheap and abundant fuel; (2) 

 exceptional facilities for railway and water 

 transportation; (3) impi-oved machinery 

 and scientific methods of production. The 

 union of these conditions, in unequaled de- 

 gree, explains Pittsburgh's industrial su- 

 premacy. 



The Electrical Industries of Pittshurgh and 



their Economic Influence: George H. 



Gibson, Pittsburgh. 



The most important electrical industry of 

 Pittsburgh is the work carried on by the 

 Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., whose 

 present plant occupies a site of 40 acres, 

 and employs 5,300 men and 1,200 women. 

 This immense plant is shortly to be dupli- 

 cated. 



The modern industrial age began with 

 the advent of the steam-engine, but, in 

 order to utilize the power of the latter, some 

 means of transmission was necessary. The 

 agent par excellence for power distribution 

 is electricity. Electricity has furnished, 

 also, the most useful means of lighting, and 

 electro-chemistry has opened up a new but 

 rapidly developing branch of industries. 



Electric traction is an important factor 

 in developing cities, redistributing popula- 

 tions, building up suburban districts and 

 affording convenient transportation for 

 farming communities. Some of the in- 

 terurban roads are operating cars at fifty 

 miles per hour and many carry mail, freight 

 and express and even run sleeping cars. 



On account of the convenience, frequency 

 and cheapness of their service, electric roads 

 are making a new field for themselves which 

 was not open to and does not compete with 

 steam roads. 



In the modern factory the use of electric- 

 ity conduces to profitable operation and 

 permits the erection of cheaper buildings, 

 their easy and convenient extension with 

 the growth of business and an arrangement 

 of tools advantageous to increased output. 

 The use of electric cranes, hoists, etc., liber- 

 ates the workman from the severe and more 

 common sorts of labor and tends to raise 

 him to a higher grade of intelligence and 

 efficiency. 



In mining, electricity as a means of power 

 transmission is unique in possessing all the 

 advantages and possibilities of other meth- 

 ods and escaping their disadvantages. It 

 is adapted to all classes of work and is used 

 for hoisting, hauling, drilling and excava- 

 ting in general, ventilating and pumping, as 

 well as the additional use of lighting, which 

 is possible with no other method. Electric 

 wires may be run anywhere, they are easily 

 laid, occupy small space and may be tapped 

 at any moment at any point. The use of 

 coal-cutting machines has not only released 

 the miner from much severe labor but has 

 resulted in a saving of $5,300,000 per year 

 in the United States. The extent to which 

 electricity is adopted corresponds very 

 closely to the extent to which mine owners 

 and managers become familiar with this 

 new means at their disposal. 



The possibility of transmitting electric 

 power over distances as great as 200 miles 

 has added resources to such localities as 

 Niagara and Messena, N. T. ; Sault Ste. 

 Marie, Mich., and Snoqualmie Falls in the 

 State of Washington. The largest trans- 

 formers used for long distance transmission 

 have recently been constructed in Pitts- 

 burgh, with a capacity of 2,700 kilowatts. 

 In Pittsburgh too have been built the larg- 



