PRIZES FOR THE INVENTOR* 



Some of the Problems Awaiting Solution 

 By Alexander Graham Bell 



WHAT a glorious thing it is to 

 be young and have a future be- 

 fore you. To the graduates, 

 especially, of a scientific technical school 

 like the McKinley Manual Training 

 School the outlook for the future looks 

 bright and promising. 



When I was a young man the institu- 

 tions of learning, the higher schools and 

 colleges, paid a great deal more attention 

 to the teaching of Latin and Greek than 

 to the study of science ; they made schol- 

 ars rather than scientists. 



The war has changed all that, and the 

 man of science will be appreciated in the 

 future as he never has been in the past. 

 Knowledge is power ; and we now realize 

 that the nation that fosters science be- 

 comes so powerful that other nations 

 must, if only in self-defense, adopt the 

 same plan. It is safe to say that scien- 

 tific men and technical experts are des- 

 tined in the future to occupy distin- 

 guished and honorable positions in all the 

 countries of the world. Your future is 

 assured. 



WE PROGRESS FROM CANDLES TO ELEC- 

 TRICITY IN ONE LIFETIME 



I said it was a glorious thing to be 

 young; but it is also a glorious thing to 

 be old and look back upon the progress 

 of the world during one's own lifetime. 



Now, I don't mean to insinuate that I 

 am old, by any means ! I had in mind an 

 old lady, who is now living in Baltimore, 

 at the age of one hundred and seven — 

 she is now in her one hundred and eighth 

 year — with mental faculties unimpaired. 

 Possessed of a bright and active mind, 

 she is able, from her own personal recol- 



*An address to the graduating class of the 

 McKinley Manual Training School, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, February i, 1917, revised for the 

 National Geographic Magazine. 



lections, to look back upon a whole cen- 

 tury of progress of the world. 



She was born in England and came 

 over to America when quite young ; and 

 it is rather interesting to know what 

 brought the family here. The father was 

 a wholesale candlemaker in London and 

 his business was ruined by the introduc- 

 tion of gas ! 



Gas as an illuminant is now being re- 

 placed by electric lighting ; and there are 

 many people in this room who saw the 

 first electric lights. 



I, myself, am not so very old yet, but I 

 can' remember the days when there were 

 no telephones. 



I remember, too, very distinctly when 

 there were no automobiles here. There 

 were thousands of horses, and Washing- 

 ton, in the summer-time, smelled like a 

 stable. There were plenty of flies, and 

 the death rate was high. 



Now, it is very interesting and instruc- 

 tive to look back over the various changes 

 that have occurred and trace the evolu- 

 tion of the present from the past. By 

 projecting these lines of advance into the 

 future, you can forecast the future, to a 

 certain extent, and recognize some of the 

 fields of usefulness that are opening up 

 for you. 



Here we have one line of advance from 

 candles and oil lamps to gas, and from 

 gas to electricity ; and we can recognize 

 many other threads of advance all con- 

 verging upon electricity. We produce 

 heat and light by electricity. We trans- 

 mit intelligence by the telegraph and tele- 

 phone, and we use electricity as a motive 

 power. In fact, we have fairly entered 

 upon an electrical age, and it is obvious 

 that the electrical engineer will be much 

 in demand in the future. Those of you 

 who devote yourselves to electrical sub- 

 jects will certainly find a place and room 

 to work. 



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