But the cost of batteries was
too great and the use of the electric motor in transportation not
yet practicable.
The great principle of the dynamo, or electric generator, was
discovered by Faraday and Henry but the process of its
development into an agency of practical power consumed many
years; and without the dynamo for the generation of power the
electric motor had to stand still and there could be no
practicable application of electricity to transportation, or
manufacturing, or lighting. So it was that, except for the
telegraph, whose story is told in another chapter, there was
little more American achievement in electricity until after the
Civil War.
The arc light as a practical illuminating device came in 1878. It
was introduced by Charles F. Brush, a young Ohio engineer and
graduate of the University of Michigan. Others before him had
attacked the problem of electric lighting, but lack of suitable
carbons stood in the way of their success. Brush overcame the
chief difficulties and made several lamps to burn in series from
one dynamo. The first Brush lights used for street illumination
were erected in Cleveland, Ohio, and soon the use of arc lights
became general. Other inventors improved the apparatus, but still
there were drawbacks. For outdoor lighting and for large halls
they served the purpose, but they could not be used in small
rooms.
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