Show ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER the bureau of the census has just published a report on central electric light and power stations for the year ending june 30 1902 prepared under the supervision ot mr W M steuart chief statistician for manufactures it is he third 0 a series of reports on the operation and utilization 0 electric current in addition to the ext which was prepared by mr thomaa commerford martin of new york city expert special agent there are elaborate tables and an interesting series of illustrations electric lighting dates back only to the beginning of the last century while the history of central stations proper belongs only to the second half or more strictly speaking to the last quarter of the century the development of electric lighting was marked by the work 0 a saries of discoverers and inventors by whom the evolution of arc lighting from an expensive laboratory experiment to Us present cheap and useful form was accomplished the progressive of arc light ang imparted a great impulse to experimentation peri with the incandescent lamp many distinguished inventors devoted their attention to this subject but tho incandescent lamp was not commercially d success until about twenty live years ago when Edi sons first lamps were produced to mr edison the development of the incandescent lamp was associated hb the creation 0 a complete tern of electric lighting a current to be furnished from the central station to a large number of buildings in a manner exactly analogous to that in which the supply of gas is furnished in 1880 he installed such a system in menlo park the introduction of the edison jumbo dynamo soon followed the estimated life of a watt 16 candle power lamp made today is over hours about twenty times as long as it was twenty alva years ago in the last quarter of a century a total ot over lamps has been produced or not less than a year then came the attempt to unify arc and incandescent lighting the development of the uso of the alternating current tho evolution of tho latter arc lamp tho change from open to lamps the production of lamp globes lamp supports series and multiple methods appliances fix tures fuses and cutouts cut outs methods of wiring modern conveniences and novel types of lamps including ha bernst incandescent ano vapor and vacuum tube lighting for convenience in study the various |