All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

ii4 All About Inventions for service through crowded areas where the length of line is comparatively short. These battery-driven trains have proved themselves capable of meeting all requirements, and invariably complete a day’s work upon a single charge, and are recharged during the night, when the traffic is at its lowest ebb. Accumu- lator-driven barges and other small craft, particularly those plying upon canals and inland waterways, have even made their appearance, and having established their value, are multiplying rapidly. Despite the fact that electricity, as a propelling force, has been in vogue for a quarter of a century, it is only now emphasising its far-reaching influences. Progress has been rapid since the initial difficulties were overcome, and by the acquisition of knowledge. It must be remembered that twenty-five years ago practically nothing was known about electricity in its application to science. The electrical engineer was unknown ; he is a product of the contemporary genera- tion. If the progress in matters pertaining to electric traction which has been recorded during the past twenty years is maintained, there is every indication that electricity will become supreme as the driving force in all realms of transportation and mechanical locomotion long before the wane of the present century.