Motor
Motor names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Motor ELECTRIC. The perfection of a more efficient electric motor
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ELECTRIC. The perfection of a more efficient electric motor was announced at the annual meeting of the Technical Section of the National Electric Light Association, in Omaha, in October, 1923. It was invented by Val A. Fynn and Hans Weichsel. This motor, by harnessing the "idle" current in an alternating current, gives 30 per cent to 50 per cent more mechanical power and it is claimed that it will save over $100,000 yearly if put into general use. Alternating current was devised to increase the distance to which electric power can be conveyed, as direct current can be transmitted only a few miles. Motors operating on alternating current were invented by Nikola Tesla thirtyfive years ago, but until this time there has been always a large part of energy wasted in proportion propo to the "working current." The Fynn-Weichsel motor utilizes the entire current. N NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. At a meeting of the Republican National Committee, held in December at Washington, it was decided that the Republican National Convention would meet on June 10, 1924, at Cleveland, Ohio. Chicago having drooped out of contention, there were only three cities before the committee and they received the following vote: Cleveland, 39; San Francisco, 10; Des Moines, 1. The convention city has guaranteed $125,000 to the National Committee for the expenses of the convention, and Public Hall, where the convention will be held, will be rented to the committee for the sum of one dollar. On Jan. 15, 1924, it was decided to hold the Democratic Convention in New York, beginning June 24. NAVAL OIL RESERVES. In 1921, by executive order of President Wilson, two oil fields, one in Wyoming known as the Teapot Dome and the other in California known as the Elk Hills, were set aside as naval reserves for the purpose A of supplying fuel oil to the navy. law was passed by Congress authorizing the lease of these fields, and in 1922 an agreement was made between Secretary Fall of the Interior and Secretary Denby of the Navy that their control should be vested with the Department of the Interior, in order that the oil might be conserved, as it was alleged that wells drilled outside these fields were draining them. In April, 1922, contracts were made by Secretary Fall giving the lease of the Teapot Dome field to Harry F. Sinclair and the Elk Hills field to Edward F. Doheny, both of whom control large oil companies. On March 4, 1923, Secretary Fall resigned, but suspicions in regard to these transactions had already been aroused. Investigation showed that about the time of the making of these leases Mr. Fall had acquired large sums of money and had purchased a ranch in New Mexico. A committee of the Senate was appointed early in 1924 to investigate these matters, headed by Senator Lenroot of Wisconsin, with Senator Walsh of Montana as the leading Democratic member. These investigations showed that Mr. Fall had received $200,000 from some source and he testified that it had been loaned to him by Edward B. McLean, a wealthy newspaper proprietor of Washington. Mr. McLean verified this but it was afterwards shown that checks for this amount given to Mr. Fall by McLean had never been cashed. It soon developed that the money had been given to Fall by Mr. Doheny, who claimed that it was simply a friendly loan. Mr. Sinclair testified that he had employed Mr. Fall as attorney and had paid him large sums for his services. Mr. Fall on being summoned again to testify refused on the ground that the testimony would incriminate him and on other technical grounds. The President appointed as special counsel to investigate the charges and decide as to the legality of the leases Atlee Pomerene and O. J. Roberts. They agreed that the leases were illegal and motions were begun in March, 1924, to have them retransferred to the Government. NAVAL TREATIES. An invitation was extended to Russia, Turkey, Spain, Greece, Brazil, Chile, Holland and some other countries not parties to the Washington Naval treaties, to take part in a conference to be held at Geneva, Switzerland. The conference is under the auspices of the League of Nations and is "to prepare the provisional text of a treaty supplementing the Washington Armament Treaty." NEAR EAST. The year 1923 in the Near East marked the rehabilitation of Turkey as a result of the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne. (See LAUSANNE CONFERENCE, GREECE and TURKEY.) A treaty of peace in commerce and expedition was signed between the United States and Turkey in August. Although never at war with Turkey, the United States broke off diplomatic relations on April 20, 1917, and official relations had not been maintained since that date. The treaties, now signed replace one signed in 1830. These treaties will not be ratified until a settlement of claims against the respective governments is reached. For other events occurring in the Near East, see GREECE, BULGARIA, TURKEY, LAUSANNE CONFERENCE, JUGOSLAVIA and RUMANIA. NECROLOGY. Abbas Hilmi Pasha (former Grand Vizier of Turkey), April 4, 1923. Barres, Maurice, December 4, 1923. Bernhardt, Sarah, March 26, 1923. Biggs, Dr. H. M., June 28, 1923. Carnarvon, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, Earl of, April 5, 1923. Chevalier, Albert, July 11, 1923. Cobb, Frank I., December 21, 1923. Cramp, W. M., January 8, 1923. Cumberland, Ernest August Wilhelm, former Duke of, Nov. 14, 1923. Day, J. R., March 13, 1923. Day, William Rufus, July 9, 1923. Delcasse, Theophile, Feb. 21, 1923. Dutton, Edward Payson, September 6, 1923. Eiffel, Gustav, Dec. 28, 1923. Fish, Stuyvesant, April 10, 1923. Fletcher, A. B., July 5, 1923. Folk, Joseph Wingate, May 28, 1923. Freycinet, Charles Louis de Saulce de, May 14, 14, 1923. Gildersleeve, Dr. Basil F., Jan. 9, 1924. Goodyear, Professor W. H., February 19, 1923. Gould, George Jay, May 16, 1923. Harding, Warren Gamaliel, August 2, 1923. Hawtrey, Sir Charles, July 30, 1923. Hewlett, Maurice Henry, June 15, 1923. Hirsch, Dr. Emile Gustav, Jan. 7, 1923. Hough, Emerson, April 30, 1923. Houghton, Rev. G. C., April 17, 1923. Huntington, G. R., Nov. 3, 1923. Johnson, Brigadier General G. M., Oct. 13, 1923. Jowett, Rev. Dr. John Henry, Dec. 19, 1923. Kato, Baron Tomasaburo, Aug. 23, 1923. Kitchin, Claude, May 31, 1923. Krehbeil, Henry Edward, March 20, 1923. Law, Andrew Bonar, Oct. 30, 1923. Lenin, Nikolai, Jan. 21, 1924. Lesseps, Count Charles de, Oct. 2, 1923. Loti, Pierre (Louis Marie Julien Viaud), June 10, 1923. MacArthur, Rev. R. S., Feb. 23, 1923. McCall, Samuel Walker, Nov. 4, 1923. Mackenzie, Sir William, December 5, 1923. Maunoury, General Michel Joseph, March 28, 1923. Milena, ex-Queen of Montenegro, March 16, 1923. Morley, John, Viscount Blackburn, Sept. 23, 1923. Mueller, Captain Karl von, March 11, 1923. Nelson, Knute, April 28, 1923. Nicoll, William Robertson, May 4, purposes. 1923. Parrish, Randall, Aug. 9, 1923. Pidgin, Charles Felton, June 3, 1923. Pinkerton, W. A., Dec. 11, 1923. Pumpelly, Raphael, Aug. 10, 1923. Rainey, Paul J., Sept. 18, 1923. Reid, Wallace, Jan. 13, 1923. Sargent, Franklin Haven, Aug. 28, 1923. Shaughnessy, Lord Thomas George, Dec. 10, 1923. Siddall, John M., July 16, 1923. Sigsbee, Rear Admiral C. D., July 19, 1923. Sorolla y Bastida, Joaquin, Aug. 11, 1923. Spence, Clara B., Aug. 9, 1923. Stanwood, Edward, Oct. 11, 1923. Steinmetz, Charles, Oct. 26, 1923. Thayer, William Roscoe, Sept. 7, 1923. Tower, Charlemagne, Feb. 24, 1923. Treves, Sir Frederick, Dec. 7, 1923. Turnbull, Frank S., Jan. 5, 1923. Villa, Francisco, July 20, 1923. Watson, Rear Admiral John Crittenatson, den, Dec. 14, 1923. Wiggin, Kate Douglas, Aug. 23, 1923. Wilson, Woodrow, Feb. 3, 1924. NEGROES. The migration of negroes from the South to the North occupied the attention of economists and others during 1923. The Federal Council of Churches appointed a commission to investigate this movement, which threatened to disorganize labor in the South. Migration increased during the spring and summer of 1923. NETHERLANDS. (See HOLLAND.) NEW YORK. The State Prohibition Enforcement Law was repealed by the Legislature in May, 1923, and the measure which repealed it was signed by Governor Smith after bitter opposition. NEW ZEALAND. The economic outlook was very encouraging. Financial conditions were easier, the income tax was reduced 20 per cent, and there was a heavy and increasing production in the chief articles of export. There were practically no labor troubles. Wages were revised each six months in accord with the cost of living. An interesting drink experiment, known as the Auckland scheme, was being tested. The manufacture, importation and distribution of alchoholic liquors were vested by Act of Parliament in a corporation to which all manufacturers and dealers were compelled to sell their businesses. Dividends were limited, and the Government had an interest in the profits and a strong representation on the Board of Directors. Surpluses were to be applied to state NICARAGUA. The debt of Nicaragua to the League of Nations of $60,000 for three years' membership dues was reduced by the League to $10,675, to be paid at the rate of $1,067.50 a year for ten years. Future annual dues were reduced from $20,000 to $5,047. Bartolomeo Martinez, elected vice president (1921-1925), succeeded to the unexpired term of President Chamorro, who died October 12.
Motor ELECTRIC cessor to Knute Nelson
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ELECTRIC cessor to Knute Nelson, who died. Magnus Johnson, candidate of the Farmer-Labor Party was elected, defeating Governor Preus, the regular Republican nominee, in the election which followed. MOON, TOPOGRAPHY OF. A new theory of the topography of the moon was advanced in 1923 by Colonel John Millis, army engineer and geologist. He rejects the theory that the moon's features could be the product of a volcanic agent and believes that it was formed by the coalescence of masses coming together by mutual gravitation. According to the theory, meteors falling into the moon while the crust was cooling penetrated the surface, throwing up circular ridges, and the holes thus caused have been filled nearly level by molten matter from the interior. As the size of the ball grew, the diameter of the original craters became enlarged and in some cases broken up, thus causing the irregular arcs and mountain chains now visible. MOROCCO. Outstanding developments included the action of Raisuli, famous bandit, in declaring fealty to Spain, and the death at Tetuan, on October 24, of Sherif Mulay el Mehdi, Viceroy of the Spanish zone of Morocco, Royal honors were rendered at his funeral by representatives of Spain. A convention was signed on December 18, by France, Spain and Great Britain, providing for the neutralization of Tangier, together with a special zone, the entire district to be governed by an international assembly.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The Collier's supplement, writing in 1924, hailed the Fynn-Weichsel motor as a breakthrough that would harness the "idle" current of an alternating supply for 30 to 50 per cent more mechanical power; no such machine entered general use, and the reactive current it aimed at is today managed routinely by capacitors and power-factor correction rather than by a special motor design. Tesla's polyphase induction motor, described here as thirty-five years old, instead became the workhorse of the century: modern high-efficiency induction motors convert 90 to 97 per cent of their electrical input into shaft power, and electric motors now account for roughly half of all electricity consumed worldwide. Two developments the account could not foresee are the solid-state variable-frequency drive, which from the 1970s allowed AC motors to run at any chosen speed, and the rare-earth permanent-magnet motor that drives modern electric cars. The other change is in the word itself: to most readers in 1924 "motor" already meant a car, and the electrical sense the entry assumes is now the specialist one.
Written for this edition, 2026.