DISTANT VISIONS
A continuation of Pemberly Farnsworth’s story:
This is a continuation of Pemberly Farnsworth’s story, excerpted from her book Distant Vision: In the spring of 1919, Lewis Farnsworth (Philo’s father), moved their family to his brother Albert’s 240-acre ranch in the Snake River Valley, near Rigby, Idaho. Philo was overjoyed to find the ranch powered by a Delco generator, but of greater importance was a large stack of magazines Science and Invention, radio manuals and many other scientific magazines left behind by the former owner. To the book-starved Philo these magazines opened up a whole new world. The first thing that caught his eye was Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. He found and read an article by Robert Millikan stating why Einstein’s theory of relativity was based on wrong principles. Then in the next issue, of Science and Invention, Philo found an answer to Millikan’s charges, in another article written by the master himself, Dr. Albert Einstein.
Dr. Einstein’s clear and simplified explanation of his theory struck a responsive chord in young Philo. To his twelve-year old mind, uncluttered by preconceived scientific notions, relativity theory seemed elegantly simple and logical. He was so impressed by Einstein’s article that he committed it to memory and from then on; it colored all of his scientific thinking. It broadened Philo’s horizons and helped him think in greater dimensions, giving him a unique vantage point from which to view his future scientific problems.
The farm’s Delco power system fascinated Philo, the former owner had installed it to power hay stackers and grain loaders but none of the new owners understood enough about electricity to keep it running. This necessitated frequent and expensive visits from William Tall, the man who installed it for the former ranch owner. Each time Mr. Tall came to service the generator Philo carefully observed everything he did. Philo had a burning desire to understand and learn how the generator made electricity and it was not in his nature to take anything for granted. Learning how electricity worked was essential training for Philo, especially after he began to formulate his own ideas.
One day, as it was prone to do, the generator stopped working again and since it had been recently serviced Uncle Albert lost patience with it. The sons, fathers and all others gathered around as they discussed the revolting development. Everybody finally agreed and concluded that it would be impossible to run the ranch without it. Twelve-year old Philo stepped forward and offered to fix it. Interrupting the loud laughter, Lewis, Philo’s father said, “Why don’t we give Philo a chance to fix it, what do we have to lose?” Reluctantly, Albert agreed and then watched in apprehension as Philo disassembled the generator. Calling for kerosene, Philo carefully washed away the heavy oil deposits that he suspected was causing the problem and then asked for their lightest oil and applied it sparingly. After carefully reassembling the generator and with an outward show of confidence Philo pushed the “on” button. An audible sigh of relief was heard from his audience as the generator sprang to life. Uncle Albert slapped Philo on the back and pronounced him the official engineer in charge of the farm’s Delco power supply system.
Another of Philo’s chores was manually pushing the to-and-fro wooden handle on the clothes-washing machine. It was a boring and mundane detail that took hours on end, but it emancipated his mother from some of the drudgery associated with washday. Philo was determined to find a better way to do the job and soon found and rewound the armature on a burned out electric motor in the shed, he connected it with pulleys to the washing machine and “voila,” it worked! To be continued.
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