GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JR
George Westinghouse, Jr. sends an autograph letter of thanks to the Editor of Life on the published birthday wishes.
Autograph Letter Signed: "Geo. Westinghouse", 1p, 5x6½. Hotel St. Regis, New York, (no year) October 9. To the Editor of Life. In full: "Nothing that has been said about me in print ever gave Mrs Westinghouse & me greater pleasure than your congratulations on my birthday published in this weeks (sic) issue. Please accept from both of us our sincerest thanks & best wishes." By the age of 25, George Westinghouse, Jr. (1846-1914) was a Civil War veteran who had already introduced his first major invention, air brakes that allowed an entire train to stop at once (1868); previously, the brakes on each car had to be applied before the train would slow down. After patenting this invention, he began his career as an industrialist by establishing the first of his 60 companies, the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (1869). Although direct current was the standard form of power in the U.S., Westinghouse learned that Europeans were experimenting with alternating current. Implementing their original plans, he and three engineers improved the transformer and united this device with Nikola Tesla's AC motor. In 1886, he organized the Westinghouse Electric Company to manufacture and market his new high-voltage alternating-current single-phase system for the transmission of electricity, the primary form of electricity now used in the U.S. Westinghouse, who served as President of the Westinghouse Electric Company from 1886-1911, also patented a number of devices for practicable and economical transmission of natural gas. Receipt stamp and pencil erasures at upper margin, ink stain at lower right blank edge. Lightly soiled. Overall, fine condition.