Sidney Howe Short was an electrical engineer, inventor, professor and businessman. He is known for electrical apparatus construction in the development of electric railway equipment. His inventions were so successful that even his competitors dubbed him "The Trolley King".
Early life
Short was born on October 8, 1858, at Columbus, Ohio. He was the second son of John Short and Elizabeth Short. He attended the Columbus public schools. He followed in his father's footsteps in mechanical technology through his father's manufacturing business in his a teenage years, as he showed that he had an aptitude towards electrical and mechanical technology of his time. He experimented with an electrical burglar alarm and other electrical devices at his home. He became an expert telegraph operator at the age of fourteen.
Mid-life
Short attended Capital University for a few semesters after graduating from high school. He then attended Ohio State University and there he was a professor's assistant helping his students in the physics department. Short attended the Centennial Exposition in 1876. He saw the Bell telephone exhibit and discovered the principle of the apparatus was basically the same as that of a similar device he had been experimenting with at the laboratory of the Ohio State University. Short then developed his device, and in 1879 patented and sold it. Short graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1880. He taught electrical engineering and physics at O.S.U. for two years. He then worked in the physics and chemistry departments at University of Denver, where he taught as a professor for five years. He was soon promoted to vice-president and expanded his departments. In 1882 his chemistry department was branched off and he concentrated on teaching and researching physics. Short interested the eminent electrician Charles Francis Brush into investing into his electrical inventions and electrical machinery improvements. They formed a new company called Brush Electric Company in 1883. In 1885 he pursued an interest in electrical apparatus construction, and development of electric railway equipment. This developed into the formation of the Short Electrical Railway Company in Ohio in 1889. At Cleveland he became a key electrical technician of Brush Electric Company. 1892 saw the merger of Short Electric Company with General Electric at which time he became a member of its Technical Board. In 1893 he left those positions and went to Cleveland to become vice-president of Walker Company in charge of their engineering department. This led to his design of motors and generators, which business developed quickly, and later merged into Westinghouse Company.
Family
He was married in Washington, D.C., July 26, 1881, to Mary F. Morrison, of Columbus, Ohio, and had three sons and one daughter.
Short's technical writings were well known and he was a prolific inventor. Despite a relatively short career, Short received over 500 patents on electrical machinery worldwide on electrical devices and telephone equipment, mechanical improvements to streetcars and railroad equipment improvements. He did many things related to electrical and streetcars. He designed and produced the first electric motor that operated a streetcar without gears. The motor had its armature direct-connected to the streetcar's axle for the driving force. Short was a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the English Institution of Electrical Engineers, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He pioneered "use of a conduit system of concealed feed" thereby eliminating the necessity of overhead wire, trolley poles and a trolley for street cars and railways. While at the University of Denver he conducted important experiments which established that multiple unit powered cars were a better way to operate trains and trolleys.
Legacy
His inventions, innovations and appliances were so successful that even his competitors dubbed him "The Trolley King".
