When Daddy was 19, electricity came to Indianola in the form of DC current; this marked the beginning of the end for those long winter nights. The DC current also worked just fine in replacing the kerosene street lamps. Daddy remembers one night overhearing two ladies walking down the street and remarking what a vast improvement the electric lights were.

This was the age of intense competition between AC and DC type of electrical distribution. Thomas Edison, championing DC distribution, used armature brushes to devise a way of realizing DC from an electric motor generator. On the other hand, Westinghouse was puruing his electrical transformers, which could conveniently step up the voltage so as to save loss in transmission lines. It was an epic technological struggle between Edison's DC power and Westinghouse's AC. Westinghouse won, hands down; AC electricity is now used almost exclusively everywhere in the world.

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