OCR Text |
Show ELECTRICITY TO SOLVE FOOD, FUEL AND POWER PROBLEMS? s 7 i Under the Direction of the Fuel Administration Ad-ministration the Government Has Initiateda Movement for Generation of Electric Power at the Mines Milwaukee and St. Paul. It has the huge plant at Fresno County. California Califor-nia developing 120.000 kilowatt power, pow-er, with a transmission length of 240 miles. In San Francisco the Pacific Gas and Electric Company has eleven hydro-electric stations with 150 miles of 100.000 volts and 380 miles of 20,000 volt lines. Niagara Falls and Buffalo are well-known illustrations of the efficacy of hydro-electric power. The strain on Niagara has become so great that the Government lately has considered consid-ered legislation to consolidate two hydro-electric power companies here to provide 270,000 additional horsepower horse-power in order to speed up war work. Holyoke, Mass., affords another excellent illustration of the general good results obtainable through the utilization of neglected water facilities. facili-ties. Three lines of canals with a fall of sixty-one feet, develop 30.000 horsepower, distributing energy over a radius of sixty miles. In line with this there has been developed lately the proposition to utilize the canals lying adjacent to the Pennsylvania coal mines and thus facilitate the transportation of coal to tidewater- It has been proposed also to develop hydro-electric power in the same way while opening up the whole system of inland waterways. Promoters of this project point out that to "carry on" this work; would1 serve the country in three vital ways: First, facilitate the common defense; second, relieve the problem of coal transportation as well as cut the cost, and third, provide pro-vide valuable sources of hydro-electrio power. From these actualities already under un-der way it is but a step to the more general utilization of electricity in the home as well as in the industrial plant. It is not unreasonable to expect ex-pect that the time will arrive erelong when the modern home will be heated by electricity conveyed by the great transmission trunk lines from the huge central power plants. In the Bast these central plants will be lo- ing experiments along the same lin have recently been completed by Charles 'P. Steinmetz, "the wizard of Schenectady," In connection with J. I P. Hayden. Tho results of their experiments ex-periments were recently announced to the General Electric Company by these two leaders of the company's consulting engineering department. They have to do with the effect of art. ficial light on the growth and ripening of plants. Beans were grown in beds upon which strong electric lights in reflectors were played continually. The experiments were conducted in midwinter during a period of seventy-three seventy-three days, running from December to February, in a greenhouse that av-eraged av-eraged 18 to 20 degrees centigrade. As a check test other beans were grown at the same time subject only to natural light. Doctor Steinmetz gives as the result re-sult of his experiments the conclusion conclu-sion "that under the lnflueneeof intense in-tense artificial illumination the plants have grown and brought fruit in a little more than half the time required under daylight alone. " It was found to be an expensive experiment, , though, so far as current electrlo light costs go, and therefore not at all practical for the average home gardener, gar-dener, if you please. However, wiU the established fact that electrical Illumination will grow two crops in the time required for daylight production produc-tion of one crop, it is possible to think of the time when electricity shajl have been cheapened by the utilization of nature's facilities and forced food production pro-duction made possible upon an enlarged en-larged scale. Stimulating Egg Production As a result of research work conducted con-ducted by Loring Pratt at the Edison Lamp Works, Harrison, N. J., they have obtained information from various vari-ous sources to the effect that hens can be forced to increase their production pro-duction by means of electric lights installed in-stalled in the hen houses. The gen- In a given radius. It is proposed now to carry the mountain to Mahomet. It is planned to inaugurate this revolutionary rev-olutionary industrial turnover from steam to electricity in the heart of the Pennsylvania anthracite belt and to develop it thence all over the country.. coun-try.. New York and Philadelphia, two of the great producing centers in the nation's war crisis, are to be linked up for the mutual benefit of the Government's Gov-ernment's plants and the privately owned enterprises. The power is to be developed right at the mines and transmitted by high-voltage wires to the great plants engaged in war work. It is proposed to generate a minimum of 100.000 horsepower, or about 70,000 kilowatts, at each plant. In the city of Philadelphia alone it Is expected the net saving in coal consumption will amount to something better than half a million tons of coal aVear. West Leads the Eagt Private initiative plus governmental co-operation is expected to open up tlie hydraulic capabilities of the country.' coun-try.' The East has faltered sadly in contrast to the West in the use of water power. More than 40 per cent of the developed water power of the United States is contained within the IF! Vs 8- A vr -V v . . Lnited States is contained witmn the , ., . . ',.., in VYXfXArW tl St tes borderin- on the Pacific Ea8t these oentraI plants w,n be lo" stalled in the hen houses. The gen- . DELAYED along for more than a be made is shown 'in the attitude of cally operated lines'. Where electricity fN 'V. rV'V'-' o Ore on Washington and Cal- cated alon8'slde tne mines: ln the oral principle seems to be that by century from the kite that Ben tne Governments at home and abroad has been substituted for steam, he ": . Ocean re"' oent lieg wes of the West they will be located at the big turning on the lights early in the Franklin floated in the skies, long be- as they set up an organization to says, there has resulted fully 50 per UJUliL-j. - m ' ' P In .-earTndustrial rivers and waterfalls, as at Keokuk morrl;ng during the winter months, fore the airplane tipped the gold of study the problem of fuel and power cent increase in available capacity of F0IPPT 1 ' Mississippi ' " ernisvania.5 and alnn ",e Mississippi. when the dn are short, and leaving the sunset clouds with its tilting and to report back measures for har- existing tracks and other facilities. wfsS section con a rndV." Electricity to solve the food prob- them on until daylight, then turning ,Ja-rs. electricity now is being called nessing the forces of nature and con- It is not alone in the operation . --.A aSLvVa'A f extending noi nvai anc eas waic brings up other interesting pic- them on at nightfall and leaving them 'J.pon to save the civilization of which verting them into commercial energy, of railroader however, that the sub- ''NSP VA'sV ' but Pe' 18 50 U" ' a" tures. This is an accomplished fact on for a few hours, the hens have as the spark that Poor Richard caught Hydraulic power, it would appear, is stitution of electric current for steam 7 fa N" even wnh ulara tals- le tfreat at the present moment when one con- long a day as in the summer months, L from a key and a silken sheet was a t0 be the solution of the coal short- effects a saving in coal while sup- .''' ' V- Tegl" ls but pel cel" 01 tne siderg that tne electrio spark in the get more exercise and consequently f Vn-ogenitor. aS- Uncle Sam and John Bull have plying a very efficient store of power. 'P' lMVVVwi. grand total Pennsylvania the ban- caburetor jgllites the gaaoIin6 that produce more eggs. my abounding evidences It Is Joined hands on that proposition and Hydraulic power derived from the WSA X ner coal and manufacturing State, has propeis the farm tractor now so gen. It Is estimated that the Increases apparent that the world stands in 1918 Purpose to cut down their coal bills streams of water would be applied to J:ff -" 0V Y ... virtually no hydraulic power, but But the possibilities of thus obtained vary between 35 and 500 upon the threshold of a new era in by "tlllz"s the van resources In thousands of industrial plants. Thir- A? -'fiMAXX '' bmitless resources. electricity in the stimulation of food per cent, witn an average of about 100 electrical development. Just as it Is waterpower to Aviate acute eco- ty million horsepower is required fW T w production go even further. per cent. It is said that the poultry-impossible poultry-impossible to see the message that "omical conditions. In other words, annually for primary stationary lJ'Wi utilizes its water power. The West has English formers now are eonductin men who have tried this system think is carried along the telephone wire, so he' ,haVe slarted t0 elec"'ify Great poer' f " w"t -00.000 is t.fflf MMA A Brsl "" ":!'' railWay' the C""'a!?0' a series of extraordinary experiments that it has in no cases injured the also, standing at the dawn of the im- Britain and the United States, and, furnished by water power, and the f-l ln this connection. Not all the details hens. Dr. Raymond Pearl, Orono, Me., pending new electrical era, is it im- hlle this primanly ,s to advance the remaining 24,000,000 horsepower by ' RKflL are available, but sufficient, however, thinks ' that this practice, if carried possible to limn the ' marvels that buslne8s of w'nninf the war' Jf ls. o coaI- 11 the 35,000,000 horsepower J&fa, NOv to give some idea of the scope and on regularly, would inlure the breed-stretch breed-stretch out through the immediate tremendous Importance in turning available from water were supplied NNV nature of the project under way. The ing qualities of the eggs, in that the future. Civilization depends upon over the whoIe mdustnal system by entirely to primary stationary power 4l lXVXX ' experiments are but a continuation of eggs would be less fertile. He ques-production ques-production in this great crisis where a''evo ut,onary change that is to re- there would still remain 5,000,000 KwNN what was begun twenty years ago tions also whether the extra eggs ob-men ob-men and materials are being poured " horsepower for railways or other en-. 'WN WVWOoX unde" the direction of Sir Oliver tained would more than compensate into the scales against German autoc- Spread Upon the pages of history' ergy-consuming agencies. Either way JjjM SAXVv Lodge and Professor Lemstrom, of for the cost of the electricity, racy, and production, it would appear, A Story of Waste you work it, railways or industrial Ml Ttl .. SVN Helsingfors; but ' what was neglected There is some difference of opinion is leaning upon the magical current of what ai-e the facts? In the United IttoVotclT towl Wffi VSS until the scarcity of food in wartime about the whole matter, and it re-mystery-electricity -to save democ- state8 the power of 35,ooo,000 horses ufacture of power that might as well iJI ' .CiQSll brought about a revival of the re- mains to be further developed before racy and world freedom lC8 idle and wasted in the American be furnisn6d through the medium of Z SSSW" fearch work star,od severaI decades the fea ibility ,.r such a proposition Food and fuel, prime requisites of streams The rivers and creeks, with water power and thus effect a wen- I il A S tlirl bak' xt is Proposed to use electricity on a commercial basis, aside from the mankind in the struggle for existence, their purUne waters and splashing derful saving in transportation from "V' fflfl I by direet contaot with the soil to scientific experiment, can be estab- are now being prodiiced by electricity, cataracts, are pregnant with power tne mlnes t0 the railways or indus id "jPS ' .8 1 r a hasten the growth of crops. llshed. J. H. Drevenstedt, editor of Long dependent upon a visible means and await only lo be enchained by trl, plants. And in thea'e days of -1 g SQjJ? - S i- A Steinmetz's Experiments Amican Stockkeeper and Fan- of support steam science has turned man and turned into watts and ohms muddled transportation and inordi- "l . mV' . . J" cier, of Boston, says there is nothing , to the invisible electricity and is "0f electrical potentiality. Coal is relied nate demands upon transportation it ' Em I'Vi Overhead wires are used, and the to this proposition. Prof. Luther obtaining marvelous results. These upon almost exclusively to supply our would mean much to take from the ' W AJT f0s experiments are now being made in Banta, of the New York School of Ag- results are being chronicled in experi- motive power. The horsepower of ranroads the 25 per cent of all coal equivalent to $135,000,000 every year. iMV ri connection with the growth of spring riculture, Alfred, N. T says he has menu now being carried on in the steam railway locomotives in the mlned in a year that they nQW c.ry France foIlows sUit with the develop- J1 A.!T3W wheat' oats' barley and c,over- ' The evidence in the form of definite data laboratories of the world's famous United States is placed at 25,000.000. from tn5 mlnes t0 tne pub)lo utmty ment of new canals inking the Medi- raWll. V'A t6StS a''6 b8'n8 at Hereord by "wh,ch ls certainly convincing and scientists, and they are soon to be in water power alone there )s enough or prjvate industrial consumer. terranean and the North Sea and the F T ' X agricultural experts under the direc- apparently conclusive." He declares projected upon a comprehensive scale wasted energy in this country to op- utilization of wasted energy in water- k frJL . V- V -A tion of Prof- w- H- Blackman, of the that "artificial illumination has been under governmental supervision in erate every single railway train, pas- Electrifying Great Britain power. Little Italy, having suffered fw HfHT V Imperial College of Science and Tech- found of permanent advantage only this country. Great Britain, Fiance senger and freight, with 10.000,000 G,.eat Britain awakened to these much for want of fuel and power, U JKIa A nology. The equipment embraces a with nonbrecding stock, because the and elsewhere. horsepower remaining for industrial faotg jth ft gtart Hemmed in b t, forced to carry her guns and munitions m hMi A X Tt f mlniature telegraph system, excessive winter-egg production causes 1 6qua, proportion as science plants. ' " into the mountain tops by man power - -Ftof1 V the poles being just high enough to a serious reduction in fertility and fvolves gigantic weapons of warfare. E. W. Rice, Jr., president of the suomanne, nei coai-oiggers removed Qr anlma, power tnen abandon TOTV1 permit a wagon to pass under them, hatch ability with breeders the suo such as seventy-five-mile guns, gas American Institute of Electrical En- from the mines of Wales to the them in .flight before a superior force MwXHV ' Wires are stretched along the poles, ceeding spring." This, he says, ls tho Viaslts machine guns, asphyxiating gineers estimates that the coal used trenches of France, she has set about because of the lack of transportation gHtZftMl lhe mier beIns set in rows 'rty feet conclusion r,r ten years' work in Ihn bcbs' tanks and supersubmarines, so by steam railways during the year the huge project of electrifying the facilities, will develop her water re-, p&'i-2? apart. A high-tension alternating cur- State of Washington, also Is science advancing in the do- 1917 amounted to 150,000,000 tons. By United Kingdom. Great Britain has sources. : ; '" ' - rent of high vo,tae ls S6nt through All of which is interesting when en? mestic fields at home, far from the electrifying the railroads, he main- been using annually something like In the United States a gigantic L -wjfV8a r X and tl3rown off upon the considers that the ordinary hen av- smoke of the battlefront. The weapons tains, fully 100.000.000 tons of this 80,000,000 tons of coal. She is not movement of far-reaching importance F W( growing crops. The results of this erages 120 eggs a year, while the of war are more generally discussed, coal could be saved. This, he de- ustng that much now because she is well under way. Under the direc- jj 'fU-Vi l electro-culture are awaited with in- American hens produce a yearly av- becauso winning the war is the one Clares, is an amount three times as cannot get it. By electrification and tion of Dr. Harry Garfield, the fuel " V TA 9k terest. crage of more than 40,000,000,000 eggs, all-engrossing topic of conversation: ,arSe as the total coal exported from use of her hydraulic powers it is esti- administrator, the surve of power ln th'S country 80me verv Interest- The value of the annual egg produc the new instruments of domestic sci- the United States during 1917. He mated-she will save fully 65,000,000 potentialities throughout the entire j II JL i J tion ls about equal to the total cotton ence are less generally discussed, hut mentions also the fact that the rail- tons of coal annually. This has been country has been pushed along this sJjA I JQg crop nf ,hr' country, more than twloe moving alone to remarkable accom- roads consumed 40.000.000 ham-Is of worked out by the Ministry of Recon- spring with a view to affording relief J VgSSjKKA as much as the net proceeds of all the Plishments just the same. oiI' or 15 pel" cent ot a" the 011 P"" struction in its electrification plans, as quickly as possible for the strain , J V. ' ' i? i?f$ freight and passenger traffic of all the duced, which should be conserved, he u proposes now to set up sixteen upon power facilities. It is proposed 'jjllflil -Jr" SlBlT& railroads of the country, and worth Some Future Possibilities points out, for use in the ships of our huge central supply stations and ex- to erect giant central generating 'III rbfik fivP limes as much as the total amount Would you believe it that the w merchant marine, for the trac- pects to effect a saving in coal that, plants with main feed wires reaching 1 TBfiffiiFX l of g0d and 8"ver produced In the Kiowth of food In farm and garden tors that till our fields and the motor- figured in dollars and cents, would be to all the industrial communities with- - I iKaStS W. k tan length of time by the mines of now can be accelerated by electricity trucks that serve as feeders to our WtoSmM y tn8 United States. in quicker time? Did you know that "Our waterfalls constitute potential jjjBiSSaSfgS:aPi " '""' S ' " --' ' science is prottj well satisfied that wealth which can only be truly con- ?i"ffiBjMifc &prfE the Influence ot ele ment and use Millions of horsepcver jw:-ify&teja It I ljBfefe&f wkm Vvi-.-' ,-f: you conceive that it will be possible is running to waste every day which. ija rTal3. r'.Z- . before Inns; to dispen with coal In once harnessed for the benefit of man- -Pl "1 ii0l i "fi "iTI T-iit Mi" i ii7SB your cellar and heat your house elec- kind, may become a perpetual source I M I 1 L-Lj-L j-fcfc xflg9-4iSTOir-' ' JrfVftfillZl latf!llJZt " trlcally simply by turning on a but- of wealth and prospi r t gkS51a.3? ton? These are some of the things Pointing out that 2? per cent of BRS$ 'fcB.' jCTr- ffrNfal', worked out recently under successful the coal dug from the earth each RgtlSSBS ".' ;'- -'':4hWlaf v r?V experiments and upon which it is year is burned to operate our rail- B lil fijfP ""' ' Proposed lo dwell detail here- roads. Mr. Rice makes the sigtiificant lYoiV 16" ' the coal famine that accompanied six pounds of real pes horsepower , ' g"" tniee Oiaies uuiuiiig uli Liie jrm; Ocean Oregon, Washington and California; Cal-ifornia; 75 per cent lies west of the Mississippi. In the great industrial section containing Pennsylvania and extending northward and eastward but 8 per cent is to be found, and even with Niagara Falls, the Great Lake region is but 3 per cent of the grand total. Pennsylvania, the banner ban-ner coal and manufacturing State, has virtually no I hydraulic power, but limitless resources. While the East burns coal the West utilizes its water power. The West has the first electric railway, the Chicago, ID ELATED along for more than a century from the kite that Ben Franklin floated in the skies, long before be-fore the airplane tipped the gold of the sunset clouds with its tilting electricity now is being called '"iipon to save the civilization of which the spark that Poor Richard caught s. from a key and a silken sheet was a f Vorogenitor. v many abounding evidences It is apparent that the world stands in 1918 upon the threshold of a new era in electrical development. Just as it is impossible to see the message that is carried along the telephone wire, so also, standing at the dawn of the impending im-pending new electrical era, is it impossible im-possible to limn the marvels that stretch out through the immediate future. Civilization depends upon production in this great crisis where men and materials are being poured into the scales against German autocracy, autoc-racy, and production, it would appear, is leaning upon the magical current of mystery electricity to save democracy democ-racy and world freedom. Food and fuel, prime requisites of mankind in the struggle for existence, are now being produced by electricity. Long dependent upon a visible means of support steam science has turned to the invisible electricity and Is obtaining marvelous results. These results are being chronicled in experiments experi-ments now being carried on in the laboratories of the world's famous scientists, and they are soon to be projected upon a comprehensive scale under governmental supervision in this country. Great Britain, France and elsewhere. In equal proportion as science evolves gigantic weapons of warfare. such as seventy-five-mile guns, gas iaslts, machine guns, asphyxiating bcVbs. tanks and supersubmarines, so be made is shown 'in the attitude of the Governments at home and abroad as they set up an organization to study the problem of fuel and power and to report back measures for harnessing har-nessing the forces of nature and converting con-verting them into commercial energy. Hydraulic power, it would appear, is to be the solution of the coal shortage. short-age. Uncle Sam and John Bull have joined hands on that proposition and purpose to cut down their coal bills by utilizing the vast resources in waterpower to alleviate acute economical eco-nomical conditions. In other words, they have started to electrify Great Britain and the United States, and, while this primarily is to advance the business of winning the war, it is of tremendous Importance in turning over the whole industrial system by a revolutionary change that is to remain re-main long after the war has been spread upon the pages of history. A Story of Waste What are the facts? In the United States the power of 35,000,000 horses lies idle and wasted in the American streams.- The rivers and creeks, with their purling waters and splashing cataracts, are pregnant with power and await only to be enchained by man and turned into watts and ohms of electrical potentiality. Coal is relied upon almost exclusively to supply our motive power. The horsepower of steam railway locomotives in the United States is placed at 25,000.000. In water power alone there is enough wasted energy in this country to operate op-erate every single railway train, passenger pas-senger and freight, with 10,000,000 horsepower remaining for industrial plants. E. W. Rice, Jr., president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, En-gineers, estimates that the coal used by steam railways during the year cated alongside the mines; In the West they will be located at the big rivers and waterfalls, as at Keokuk along the Mississippi. Electricity to solve the food problem prob-lem brings up other interesting pictures. pic-tures. This is an accomplished fact at the present moment when one considers con-siders that the electrlo spark in the carburetor ignites the gasoline that propels the farm tractor now so generally gen-erally in use. But the possibilities of electricity in the stimulation of food production go even further. English farmers now are conducting a series of extraordinary experiments ln this connection. Not all the details are available, but sufficient, however, to give some idea of the scope and nature of the project under way. The experiments are but a continuation of what was begun twenty years ago under the direction of Sir Oliver Lodge and Professor Lemstrom, of Helsingfors; but what was neglected until the scarcity of food in wartime brought about a revival of the research re-search work started several decades back. It is proposed to use electricity by direct contact with the soil to hasten the growth of crops. Steinmetz's Experiments Overhead wires are used, and the experiments are now being made in connection with the growth of spring wheat, oats, barley and clover. ' The tests are being made at Hereford by agricultural experts under the direction direc-tion of Prof. W. H. Blackman, of the Imperial College of Science and Technology. Tech-nology. The equipment embraces a sort of miniature telegraph system, the poles being just high enough to permit a wagon to pass under them. Wires are stretched along the poles, the latter being set in rows thirty feet apart. A high-tension alternating current cur-rent of high voltage is sent through ( the wires and thrown off upon the growing crops. The results of this electro-culture are awaited with interest. in-terest. In this country some very interest- cally operated lines'. Where electricity has been substituted for steam, he says, there has resulted fully 50 per cent increase in available capacity of existing tracks and other facilities. It is not alone in the operation of railroads? however, that the substitution sub-stitution of electric current for steam effects a saving in coal while supplying sup-plying a very efficient store of power. Hydraulic power derived from the streams of water would be applied to thousands of industrial plants. Thirty Thir-ty million horsepower is' required annually for primary, stationary power. Of this amount 6,000,000 is furnished by water power, and the remaining 24,000,000 horsepower by coal. If the 35,000,000 horsepower available from water were supplied entirely to primary stationary power there would still remain 6,000,000 horsepower for railways or other en- ergy-consuming agencies. Either way you work it, railways or industrial plants, the fact remains that millions of tons of coal are used for the manufacture man-ufacture pf power that might as well be furnished through the medium of water power, and thus effect a wonderful won-derful saving ip transportation from the mines to the railways or industrial indus-trial plants. And in these days of muddled transportation and Inordinate Inordi-nate demands upon transportation, it would mean much to take from the railroads the 25 per cent of all coal mined In a year that they now carry from the mines to the public utility or private industrial consumer. Electrifying Great Britain Great Britain awakened to these facts with a start. Hemmed in by the submarine, her coal-diggers removed from the mines of Wales to the trenches of France, she has set about the huge project of electrifying the United Kingdom. Great Britain has been using annually something like 80,000,000 tons of coal. She is not using that much now because she cannot get it. By electrification and use of her hydraulic powers it is estimated' esti-mated' she will save fully 55.000,000 tons of coal annually. This has been worked out by the Ministry of Reconstruction Recon-struction in its electrification plans. It proposes now to set up sixteen huge central supply stations and expects ex-pects to effect a saving in coal that, figured in dollars and cents, would be oral principle seems to be that by turning on the lights early in the morning during the winter months, when the days are short, and leaving them on until daylight, then turning them on at nightfall and leaving them on for a few hours, the hens have as long a day as in the summer months, get more exercise and consequently produce more eggs. It Is estimated that the Increases thus obtained vary between 35 and 500 per cent, with an average of about 100 per cent. It is said that the poultry-men poultry-men who have tried this system think that it has ln no cases injured the hens. Dr. Raymond Pearl, Orono, Me., thinks ' that this practice, if carried on regularly, would injure the breeding breed-ing qualities of the eggs, in that the eggs would be less fertile. He questions ques-tions also whether the extra eggs obtained ob-tained would more than compensate for the cost of the electricity. There is some difference of opinion about the whole matter, and it remains re-mains to be further developed before the feasibility of such a proposition on a commercial basis, aside from the scientific experiment, can be established. estab-lished. J. H. Drevenstedt, editor of the American Stockkeeper and Fancier, Fan-cier, of Boston, says there is nothing , to this proposition. Prof. Luther Banta, of the New York School of Agriculture, Ag-riculture, Alfred, N. Y., says he has evidence ln the form of definite data "which is certainly convincing and apparently conclusive." He declares that "artificial illumination has been found of permanent advantage only with nonbreedlng stock, because the excessive winter-egg production causes a serious reduction ln fertility and hatchability with breeders tho succeeding suc-ceeding spring." This, he says, is tho conclusion of ten years' work in the State of Washington. All of which is interesting when one considers that the ordinary hen averages av-erages 120 eggs a year, while tho American hens produce a yearly average av-erage of more than 40,000,000,000 eggs. The value of the annual egg production produc-tion is about equal to the total cotton crop of the country, more than twice as much as the net proceeds of all the freight and passenger traffic of all the railroads of tho country, and worth five times as much as the total amount of gold and silver produced In the same length of time by the mines of the United States. equivalent to $135,000,000 every year. France follows suit with the development develop-ment of new canals linking the Mediterranean Medi-terranean and the North Sea and the utilization of wasted energy in water-power. water-power. Little Italy, having suffered much for want of fuel and power, forced to carry her guns and munitions into the mountain tops by man power or animal power, and then abandon them In .flight before a superior force because of the lack of transportation facilities, will develop her water re-, sources. In the United States a gigantic movement of far-reaching importance is well under way. Under the direction direc-tion of Dr. Harry Garfield, the fuel administrator, the survey of power potentialities throughout the entire country has been pushed along this spring with a view to affording relief as quickly as possible for the strain upon power facilities. It Is proposed to erect giant central generating plants with main feed wires reaching to all the industrial communities with- also is science advancing in the domestic do-mestic fields at home, far from the smoke of the battlefront. The weapons of war are more generally discussed, because winning the war is the one all-engrossing topic of conversation: the new instruments of domestic science sci-ence are less generally discussed, but moving along to remarkable accomplishments accom-plishments just the same. Some Future Possibilities Would you believe it that the growth of food in farm and garden now can be accelerated by electricity so that more food can be produced in quicker time? Did you know that science is pretty well satisfied that chickens will lay more eggs under the influence of electric rays? Can you conceive that it will he. possible before long to dispense with coal in your cellar and heat your house electrically elec-trically simply by turning on a button? but-ton? These are some of the things worked out recently under successful experiments and upon which it is Proposed to dwell in some detail herewith. here-with. Every one who last winter suffered hi the coal famine that accompanied the severe zero weather realizes that tbe fuel problem must be solved speedily, particularly for the period Sj" "'"''. when we are supplying nillions of tons of eoal for export as well as operating our entire industrial system under forced draft. That a ""ncerted effort along this line is to -V ' Iv 1917 amounted to 150,000,000 tons. By electrifying the railroads, he maintains, main-tains, fully 100,000,000 tons of this coal could be saved. This, he declares, de-clares, ls an amount three times as large as the total coal exported from the United States during 1917. He mentions also the fact that the railroads rail-roads consumed 40.000.000 barrels of oil, or 15 per cent of all the oil produced, pro-duced, which should be conserved, he points out, for use in the ships of our new merchant marine, for the tractors trac-tors that till our fields and the motortrucks motor-trucks that serve as feeders to our railways. "Our waterfalls constitute potential wealth which can only be truly conserved." con-served." says Mr. Rlcei "by development develop-ment and use. Millions of horsepower is running to waste every day which, once harnessed for the benefit of mankind, man-kind, may become a perpetual source of wealth and prosperity." Pointing out that 25 per cent of the coal dug from the earth each year is burned to operate our railroads. rail-roads. Mr. Rice makes the significant statement, that, under average conditions, con-ditions, the steam locomotive requires six pounds of coal per horsepower hour, while present central electrical electri-cal stations could move the same-trains same-trains with a consumption of only two pounds of coal per horsepower hour. Electric locomotives, says Mr. Rice, speed up schedules fully 2o per cent, while cold weather that paralyzes steam traffic does not affect elect ri- I Uncle Sam proposes to manufacture power right at the mines and transport it by huge transmission cables lo the cities, wberc it may be used in mx ration f Government war plants and private industry engaged in war work. The power of 35,000,000 horses lies idle in the rivers and streams of America. It it proposed now to substitute hydraulir power for steam and uith the electricity thus generated supply thousands of consumers upon u more economical eco-nomical b'asis. Railroads in 1917 used" 150.000.000 lon of coal; electrification of them will save 100.000.000 ton. |