Show t ti tf f i i 4 r i w tl r r r V i c T 24 i fm z I T bR T t i I Al U Ul l f By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN HE lIE expression Power on the Farm increasingly in use everywhere is the central central cen cen- picture of ot a vision atthe of at the day when the American Ameri Ameri- can farm community shall J r be supplied with cheap i 1 I 1 electrical energy No man i IJ fill f J h living Ing In the country needs l JF to be told what It will mean to him to have ample priced low-priced power poser for tor use se about the form farm and ando tome lome o Nikola kola Tesla the electrical wizard says that this power will soon be M transmitted by wireless For the time being however electrical energy ll continue to be bo Increasingly sup sup- plied piled by transmission lines Many ate are working to the end that uw this electrical aI power may be generally distributed under ender satisfactory condi condl- Home Hume reached by good roana and motor cars said Guy E. E Tripp chairman of the Westinghouse company in a recent address to the Engineers Engineers' Society of ot Western Penn- Penn power driven farms forms modern moda mod mod- a ern appliances In the home and a busy contented unit would mean that the American rural home has hu been reestablished re- re established on en a modern basis For a ady diet Omar Khayyam's paradise would not net be a patch on that Utopia II if M se and when it comes Superpower ver over which man many of ot our pUblic Wic men are waging wordy battles Is mere of a tendency than a thing superpower Is the growth of the power Wintry industry along lines linE'S Involving more B ent plants wider willer Interconnection tad Ind d a more centralized control Some Bounce denounce superpower as a giant which will 11 strangle America Others see in ino It a magIc which will wl work wonders for tor o f the people Superpower certainly has hos special t vantages advantages for tor the electrical Industry One we basic reason Is that the cost of making electricity Is very fry small Pared compared with the cost of distributIng h log Ing L about It-about ut 1 l to 6 M It systems havIng hay hay- kg Ing 1 different I dem demands ds on their service till can be M BO so connected that the power can cen be e used usell at nt all times of the 24 hours olDies a there are obviously ob great econ ocon- In 10 operation and possibilities of diced d rates to consumers Anyway the sul superpower Is already here ere re- re For in 10 the example Samuel Insull says sas annual reports of ot the Common Common- wealth tn Edison company Just made mado IT great t has haa become becom the center of a economical nomi pool of p power with large and not ot electric K generating stations t only In Chicago but In th the th aUf ur- i territory The Th system forms form with further Interconnections a part of ofa a a. va vat vast t superpower system extending from th the upper peninsula of Michigan throughout Wisconsin Illinois Indiana Kentucky and Into Virginia The Commonwealth Commonwealth Commonwealth Com Com- Edlon Edison compan company's capacity Is I. now kilowatts kilowatt of which kilowatts kilowatt comes cornea from the Crawford avenue generating station In Chicago Cut But the capacity of this thus station will be Increased e to kilowatts this year An and eventually will be expanded to or kilowatts making It the largest station In the world The superpower system Is 18 meeting the In Increasing increasing In- In creasing use un of electricity at relatively lower costs cost It is no secret that engineers see In Inthe Inthe inthe the near future electrical power quite generally In use in factory farm and household furnished by great central power stations run by water and by steam and distributed by Interconnected Interconnected interconnected systems forming one centralIzed centralized central central- zed and highly efficient system Electrical companies are in the business business busi busi- ness to make money of course but their future prosperity depends largely upon getting many customers And the big companies are working hard on the problems of ot rural electrification Dr E. E A A. A White director of ot the National National National Na Na- I Committee on the Relation of Electricity to Agriculture says flays In 10 part In Power 1 Plant lont Engineering Chicago Seventeen state committees on the relation of electricity to agriculture spread from New Hampshire on the east to California on the west from Alabama In the south to tn Minnesota on the north with a goodly representation tion In the corn belt Study of the tb possibilities for the use of electricity on the farm has haa an established project In agricultural experiment sta sta- Farmers Farmer agricultural leaders leaden electrical men manufacturers are at work on this problem It Is III no longer longera a question of whether this thing should be or not It Is The real problem problem problem lem Is la how to secure maximum results at minimum expense Today there are at least farms within reasonable reach of primary primary mary marl distribution systems This Is somewhat less lesi than one fourth of the total With an average of three farms per mile this means meana rural distribution lines linea to reach times across this continent continent and and at the minimum figure of 1000 per mile mUe will represent an Investment of It Is la safe eafe to predict that to make electric service a dominant factor In agriculture twice a as much will be spent on the farms farma as al asIn alIn asin In the building of rural distribution lines Thus Thua It app appears an that this IIa isa Is II Isa a undertaking It Is II coming to be recognized recognised that the first step Is the development of a arate arate arate rate system adapted to agriculture A number of rural rates have recently been developed The general tendency Is la for these thes rates rat to contain a minimum minimum minimum mini mini- mum charge In some form considerably higher than In the case of urban rates ratel and to taper off ort rapidly to low energy rates rate The attempt Is II made to divide the rate rat Into fixed charges charge and an energy energy en- en ergy 57 charge chare on n the tb kilowatt hour basis bails Following the establishment of a satisfactory rate electric electrio light and power companies are organizing to put puta a comprehensive plan behind their rural service programs program During the past year rear at least six x prominent companies have appointed men to have bave sole lole charge of this work One company has haa gone further and established a rural service department In some cases rural electrio districts are being mapped out and distribution systems planned to make service available to every resident la to the district Mr Tripp in his hi address to the Engineers Engineers' Engineers Engineers' En mn- society called attention to the fact that there has been an on application application application tion of power to practically all Industries Industries industries Indus Indus- tries except the farming Industry and that In consequence the latter has lagged behind lie Ho also made this point Everybody E knows or should know that the standards of ot living and wages of the world expressed in common purchasing power of ot money are almost almost almost al al- most In exact ratio to the amount of power placed at the disposal of the worker the fact often otten overlooked overlooked overlooked over over- looked is that the use of ot machinery and modern modem appliances has been a great Influence In developing the masses of men into more alert if not more Intelligent human beings Mrs lIra John D D. Sherman president of ot I Ithe the General Federation of Women's I Clubs dubs applied the same thought to the American housewife in an address address address ad ad- dress before the National Electric Light association last fall tall at Ban San Francisco The General Federation of ot the is I. now completing a Survey American Home with a view to Increasing Increasing Increasing In In- creasing the efficiency of ot Its house house- keeping Mrs Bh Sherman an said ad There is nothing that will furnish famish this em- em clency as quickly and effectively as electricity the electricity the cheapest Item In the family budget and added In the heart of the maker home-maker performing performing per pee forming her dally tasks taska In the old and wasteful way wY lurks a discontent a sense lenee of Injustice a resentment over the drudgery Involved In home making Over other Ina Inadequately equipped makers home-makers spreads an apathy and resignation which argues arrested growth crowth and an Indifference to stand stand- of living making Home In the tb United States today Is II the greatest In Industry Industry industry In- In In the world worl world and and and Its Ita Improvement Improve ment Is la a challenge to Uncle Sam Bam and to such auch groups as aa are represented In Inthe inthe the National Electric Light association and the General Federation of Women's Women's Wom Wom- ens en's clubs The National Electric Light association asso elation a R noncommercial has tion-has has long been working on ways waya and means menns of ot applying electrical selee sexy sexy- lee Ice to farming communities Many of ot the Public Utilities are co The Alabama Power company for example example ex ex- ample Is building miles of expert expert- mental lines to serve 1610 rural customers customers cus cus- and will try tryout out the man many problems in connection with experiment experiment expert expert- ment meat stations Power on OD the Farm looks like a reality of the near future Its effects effects ef ef- direct and Indirect will b be 1 In In- It should Improve the con cone of the farmer Will It tend to the industrial decentralization oi of ot cities clUed Will It still further decrease I the farm population f |