Evening star., 1896-04-11

men of the day cannot depend upon pro-
cesses that will restore these various COM
b.nations Of the elemental factors and 20
restock the earth with her original amount
Of material They imagine 1t may be, that
the day Of limitations cannot be far away
when the world is progressing so rapidly In
every department of human energy, and
indeed predictions Of the mechanical day
of judgment are uttered from time to time
with more or less assurance. Others dis
claim any notion that hundreds Of genera
tions of inventors, manufacturers and
wasteful users of the earth's stores will
succeed in appreciably Diminishing the sup
ply. for. as they contend. the very march
Of invention itself means the overcoming
of just such obstacles. the providing of new
means where I'D ones have failed. and the
supplanting of worn-out or inadequate
forces with newer forms of energy. Thus
there is in prospect, in the light of such
confident forecastins an endless chain Of
supply. though not of Immediate restora-
ton, while the natural forces may mean
while be quietly and regularly working to
maintain the equilibrium. In support Of
this contention many modern devices may
be cited. The Harvesting of the largest
cataract In the world to a great plant of
machinery Is one such advance and its sue
cess doubtless means the speedy subjuga-
tion of most of the falling waters in the
civilized world to the immediate needs of
man. Efforts to utilize the solar heat have
never yet proved so successful that any
economical results have been obtained, but
some experimenters are confident that the
day Is near at hand when the wheels of
great establishments may be turned by the
force drawn from the center Of our solar
system. between ninety-one and ninety-five
million miles away. This indeed would be
a grand conservation Of energy, a mechan-
lcal millennium and one to be dreaded per-
haps. almost as much as welcomed. since 1T
would have revolutionary effect upon
present methods, prices and rates of pro-
duction. But whatever the economical re-
suit OF such a discovery 1t is being striven
Tor eagerly and the chances of success ap-
pear to be as great in such a case as in
the original effort to chain the destructive
lightning and make 1t the servant of man.
Meanwhile science is at work upon the
wastes Of the world reducing them to q
minimum, utilizing materials that were
once thought useless, and Transforming
refuse into value. One such device Is now
making a fiber. that resembles wool, from
sandstone and the Stag that results from
Iron smelling, once a nuisance and a cause
OF expenditure for removal. From this ap-
parentiy stubborn stuff seemingly reduced
to its final stage of worthlessness, ready to
return to the form of dust and thus begin
once more chemistry's chain Of restoration,
there comes fine, soft substance used for
the deadening of sounds in walls, for the
prevention of confagrations from heated
pipes, and for the waste of energy from
steam supplies, much asbestos. a limited
material, has been used for many years.
Thus are the worlds limits postponed, by
transferring energies into different phases
The ruling, guiding spirit in all this pro-
cess Is man, driven by his desires, his fears
and his needs. The demands are greater
every year. every day, but the human mind
Is still greater and Its command over the
resources of nature is more powerful.