The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-01-01
Utilization Of Wind as a Motive Force.

For many centuries wind has been
used in the countries of the old world
| as motive power. In some Of the
low lying lands Ct Central Europe the
numbering old windmill is still one Of
the characteristic features Of the land.
scape.
In this country the windmill has Of
| late years been greatly improved and
brought extensively into use. 1t is
| estimated there are over half q million
| windmills now running, and the an
nual increase in sales is estimated to
be upward Of $4,000. They are main
ly used for pumping the domestic
water supply; in many Of the Western
States farm is scarcely considered to
be complete unless it can boast Of its
| windmill pump.
In some cases the mills are put to
| such work az cutting feed for stock,
| grinding corn, and the various lighter
| mechanical work Of farm. The sue
| cess of the improved windmill in AM
erica has encouraged the manufactur-
ers to push the trade in European
countries and there is to-day grow
| ing demand in the old world for these
very useful and economical machines.
The chief drawback to the use Of
wind-driven motors is that the power
| is intermittent and uncertain. It has
| often been proposed to store up this
power, SO that the supply can be
drawn upon in calm weather. This
| can undoubtedly be done; but whether
such storage can be accomplished with
| economical results is open to question.
Water might be raised a certain
height and stored in tanks prepared
for the purpose. But. op the basis
that one horse power would require
the lifting Of $4,000 pounds one foot
in one minute, it is evident thatiit
| would require large storage tanks and
much time to lift enough water to 8
provide a supply Of any practical
value. To this must be added the
cost and care of o water motor to uti-
lize this stored-up energy. A simple
| calculation shows that to furnish a
constant supply Of one horse power
| for day of ten hours would require
the daily storage Of Al, 900 gallons Of
water at a height.of 80 feet. Toac-
| commodate this would require tank
20 feet square and 16 feet high. To
| the expense Of such tank must be
| added the cost Of the strong tower
| which would have to be built to carry
at such q height thisload Of nearly
200 tons. The cost Of receivers and
motors for the utilization and storage
Of compressed air would in like man
ner largely neutralize any apparent
utilitysof such device. .izf. 5$.
To store up sufficient electrical ener-
gy to run one horse power motor for
day or ten hours would require q set
Of cells whose weight would be from
| 1000 to 1,7OO pounds. They would
occupy some 20 cubic feet Of space;
and with the motor, betting, shafting
and general fittings complete, the plant
would cost about $500.
There would be a certain amount Of
drawback To the use Of this system in
the fact that the handling Of a battery
necessitates some technical knowledge
and skill; consideration that must
necessarily limit the range of its ap-
plication. Of the three systems Of
storage, the last mentioned would
seem to be the best; and with further
improvements in the way automatic
devices for regulating the charging
and discharge fthe batteries, we may
look for more extended use of this
system in the future.
The fnesh WELD of corn in the