The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-02-20

printing press at the Paris EXPOSE
tion OF 1870. while the architect of the
famous Monitor brought his device SO
near perfection that scientific men be-
gan to build serious hopes upon il in
1881. But none of these inventions were
able to stand the ties: of application
to actual commercial uses. They con-
centrated the rays of the sun. They
made steam. They even drove engines.
But when brought to the crucial test
OF practical, every day uses-cheap
manufacture, economical and continu-
Gus operation-they failed. And so It
has been with many other less cele-
brated efforts.
Whlie the present successful motor
has been developed in the fullest light
of existing scientific knowledge, the
solution of the problem is Il triumph
OF American genius, which has built a
successful device on the ashes of past
failures.
SAVING OF FUEL"
The most obvious advantage of the
Solar Motor is the saving of fuel. 1t
will be used over wide districts where
ihc cost OF fuel is prOhbitive and will
even supersede all other power in> the
uses for which it is adapted in local
tiles where fuel is most abundant since
1t is plain that no fuel is cheaper than
any fuel. The saving is effected not
merely in the purchase price of coal or
wood. oil or gasoline, but also in the
Item of handling these materials. The
solar rays are not only furnished with
out cost, but, by convenient proviS-
ION of nature, are freely transported to
the place of use, which is wherever the
reflector may happen to be erected.
The usefulness of sun power will be
by no means limited to irrigation, nor
should 1t be inferred by the size Of the
present engine that ten horsepower
bounds its possibilities. The new motor
Will be used for various industrial pur-
poses and probably quite largely in
connection with mining. Plants of 100
horsepower, with several reilectors
grouped about a central engine, are al
ready feasible and it is quite within
reason to expect that with the i'm
provements which will naturally be
added as time goes on the present
maximum will be much increased.
1t is in its relation to irrigation
however, that the successful utiliza-
tion OF sun power will excite the widest
public interest. Mining is an industry
which fiourishes in spite of all OBJ
stacles. There is no country so far
nor climate so severe--there Is no peril
and no expense, which can discourage
mining because the possible reward is
SO great and the hope of sudden wealth
so alluring. 1t may be sad and deplor-
able, but it is none the less true. that
a fnp
for a fortune. There are certain heroic
exceptions to the rule. but the fact re-
mains that the conquest of the desert
must be made easily if made at all.
Here lies the chief significance OF the
new power, since its operations are
necessarily limited, for the present at
least, to the sunshine regions of the
earth.
Half of our own continent, most Of
Australia and New Zealand, most of
Africa and South America. a vast por-
tion Of Asia, including India, belong
distinctly to the sunshine regions
Here solar power is bound to be ex-
.tensively employed in lifting water
from under the ground ana from the
deeply erodcd channels Of inuumcrable
rivers.
Exact information concerning the
underground water supplies is some-
what meagre since both public and
private enterprise We're naturally first
directed to the diversion of streams
and the employment of the smaller
class of reservoirs. But during the
past five years pumping has become
the most aggressive feature of the irri-
cation industry In the West and the
area OF its operations has been rapidly
widening, A large portion of the pre-
cipitation is run Off" which Is carried
into the streams, A portion Is lost in
evaporation, some Is absorbed by the
ground and remains Ia moisten Ncge-
tatlon but IA considerable part finds
its way through porous soil ana the
seams in the Garth far below the reach
of all growing things TO subterranean
reservoirs, \ portion Of these under
| ground rivers and lakes exist beneath
| the crust of the earth and that they
! ere regularly reinforced by falling
rains and melting SHOWS, Then there
are numerous western streams that
may be said to flow upside down
| the gound on the top and the moving
| current underneath. A notable in
| stance Is the Platte, which Bill Nye
has described as "One mile wide ana
one inch thick" and to which he as