The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-17
THE FUTURE OF POWER
1T WILL REST WITH THOSE WHO
REST CONTROL DYNAMIC FORCE.
The Goal Fields Of the Earth May I'm
to Rainfall and EIectricity.

Is clear that those gains are 10 depend
IRON the access which man may have to
various sources Of dynamic power and to
the various metals by which they may ap-
pfv it 10 their needs. Two centuries age
cur ancestors had their own bodies and
those Of their domestic animals at their
service. and. in addition to these scantv
sources OF energy. a little help from very
simple w~aterwheels, from windmills and
the sails OF ships. At the time of Queen
Anne's death, we may reckon the value of
this at less than one-tenth of what is
termed one-horse power for each EnsIish-
speaking person-that is to say, somewhere
about the force required 10 lift a weight
Of one and a half tons one foot in a minute.
At the end of Victoria's reign the average
share Of energy at the service of each per-
son of our race is at least twenty times
as much, or sufficient to lift that weight
IN the like time to the height of twenty
feet.
While we cannot really estimate me ad-
vance of man by the amount of energy
he may win to his uses, there is no doubt
that this control of the natural forces pro-
foundly affects the conditions of his OH
going. II has liked in the past. and in
the future is in large measure to deter
mine the relative strength of nations. So,
too. it determines the share of life which
may go TO education. 10 enjoyment, to. all
that makes for true culture, as well as for
that false culture-luxury. This empire of
energy which he is so swiftly winning will
give civilized man a chance of enlargement
greater than all the gains he has previously
made from nature. Moreover, this gain of
man is making, and to be made, not in the
ancient way Of subjugating weaker peoples,
but by his intellect, by that control of him
self which. If not in quality directly moral.
will surely help TO moral and spiritual
development.
WHAT HAS WON.
IN reckoning the future of mans con-
trol of dynamic power we need, first of
all. to see that which he has won or may
hereafter win if it depends on certain very
simple primary conditions-on the heat of
the sun. on that OF the under-earth and on
the rise and fall of the tides along the
shores Of the oceans. So far, with exceo-
tions so trihing as not to be worth noticing,
the energy which has been at mans dis
Yosal has come from the sun. Whether
81 has been gained through the muscles Of
his own body or those Of his domesticatcd
animals. by means of soils. windmiIls or
waterNheeis, or in a more remote way by
means of fuel. It is but solar energy, the
tiny part OF that energy which, streaming
through the spaces. falls upon our insig-
nidcant little sphere to be held in by its
atmosphere and set to diverse kinds OF
work; in work ranging from the winds ana
currents of the SEA 10 that which sends
the blood through our veins.
1t has been estimated that each day
there comes upon the surface of the earth
from the sun enough heat TO melt S.0C0
cubic miles of ice. The greater part OF
this energy rebounds at once into the
spaces OF the heavens. What is retained by
the atmosphere brings about the move
ments OF the winds. and through them the
waves and currents of the sea, and the as
cent of the water into the air. whence IL
IS TO fall as rain or SNOW. So, too, it works
iE the plants. enabling them to separate
carbon from the oxygen with which it Is
linked i'm the gas commonly known as car
bcnic acid. and to combine it with the dis
solved mineral substances obtained from
the soil and built into vegetation. thus al
fording the food of animals, and in rare
conditions the buried woody matter which
becomes in time coal.
Although from a very remote time man
had. in a small way. helped himself to
power from the winds and streams. and
thus increased their profit from the sun,
it was not until Watts improvements of
the steam-engine made an effective ma
chine OF what had long been an interest
ing toy. that they began 10 recognize what
the natural forces might do for them-now
carbon in wood or coal. for ages known
as sources for heat. could be made to al
ford power. not ftfully, as the winds, or
locally, as the waterfall. but wherever the
supply was needed. With this discovery
OF a means OF which carbon could by means
Of steam be converted into power, the
buried form of it in coal quickly became
the basis of commercial success. The
rapid advance of the nations of northern
Europe and of the United States is, in
great measure. to be attributed TO the fact
that they had access To extensive deposits
Of this material. Out of this store OF
what has been POLITICALLY termed fossil sun
shine. and is in effect the solar energy OF
other ages. they have shaped the industrial
success which has become the foundation
Of other greatness.
COAL SUPPLY.
Recognizing that the economic successes
o. the n1nteentn century nave ocSh
founded on the possession of coal fields
of good quality the world has been pretty
thoroughly searched for such deposits so
that we now know with fair accuracy
where the stores lie. Their position Is
about as follows: Within the tropics IL
IS fairly certain that there are no coal
deposits OF a nature to be of any great
Importance. Thus nearly half the habit
able lands are enectually excluded from
this reckoning. Beyond the equatorial
realm 20 the southwark the only coal fields
Promising a yield sufficient TO afford the
basis of national industries are in South
Africa and Australia. The resources or
these lands. though considerable, are very
much less than those OF the northern
realm; taken altogether they are probably
less IN value than any one or half a
dozen areas in North America, Europe and
ASIA IL is not toe much to say that the
available store OF coal is practically linn
tied 10 the northern parts of these great
lands.
As for the probable endurance of the sup
ply Of coal. il may be said that. at any
thins like the rate of increase IN the de-
mand of the last century, ii cannot last for