Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-17
SIN AND WATER POWER.
Forces to BE Utilized When the Goa
Supply Shall Have Been Exhausted.

Forces to BE Utilized When the Goal
Supply Shall Have Been Exhausted
From the New York Tribune.
Out at Pasadena, Cal, an effort has been
made during the last few months TO OBTAIN
mechanical power from solar heat An I'M
mense concave mirror, moved by ciock"orh
to compensate for the change In the sun
position. concentrates the rays from that
body upon a steam boiler, and thus runs a
ten-horse power engine. AS yet II does
not appear that the efficiency attained py
Ericsson twenty or thirty years ago has
been exceeded, although it has been nearly
euualed The most important result OF the
experiment apparently is that 1t has IN
spired Prof. r. H. Thurston OF Cornell
University to contribute an article to Gas
sier's'' on possible substitutes for coal as
sources of power. The value OF this paper
lies not in any novel suggestions wh1ch II
contains, but in the opinions expressed
therein. The author of 1t is one or the
highest American authorities In mechamcai
engineering. -
II has been predicted that the bulk OF the
coal in the United States will be consumed
within century. Englands supply Will
not last nearly so long. And natural gas
and fuel oil will doubtless be exhausted
even sooner. Without other means Of de-
veloping power, therefore. an appalling in
dustria1 situation will be presented AT
present wind and water are doing much
service But the former Is exceedingly va
riable And, inasmuch as the power from
it cannot be stored economically, and as
the output of a single big wind mill Is In
significant, this agency Is unsuited to man
ufacturing operations on a large scale
Waterfalls, on the other hand, are reason
ably constant, and can be employed to gen.
crate great amounts of power at one place.
Hence in Prof. Thurston's Judgment, water
is of vastly more use to mankind than any
dor pnyas{ fx1y~a "a
Tidal power is virtually unlimited and fair
ly regular, but when it is sought to devise
a system of utilizing it which shall be
cheap and practicable human ingenuity
fails.
There seems to be no inherent mechanical
difficulty in constructing and running
solar engine. But in a temperate climate
cloudinesS is likely to interfere with its
work for hours or days at time, and Prof
ThurSton says that a cotton mill which Is
obliged to wait for the sun to come out be-
fore it can start would hardly be expected
to pay dividends. Nearer to the equator
more constant sunshine would be found.
Ericsson entertained great hopes of Egypt
as England'S successor in the manufacture
of cotton goods. But even in the tropics
there is the interruption Of the rainy sea-
son well as of night. So here again
arises the necessity for storing power. And
no cheaper way exists for the solar motor
than for the wind mill.
Prof. Thurston Is forced to conclude that
next after the coal mine, which they will
unquestionably survive, waterfalls hold out
the best promise. Much has been done al
ready toward utilizing them, and this coun-
try has given the world the most modern
lessons in the art. Nevertheless, even in
the United States there are many streams
whose possibilities have not yet been rec
ognized. And the sooner they are har-
messed the longer will be deferred the day
when they will constitute almost the only
power generators of industry.