Omaha daily bee., 1906-02-11
OUR LETTER BOX
windmill Fuel.

GRAND ISLAND. Neb.. Feb. 9--To the
Editor of The Bee: In view OF the pub
locations going the rounds Of the various
papers in the United states that all the
coal miners are anticipating going on a
strike on April ! next, l desire to place
before the many readers Of your valuable
paper the following propositions to enable
them to meet this emergency Of the possi-
bility of shortening Of the fuel question
especially In the state OF Nebraska: that
is to say, a process Of procuring heat and
light without the means Of fuel OF any
kind whatsoever. To do so l will quote
from articles published with this object
in view. one from the New Century Path
of Point Iona, San Diego, Cal, and one
from the Popular Mechanics magazine Of
Chicago:
windmills On Board Ship-A novel use
of windmlls was made on board the ex-
ploring ship Arctic. To save fuel, all OF
which must be carried. set OF windmllls
bound The power was employed In COM
pressing air which was used to run
lighting the ship The system was suffi-
GENTLY successful to warrant the American
Ship Builder in recommending the adop-
ton of wndmils on board the lightships,
which serve as floating lighthouses along
These vessels are where they are subject
to almost continuous winds from some
direction and II is believed would make
enough current not only to light their
signal lamps, but sufficient to cook with
and possibly warm the ship in winter. The
suggestion is made that the experiment
be given a thorough trial. not only on the
lightships. but with lighthouses also, which
are usually in exposed locations
The town of Wittkeil, in Schleswig, Is
lighted by electricity generated BY the mo-
large one, the wing area being about lUo
square feet, The Danish government, says
the Scientific American, has been expert
menting for several years in this direction,
and some definite results have been reached.
1t has been found. for instance, that a
much power as fiat one; that four wings
make the most satisfactory arrangement;
that the width of the wing should be about
one-fourth OF the length. and that the
greatest width carried in front should be
three times the narrowest width.
some method must be adopted of storing
the energy developed. II may be at once
turned into electricity and directed into
compress air or to carry water to height.
All of these are, of course, expensive AZ
their installation. After that the only
points to be considered are the expense OF
watching. working and keeping them In
repair. A storage battery, watched by an
electrical expert. would seem to be the
simplest
There are now on the market, and in
use in many places. a list OF electrical
radiators and they sell cheap as the
ordinary steam or hot water radiator.
Mr.. edison. writing TO me on the subject,
states that the only way to get lower
without fuel is by the use of windmill
dynamos and storage batteries. And he
/ expects to have completed new improved
storage battery in the spring, and would
suggest in lieu of storage batteries extra
! tanks of compressed air to be kept on hand
! so as to meet any variation in the force
| of the wind The above is simply extended
as a suggestion TO the readers of your
paper in procuring heat and light in state
| like ours, where all fuel in the shape OF
| coal has to be imported.
NJ. ]. GALIAN.