The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-03-10
ELECTRICITY AND DAYLIGHT

Time was when electricity was used
almost entirely for lighting purposes.
daylight the electric lighting plants
ran the generators at their greatest
ands of lights burning in the streets,
the shops and factories, the offices
peeked above the eastern hills the cleo
trical engineer in the poWerhouse
opened a switch and the arc lamps in
the streets instantly went out, though
the red-hot tips of the carbon cleo
trodes glowed for a few seconds in
the morning light. In a few minutes
more another switch was turned and
the lights for the houses and buildings
were turned off and the great general
ors soon stopped with no work to do
during the daylight hours. The en-
gines stopped running, the machinery
stood motionless, the fires were banked
the steam pressure went down, while
the engineer and his assistants killed
time in cleaning up the different ma
chimes and polishing the brass fixtures,
or went home to sleep.
But electricity has found so many
new fields of employment in the past
few years and has come into such
general usefulness in the shop, office
and house hold by day that nearly
every public electric power plant in
towns of any size at all are now run
ming night and day. The time has ar
rived when the power plants can earn
nearly as much during the day as they
do during the night. The electrical
energy which was used exclusively
for lighting purposes in the past is
now recognized as the ideal source of
power and an important factor in the
heating world.
With the central power station run
no industry too small to afford cleo
trio power under the low power rates
elastic and subtitle power in the world.
1t can be used to drive the mammoth
III, 70
the clock or drive the tiny drill in the
dentists office. The mysterious cur
rent seems to have a penchant for do
ing the countless little tasks formerly
accomplished by foot or hand power !
In towns where day service has been
installed the printer no longer ''kicks"
his job press; little motor runs it
even faster than he could; the jeweler
employees a little motor to drive his
lathe the blacksmith has electricity to
blow his forge; the cooper, the carriage
maker and the carpenter give cleo
tricity steady employment in their !
shops; the baker, the butcher, the tin
smith, the little factory and every 9TH
er industry found in a small place
have learned the economy and conve-
nience of electric power. In 1905 e.cc-
tricity represented II per cent of the
energy used in this country for manu-
featuring while steam dominated with
sc IL per cent Of the total But these
conditions have changed materially
since then and the increase is mostly
in electrical power which now repre- !
sents a quarter of all the energy used !
Electricity, as has been pointed out, |
has come to stay. 1t is the heating,
lighting and power element of the flu
ture. And not only is it to be benefit
to commercialism, but homes will be |
made more comfortable, dwellings
more cheerful, by the aid Of electricity. |
Night will be no longer night, but |
when all the wasting waterpower of
the United States is put to use. will
be a continuation of the day. And day, |
with the plants driven by waters I'M
firing force, will be made easier by
the electricity produced.