El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-04

4
/ w China is destined to become
the great republic OF the east.
Some day she and the great republic
Of the-west VIII hold the balance OF
power in the worlds affairs. We shall
furnish the ideas, and she viii apply
them, so that together the two nations
viii lift civilization to a new plane"
Thus said Prof. ". J. 8lcGee, the emi-
nent government ethnologist, who add
ed:
I I'VE reckon civilization nowadays in
terms of power utilization. Ourselves
The greatest users Of mechanical energy
among the nations, we in this country
are continuously employing about go,
100000 horse power-the equivalent, let
US say, Of $4,000, 900 man power; near
! " all of it derived from coal But We
have more than enough water power
! economically available 10 furnish this
| amount of energy, If we had not a pound
Of fuel left.
Worlds StOrehouse Of Energy.
Compared with China. however. we
are IN this respect poor indeed. She Is
I the worlds great stOrehouse Of hydrau-
he energy, Her innumeTable rivers. sew
eral OF them among the greatest on the
/ earth, rise IN lofty mountain ranges.
and. as they How down to the sea. every
/ loot OF their descent represents power
available for mechanical uses. Compare
IN this regard our own Mississippi (al-
most useless for water power by reason
OF the low attitudes at which it heads
with the magnificent Nangtsze. which Is
/ the main artery of trade between eastern
and western China.
The Yangtsze is the principal water
way of China Flowing 29OO miles
| through the very heart Of the country,
| its banks are dotted with rich and
populous cities For a distance OF 1000
miles from its mouth it is traversed
/ by great fleets of steamers-Chinese
British. German and japanese. But
/ above Ichang navigation is impossible
for any but light craft specially built
for the traffic, owing to the fact that
the river runs through series OF tre-
mendous gOrges with dangerous rapids.
ITO grasp even in a measure the
gigantic possibilities Of water power
I deEelOpme nt in China natural re-
I source upon which her future pros
| perity Will largely depend-One must
understand something about the con-
figuration of that country OF many
streams and lofty attitudes The basin
( of the Yangtsze. which forms the whole
of central China, IS bOrdered on the
west by ranges Of mountains with
heights exceeding three and a half
miles To the north this basin is sepa-
rated from that of the mighty HOang-
no. or Yellow river, by chain whose
peaks reach two miles and half above
/ the sea.
The Great Chinese Plain.
a very striking geographical fea-
I ture Of the country is an immense plain
q ~ IA 10 o. ~
ing round the mountainous districts OF
I Shantung, extends zoo miles in a south
erly direction, representing an area
from $50 to 500 miles In breadth rms
plain is the delta of the Yellow river,
and to some extent that OF the Yang
tsze also
The Chinese. though credited with
some very remarkable discoveries, are
not an inventive people, and never viii
be so far as their future Is concerned.
it Is not necessary. They viii asslml-
late the new ideas OF other peoples, as
the japanese have done and, lndus-
trially speaking, will soon fan into
step with the rest of the world. They
will turn 10 account their iucalcuIable
stores Of energy, in the shape OF water
power. in the utilization OF these IN
dustrial inventions of which we our
selves are the most fecund creators.
I'm estimating the possibilities OF
China's future, we should realize lnat
her territory is larger than the whole
D
the entire area Of the United States.
excluding Alaska. What is known as
China proper. which is the southeast
ern part. alone covers 100000 square
miles. Canton, in the south. is with
in the tropics: Shanghai Is In the tenn
Derate zone, and Pekin, in the north
has winters Of Arctic severity
Natives Become PrOgressives.
More important. however. is the fact
that the population of emma is FOUR
rr m cd
states 1t represents nearly Oue-fourth
OF the entire population Of the globe
q mass Of humanity whose energies,
once set going in the proper direction
Already the old-fashiOned. conservative
Chinaman, with his cry Of foreign
devil" is being crowded 10 the rear
The natives have suddenly become pro
gressive: they want to learn about
modern inventions and scientific dis
coveries. Every important city is con
nected with the capital by telegraph,
5000 miles of railways are In opera
under construction. The postal service
IN China Is being rapidly and efficient
" developed on modern lines
The Chinese, like ourselves, have
recklessly used up their forests. They
have immense deposits Of coal on the
other hand, which as yet are practically
untouched. But coal and oil are only
temporary sources OF power There are
other and permanent sources. WnlCu
we ourselves are only beginning 10
utilize. One of these is water power.
Another Is sunshine. The climate over
vast areas in China is such as to make
sun motors effectively utilizabIe. This
problem Of getting energy from the
sun is one that is destined before long
to be satisfactorily solved. the most
promising machines for the purpose
thus far devised being so contrived as
TO convert solar power into electricity,
which, of course, is susceptible Of any
sort Of mechanical application.
But the chief way In which sun
power can be turned 10 profitable &C
count IS for agricultural production
that is to say. in the growing Of crops.
The amount of solar energy used to-
day IN ordinary agriculture Is esu-
mated at 100 horsepower per acre for |
the entire growing season. This, how
ever. represents an employment OF sun |
power that is frightfully wasteful A |
steam engine makes use Of TO per
cent Of the energy stored in che coal
It burns as fuel In the prOdIcuon Of I
crops our farmers DO not ritlllze as
much as 1 percent Of the solar energy
available.
Seeks New Ideas in China.
'T am looking to China Is a region