The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-08

all. and that other nations are no better
on, some Of them by no means a. veil
fixed.
The end Of three centuries seems q
long way on to the inha bitants Of the
world to-day, and our present Interest In
the falling coal supply lies rather In the
phases OF change which are actually
with US. During the first stages Of the
manufacturing period energy In any
form was exceedingly difficult to trans.
port. and this led to intense conoentra-
ton. Coal was taken from the most &C.
cessible coal field and used as far a.
possible on the spot. 1t was chiefly
converted into mechanical energy By
means OF the steam engine. an ex.
tremely wasteful apparatus In small
units. and hence still further concsn.
| tration: thus the steam engine 10 ~.
sponsible In part for the factory sys.
tenn In it, worst aspect.
The less accessible coal fields were
neglected. Also the only other really
| available source Of energy, water power,
| remained unused, because the dificul.
| ties In the way Of utilizing movements
OF large quantities Of water through
| small vertical distances, as In tidal
movements. are enormous: the only
easily applied course occurs where COM
paratively small quantities Of water fall
through considerable vertical distances.
a. In the case Of waterfalls. But, aris-
ing from the geographical conditions.
waterfalls with rare exception. such a.
Niagara, occur in the torrential part Of
the typical river course. perhaps far
from the sea, almost certainly in a re-
gion too broken In surface to allow OF
easy communication or even Of indus
trial settlement Of any kind.
However accessible a coal field may
be to begin with. sooner or later II BE-.
comes inaccessible in another way. a.
the coal near the surface is exhausted
and the workings get deep. No doubt
the evil day IL postponed for a time by
improvements in methods OF mining-a
sort Of intensive cultivation-but As we
can put nothing back the end must be
| the same and successful competition
with more remote but more superficial
| deposits becomes impossible. And every
Improvement in land transport favors
the geographically less accessible coal
neld.
From this point Of view It IL impos-
sible to overestimate the Importance Of
d =
new departure Of the same order Of
ma gnitude as the discovery Of the art Of
smelling iron with coal or the invention
OF the steam engine or the steam loco
motive. mean the conversion Of en-
ergy into electricity and its Transmission
in that form Cat small cost and with
small losO through great distances
First we have the Immediately in
' tnat.t ~ H..
Of cheap power In waterfalls. The
energy may be transmitted through
comparatively small distances and con-
verted into heat In the electric furnace.
making It possible to smelt economi-
cally the most refractory ores. as those
Of aluminium. and converting such un-
likely places as the coast Of Norway
or the West Highlands of Scotland into
manufacturing districts. Or II may be
transmitted through greater distances
to regions producing quantities OF raw
materials. distributed there widespread
to manufacturing centres and recon-
verted into mechanical energy.
"The Plain Of Lombardy produces
raw materials In abundance. but Italy
has no coal supply. The waterfalls Of
the Alps yield much energy and this
transmitted in the form OF electricity.
In some cases for great distances. In
converting northern Italy into one OF
the worlds great Industrial regions.
Chisholm gives an estimate Of a pos
sible supply Of power amounting to
100000 horsepower. and says that
Of this about one-tenth was largely
being utilized in the year 1900.
"But returning TO our assumption
that coal must continue to be the chief
source OF energy 1t is clear that the
question Of accessibility now wears an
entirely different aspect. It Is not
altogether beyond reason to imagine
that the necessity for mining, as such.
might entirely disappear. the coal being
burnt in stu and energy converted
directly into electricity. In this way
some coal fields might conceivably be
exhausted to their last pound without
serious increase In the cost Of getting.
But for the present II is enough to
note that, however inaccessible any
coalfeld may be from supplies Of raw
material, Il 10 only nece ssary to estab-
lish generating stations sat the pits
mouth and transport the energy to
where It can be used. One may
imagine. for example. vast manufac-
lures carried on in what are now the
immense agricultural regions OF China
worked by power supplied from the
great coal deposits OF Shan-si.
There Is. however. another pecu-
liarity Of electrical power which will
exercise increasing influence upon the
geographical distribution OF industries.
The small electric motor is a much more
efficient apparatus than the small steam
engine. We are, accordingly, already
becoming familiar with the great fac
tory in which. instead Of all tools being
huddled together to save loss through
shaflng and betting. and all kept run
ming all the time, whether busy or not
because the main engine must be rum,
each tool stands by itself and Is worked
by its own motor and that only when
II Is wanted. Another Of ,he causes OF
concentration OF manufacturing indus
try Is therefore reduced In Importance.
We may expect to see the effects OF this
becoming more and more marked a.
time goes on and other forces working
toward uniform distribution mako
| themselves more felt