The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-29

duced if the scientific processes could be applied to coke. That assumption ha been verified by some of the men of science of the United States who have made study of the subject and the sus- pension of our commercial relations with Germany has led to the construction of plants hy which the by-products of coke overs may be utilized in the manufacture of benzol. That is presumed to be the purpose of the United States Steel corpor- etion. to which Judge Gary referred when he stated that it would undertake some of the by-products of coke
 The national bureau of mines at Wash ngton, whose management is now greatly interested in the utilization of by-products. especially in the matter Of dyestuffs and drugs, does not look for rapid devel- cpment of the dye industry in the United States. It will be developed, although slowly, and even now. the department of mines asserts, is yielding some profit to those who have ventured in small way to invest capital in the production of dyes Edison is of the opinion that the com mand by the United States of the industry which Germany has almost exclusively enjoyed-namely. dyes-will not be as sured until the tariff is so modified as to make the American product safe against the German manufacturers.
 New Industrial Development
 What Judge Gary said and what Edison has already done are now regarded as merely symptomatc of great and mpor- tant industrial developments along new lines in the United States. The impulse has come suddenly and is due almost en- tirely to the European war. There are to be great advances in the utilization of electricity and some of them will depend upon developments which the invention or discovery of Crooks of London of the so-called vacuum or vapor tube will make possible
 now being carried on upon very large scale through the union of water power with electric energy. Recently, accord ing to a report in the Manufacturers Record of Baltimore. contracting com pany of Columbus, Ga. has been award ed the contract for the construction of a dam and power house on the Catawba river. When completed the installation of this hydro electric industry will make available energy equivalent to about 200 000- horse power. So, also. elsewhere in the south there is now large investment of capital in the development of water power and in apparatus by means of which that energy may be converted into electric energy which may be with ad vantage conveyed long distances.
 George Westinghouse Prediction
 It is only five years since the late George Westinghouse, in an address at Atlanta. to a gathering of men who rep resented southern industries, spoke with enthusiasm and earnestnes- of the nat ural resources that the south possesses in stupendous water power and of the ease and small cost. relatively speaking. with which this natural power could be converted into electric energy. MT. West inghouse lived long enough to be able to speak with enthusiasm of the beginning of the development of energy of that kind and he predicted, careful man as he was about making predictions, that within 20 years this would make the southern states if not eminent, at least upon perfect equality with any other industrial section of the United States
 The Day of Wonders
 If the war in Europe did not hasten this southern development. it certainly in no way impaired it. Capital has been found in plenty for investment in these developments. We are probably, how ever, on the verge of extraordinary hitherto undreamed of possibilities in the utilization of electricity for commercial purposes. MT. Westinghouse himself was persuaded several years ago that men of science would soon show now power could be utilized commercially through
 
 That was forecast of what may be in store for us in the way of new uses of electricity. At the banquet last week of the American Newspaper Publishers association. the guests listened in amazement and delight to communica- tions that were sent from San Francisco over the ong-distance telephone. These communications and the perfect clear ness with which the human voice was carried 5000 miles represent one of the tri- umphs of the men of science of the pres ent day For this intelligible communi- cation was made possible by the utiliza- ton of the almost mystic apparatus with which Dr. Peter Hewitt Cooper is identi- fled, the invention. which for want of better name. is called the vacuum vapor tube It imparts renewed vIgor into the electrical vibration and by the use of it communication could be carried for in- definite distances. certainly around the world. When England's great man of science Crooks, to whom the honor is due for the discovery of the vacuum vapor tube, produced it. he undoubtedly