Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-18
rTco,as'S4 fTso,ne Teste1day enfay 14O6O
Heating Homes by Electricity.


Coincidcn; with the request for higher
return upon the investment represented IN
electric light and power TRANSMISSION,
made bv the company which today IS
supplying Wilmington, comes a sugges-
tion from T. J. Rice. president OF the
General Electric Co and also president
q, ,hc Nmcrlcan Institute OF Electrical
Engineers that electrical power can be
- .lcycIopcd ~ to obviatc fuel famlneS,
.icb es the SERIOUS ono we have Just suf-
fcrcd
Mr. Rice boldly urges the nationwide
rlcrtrhcation of thc railroads as the solu-
non II tho fuel and transportation prob
M ~ america fiC furth asserts that
,lr.trif,lnc tho railroads would mean
saving ~ about 100. OOO, 600 tons of coal a
wear - thc country in addition to saving
ln0n no0 barrels Of oil The hauling ca
parlt, of the ruad. would bc increased by
,he t:,c ii electric engines, he says to a
marked degree
.Nh hcrc electricity has been substi-
tuicd ior steam in the operation OF rall-
roads adds Mi Rice. fully 80 per
cent lncrcasS III available capacity Of
cNlstlng tracks ana other facllitics has
been demonstrated Tins increased ca
pa,Itv has been due 10 variety Of causes,
bur largely 10 the increased reliability
and capacity, undcr all conditions of ser
wee. OF electric locomotives, thus per
mlttIng speedng-up of tram schedules by
some - per cent under average conditions.
1t l. estimated that something like
10000, 600 tons OF coal were consumed
by the railroads in the year 1917. Now
We know from the results obtained from
such electrical operation OF railroads
as we already have in this country that
IL would be possible TO save at least two
thirds Of this coal. if electric locomotives
were substituted for the present steam
locomotives On tins basis there would be
a saving Of over 100 1000. 900 tons of coal
IN one wear This Is an amount three times
rs large as the total coal exported from the
United States during 1917.
Mr.. Rice continues that while the
nation continued 10 burn - per cent
OF the total roal output under locomo-
tive l,oilcr- there was at least 25,000,000
hpr,,. power going to waste in unused
W-t.r power
The -ar, amount Of coal burned in
i m,d,rn c"n'ral power station, he
~. aould produce an equivalent Of
thrc, 'Irne~ thai amount Of power Ia the
faot,t- al IN electric locomotive even
IA, n,ludng I'll the losses o. generation
and transmission from the source of
lnwcr to the locomotive Where water
power may be utilized, as IN our noun
,a.nnus districts in the West, all of the
coal i>cd for steam locomotives can be
s.ved In hc Middle and Eastern States,
however Vatcr powers are not sufficient,
and y viii bc necessary III 4 universal
scacmc OF cIcctritication that the loco
motives he operated from steam turbine
st.'ion>. but ~ / have already stated,
The operation Of the electrified railroads
from -team turbine stations will result
IN thc SAVING Of two-:hirds of the coal
now employed for equivalent tonnage
movement by steam locomotives"
In the light of MIR Rice views-and it
must not be overlooked that he is the head
of one Of the biggest electrical generating
power companies IN not alone America,
but the world al large, may not the
ordinary common coal consumer. the
householder, have night and cause to look
forward 70 heating Of his home from
central plant, by electricity, instead Of by
coal
Our biggest ships OF war today are
burning oil, not coal Tampico, Mexico,
relatively rs more important than Scran-
ton, Pa II Thomas Alva Edison can give
us heating system equivalent to the turn
ing on Of his incandescent lamp, he will
have achieved something outrivalling his
invention Of the arc light, or even the
motion picture machine.
Economy in coal has become problem
worthy Of the best brains in the entire
country.