Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-12-01

exhausts into pipes over which in
pumped the water for. Irrigation. This
condenses the sulphur dioxide which is
carried back into the boiler.
MEANS CHEAP POWER
with q machine Of this character we
can produce power 20 cheaply that =
steam plant with pre-war prices would
have to buy its coal for less than q
dollar ton to compete with US. The
exact figures are es cents . ton.
You can see that such = machine
does not have to be operated while the
sun is actually shining. We could 70
out by night and turn on the solar
power generated during the day, sim
ply by allowing the stored heated water
to do its work in heating the sulphur
dioxlde to the boiling point.
There is practically no limit to tho
size of such plant for the manufac-
turs of solar heat. The larger the
plant the cheaper IL the construction
and operation per horsepower. or
course such machines are at present
only successful in those portions of the
country where the sun shines for the
greater part of the year. In Yuma,
Ariz., however. which Is typical Of
much of the desert country. govern
ment reports for period of one year
show 301 sunny days, 81 partly cloudy
and only II cloudy days. AS there are
large stores of underground water in
much OF the desert country the sum
power engine has, 1 believe, the largest
field for developing the land that ex-
lists in the entire world. The vast
tracts of land in Mexico and the arid
parts of the United States where there
is plenty of underground water could
be made to yield enormously by use
ut nh 81 T. - a.
from solar heat. There are valleys
where the land values would increase
by millions of dollars in a single night
by putting in action some cheap me-
thod of pumping water over them
Water IL the simplest fluid to alb
sorb solar heat, but we have made ex-
periments with other mediums with
which We have obtained 256 degrees
This was done by arranging the glass
to attract more heat but oil would
have to be used to absorb it because
the water would boil before it could
be collected in the tank
NOT USED COMMERCIALLY
Commercially speaking solar power
has not yet been used because the
plants cost more to build than steam
plants that develop the same horse
power Once they are built, however,
the saving is enormous. Another rea-
son Is because Of the sparsely settled
population of the desert regions. II
coal becomes scarcer and costlier and
IL coal strikes tie us up can't see any
reason why solar power plants deliv-
ering electric power in large units
wouldn't be good investment in re-
gions where the percentage of sun is
large.
"Of course where you have a good
nj he
not be obtained with enough regu-
larity"
That Mr.. Willsie's conclusions are
sound is shown by the fact that his
investigations with solar heat have
been included in engineering text
books.
Although his experiments are by no
means the main feature of his wife's
novel. THE Forbidden Trail" there is
contained in 1t an excellent description
of the difficulties undergone by an en-
gineer in the course Of planning his
wonderful engine and putting it into
operation, and many of the scenes de-
scribed are actual occurrences. On one
occasion the Oil container burst and
Mr.. Willsie and his wife were knee deep
in oil and in a temperature of about
$40 degrees. On another a cloudburst
nearly ruined his plans and wrecked
the plant The struggles with sand
storms. heat, thirst and loneliness are
real
During the war Mr.. Willsie per-
formed valuable work for the United
States government in inventing and
perfecting gas mask that was far
better than anything the war had pro-
duced, and which was Just being sent
to the men in the trenches when the
armistice was proclaimed. He also dis
covered method of testing the rubber
for the masks by passing it between
two charged iron rollers where the
electric current would short circuit ana
burn a visible hole in the fabric wher-
ever a fault occurred.
In his experiments with poisonous