Evening star., 1921-03-20


less homes. often spoken or
but usually referred TO as a
dream Of the scientists. ars
coming in the very near future. ac-
cording to DR.. Charles L. Steinmetz,
world-famous electrical wizard.
Cooking and heating BY electricity
is nothing new. Nor is the clectrify-
ing of railroads and the operating OF
factory plants by electricity. but the
day is not far distant when this serv-
ice to mankind will be extended" says
the engineer. 1T all remains on a
means for reducing the costs of el"c-
tricity to revolutionize all our domes-
tic life"
DIR. Steinmetzs accomplishments
have been such that anything he pre-
diets about electricity is we'll worthy
Of serious consideration, no matter
how bizarre his ideas may seem.
Consider the enormous loss sustain
ed every year by not utilizing coal 70
the greatest possible extent Think
of the enormous amount Of coal used
in the United States in the course OF
year In 1915 the consumption was
S57 900, 900 tons, which may not mean
much to the average person, until IL
Illustrated by a picturesque compafl-
son by DIR. Steinmetz,
X II x
One Of the wonders of the world
is the great Chinese wall. running
across China for hundreds of miles, by
! which that country unsuccessfully
! tried to protect its northern border
from invasion. Using the coal pro-
| duced in one year as building mate
! rial, we could build with il wall.
| like the Chinese wall. around the
United States. a distance not OF hun :
dreds but Of thousands OF miles. And
| the coal producer the next year would
represent chemical energy sufficient
| to lift this entire wall into space for
| a height of 200 miles.
Our present methods OF utilizing
| coal is inefficient. In converting 1t
| into electricity we throw away about
| so per cent of the chemical energy
as heat. At the same time we burn
! many millions Of tons Of coal for heat
! energy and in this process waste the
I 20 per cent high potential energy. 1t
seems an economical crime to burn
| coal for mere heating without first
taking out as much high grade ener-
| gy, mechanical or electrical. as is eco
nomically feasible.
| "All these steps tend toward cheap
er electricity. Startling will be the
| changes when this time comes. At
| present when we want to keep warm
ion a cold day ~e use a furnace. kitch-
! en- range, the fireplace and other un-
| satisfactory and insanitary methods.
! In the summer. when the temperature
| is above normal. We are practically
helpless and have to suffer. Electric
| fans give some relief.
4 De ,I,A io HS TO- Ia Ia
trically." says DR.. Steinmetz. and I
want seventy degrees in my home. I
| shall set the thermostat at seventy
| and the temperature will not rise
above that point. This temperature
will be maintained uniformly regard
less Of the weather outside. This will
also hold true on the warm day when
| ty or 100 degrees. The same electri-
! cal apparatus will cool the air. and.
what's more. it will also keep the hu-
midity normal at all times.
Then. too. there is ventilation which
does not exist in the average home
! today. At present we have to depend
| on windows. doorways and electric
| fans to blow the bad air out. and with
| 1t we lose. in winter. most of the
! heat we produced in our furnaces
When electricity is developed We will
| have an apparatus for bringing fresh
! air into the house. destroying the bad
air and recovering the heat from the
| warm exhaust, air.
! Cooking by electricity will also be
| much more satisfactory. No more coal
| ranges and a great deal of our food
| can be cooked on the table. This can
! also be automatically regulated. For
example, we want to cook a cake. We
know this should be at q heat of go
degrees for period of forty-fve min
utes. so We set the regulator at 230-
45' and cease to worry. At the ex-
piration of As minutes the heat is au-
tomatically turned off.
Entertainment in our home will
also be improved. There will be no
need to go to some congested. poorly
ventilated hall for a musical concert.
We just push plug into a base
receptacle, as We do for the vacuum
cleaner or table lamp. and we can
have the concert brought into our
homes. Music will be supplied by a
central station and distributed to sub
scribers by wire. just as we get our
telephone service today. Perhaps this
may be by wireless, the home being
equipped by radio receiving appa-
ratus. With this arrangement i'm
proved. we may hear grand opera
stars as they sing in European capi-
tails while sitting in our libraries at
home.
"The most essential purpose Of the
cellar today is a satisfactory place
to house the heating furnace. the coal
supply and ashes. With the home
electrical. these two purposes. as well
as many others OF lesser Importance.
are eliminated. So what use can we
put this space to?
with the electrical improvements
to come. there will be a change in our
transportation system. There will be
more electric automobiles and electric
bicycles and tricycles will be de-
veloped. Because of their simplicity
md low price they will be available
to almost every one" predicts DR..
Steinmetz Our cellars will be the
place to keep them. We will have
driveways going under the house.
This will eliminate the need for
garages. which many times mar
the beauty of the landscape OF the
property. While the cars are in the
basement they will have their bat
teries recharged.
ELECTRICITY will be used so gen
orally then that the cost will likely
bs apportioned on the basis Of tax.
like our water tax of today. The
charge will probably be so much
plug, as we are now charged 50 much
a faucet. Electricity will be SO cheap
that it will not pay to. have meters
installed. readings taken and a sys-
tenn of accounts kept.
To-day water is used universally
and no one would think Of charging a
CTS