Evening star., 1923-10-31

lZu peninsula which gets more than
10 inches OF rain; II the Nippon
tnree wet ones they at once begin
thinking of making a special offer
ing to the gods.
Nature was not satisfied by giving
Japan one rainy season: she gave the
Islanders two every year. and the
second, which marches thunderingIy
all through the month of September
and continues in October. is good
"tsuyu." which starts about the
middle OF June and takes in the first
part Of July
Now all this tremendous and per
Itself on fiat marsh Japan is a
millionaire in mountain ranges; she
is practically all broken up by peaks
And that. Of course. is the sad reason
Why the ever-increasing population
there cannot get enough rice from
the home paddy fields. But this very
unkindness Of nature works for the
wealth Of hydro electric possibilities
Japan Is famous for her thousands
OF mountain streams and for her
countless mountain lakes Their one
mission In life Seemed to be to add
TO the scenic glory OF that beauty
spot or earth. For thousands OF
years, since the days OF the gods.
them. That is to say. UP until 1890.
In that year the city of Kyoto was
In the thick of the great drainage
work OF Lake Biwa. And as by
product Of the mighty undertaking
they harnessed the water OF the lake
and made 1t serve the city through
couple Of s0-kilowatt generators.
That was the beginning Of the hydro
electric enterprise in Japan.
Electricity Leads.
In the rapidity of growth and also
in the amount OF invested capital
hydro electric enterprises are at the
head Of the industrial procession in
Japan today. The largest corporation
in Japan, with 222.000.00O ven capital
and which hlods the record for rapid
lty OF expansion. ts called the Toxic
Electric Light Company Within two
and a half years It absorbed nine
companies and increased it's capt.
talfzation by 12l.000.000 yen
Last year the Tomino hydro Elec-
trio Power Company. Limited. in
generating $500 kilowatts And on
the Ioshii river :he Chugoku Hydro
Electric Power Company. Limited
completed a plant generating 5000
kflowatts. These We're the two most
important of the water-pOwer install
lations in 1922. The significant thing
about 1t all was that both of them
were almost entirely equipped with
Japan made machinery.
In the single year 1922 Japan COM
pleted and put 10 work new plants
generating additional electrical en-
ergy of more than I2S..00 kilowatts
OF that total nearly $500 kiiowatts
came from water power.
Big Snms Invested.
Oficial figures of the Department
OF Commerce and Agriculture show
that in 1922 more than 2250OOOOOO
yen of capital (sI.125 10000 were
invested in the electric power enter
prises Not all of this sum was in
vested in the hydro electric business.
OF course. II Is impossible 10 say
just how much Of this tremendous
amount is in the ter-power electric
plants, since many of the great COM
panies in electric power supply busi-
ness generate the power both by
the total electric power generated
amounted to a little less than 1906
600 kilowatts. OF this nearly .o61 500
kilowatts came from the hydro-elec-
tric plants. And since then water
power development has been much
more rapid than the increase of steam
generation. II is not far from the
mark TO say that at the end of 1922
hydro electric plants We're furnishing
more than l.lSo.eo0 kilowatts.
Converting Steam Railroads.
This summer in my investigation OF
the industrial activities of Japan all
over her productive centers came
is governed by fashions and fads,
even as the world OF dress. The rage
in Japan this year was the electrifica-
ton OF steam railways. Since 1921 the
Japanese government has been preach
ing the gospel of clectrfication of trans
portation with aH ardor worthy of ar
ancient prophet. II is bringing forth
fruits meet unto its painstaking educa-
tional campaign. In 1922 thirty-thres
companies, all newly established, re-
ctiC n alp
railways for the total mileage of 436.
And nineteen Of the companies are now
actually constructing the lines today.
The old companies also fell in line and
electrified their steam railways to the
extent of more than lis miles. Natu-
rally enough. the greatest increase of
generating capacity of plants was with
the plants supplying power TO electric
railways.
Aside from lighting, the use of cleo
tric power in various industries made
a sensational advance in Japan since
the world war In 1914 power supplied
for all industrial purposes amounted to
about $4,000 horsepower. In 1921 it
was more than 1.550,000. Iron foundry
and machine making industry used up
more than 413.000 horsepower. which
is more than the entire amount used by
all industries before the war. Weaving
271,000 horsepower. Nearly $4,000
motors engaged in the production of
"cornestibles and beverages" used up
about 10000 and mining and refinery
more than 272.000.
The chemical industry was an
anemic infant in Japan before the
war. In 1914 about 5000 men and
women were working at the produc-
tion of industrial chemicals. The en-
tire output of the year was valued at
slightly more than 100000 yen. Be
hold the transformation. In 1920
there were more than l5.48O people
engaged at the same business and
the --1lue of the chemicals they pro-
duced was more than 55,400,OOO YEN
Other branches of chemical industry
tell the same wonder tale And these
did not die out with so many other
war babies.
Now the chemical industry uses
electric power almost entirely. In
1921 1t had 1850 motors using 252.000
aggregate horsepower.
AS has been said, the story of the
hydro electric business in Japan is
as young as 1t has been sensational
1t was as late as 1907 that the Toxic
Electric Company succeeded In trans
mitting $1,000 volts from Yamanashi
Prefecture to Toxic. That was the
electrics in Japan But even then the
country was full Of skeptics. Japan
was not at all sure whether her own
engineers were able to send a large
amount of electric energy from the
power plants deep in a remote noun
tain fastness Jver hundreds of miles
into the great cities, such as Toxic.
Osaka and Nagoya.
1t remained for the Inawashiro
Hydro Electric Company engineers to
demonstrate their ability, to the utter
and complete silence of critics. In
1914 they succeeded in transmitting
$4,000 volts over their steel towers,
reaching from Inawashiro lake clear