Evening star., 1941-11-25
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
Bu Thomas r. Henrv.

BY InOmQS n. HeHTy.
America is short 5000, 900 900 kilowatt
hours of electrical energy in IL months.
This is the calculation of the United
States Geological Survey for the indus
trial East, which depends on water
power for much of its electricity, for
the water year" which extends from
October to October.
The loss is due to the dry weather,
and hence the reduction in stream flow,
caused by the long periods of drought
which have been especially acute this
fall.
Says Geological Survey bulletin:
Like any other commodity, inventories
of water supplies can be taken most
readily when stocks are lowest. The
supply Of water in the ground and on
the surface tends to stand at its lowest
level for the year about September 30.
The tier of States comprising the
Northern Great Plains and intermoun-
tain region enjoyed generally normal
stream flow throughout the year. But
stream flow in a 0OOO square mile area
east of the Mississippi River, centering
about the Ohio River and extending
through the Middle Atlantic region into
New England averaged SIS per cent OF
normal through the year. The annual
yield of representative streams, including
the important Tennessee River, in five
States-Maine. Vermont, Tennessee, In
diana and North Carolina, were the
lowest on record, the average deficiency
being eight inches of depth OF water
This affected power generation for a
loss of about 5000 900 900 kilowatt hours
of energy. 1t has been necessary to
increase use OF steam generation plants.
Ground water levels in representa- tive
wells throughout the East are now gen.
orally below those OF year ago. with
many approaching the lowest stages in
nine years and approaching the lowest
stages of record
IN the Southwest, in the group of
States from Texas to California, stream
flow during the year as indicated by
| representative gauging stations ranged
from l35 to $50 per cent of normal.
The water levels in the reservoirs reached
all-time highs providing ample water
for the past irrigation season and carry
over storage in sufficient quantity that
the water supply situation for the next
year seems very favorable"
But with the country entering the
all-time high in demands for electric
power for defense industries. experts
OF the United States Weather Bureau
say, the picture is even worse than it
seems from these figures. Last fall was
normally wet. The real drought did
not start until early spring and streams
were replenished by melting SHOWS in
the high mountains. Then there was
fair rainfall in the early summer. Much
Of the deficiency recorded by the Geoloe-
ical Survey was piled up during August
and September.
November is ordinarily the dryest
month of the year and December often
is little better. There is little prospect
for stream now- replenishment in mid
winter. Hence the condition may grow
worse over much of the industrial area
until next spring.
-
The civilization of China, like that
Of Europe. was derived ultimately from
the Near East.
Although the Chinese developed one
| Of the worlds great ancient civilizations,
its basic elements were not original, 1t
Is contended by DR.. Carl w. Bishop of
the Freer Gallery of Art in the annual
report of the Smithsonian Institution.
Sometime in the second millennium
BIC, he points out there came to China
a bronze age type Of civilization. 1t was
already several centuries old in Eastern
Asia. About the same time as this civili-
zation. and most probably as part
Of it. came the cultivation of wheat and
the use of the chariot. The wheat was
of precisely the same varieties grown
far to the westward. and the chariots
were drawn, just as in the Occident, by
two horses yoked, not harnessed, abreast
Shortly before the close Of the second
millennium BIC. China was conquered
by invading people from the West, the
Chous. The latter introduced the seven
day week and the use Of eunuchs as
pdldCS kudl OS-OOlIl Ill dllS UtllCfCO 10
have originated in the Near East.
Shortly after there appeared in Northern
China the practice of erecting grave
mounds over the illustrious dead This
practice had long prevailed from South
eastern Europe far into Central Asia.
Certain species Of animals and plants
had been brought under human control
in the Near East by the fourth millen-
mum BIC. They appeared in China
much later. The Chinese sheep appar-
emily was not derived from the native
wild form still found in the mountains
ancestral to certain early Occidental
forms. The domestic fowl came from
India. No wild ancestors of the Chinese
OK has been found in the Orient.
Not only did the Chinese acquire
most of their domestic animals as cul-
| ture loans from abroad" DR.. Bishop
says, but they failed to make full use
of them as did the ancient peoples Of
the Near East. Thus, though dairy
economy and use of the ox-drawn plough
had both long been known in the latter
quarter, the one trait was never adopted
/ by the Chinese and the other not until
around the fourth century BIC. Again
from late prehistoric times onward I'M
like the peoples of the Near East they
have never made or used woolen cloth.
China's cultivated plants likewise have
| been derived largely from other lands