THE LEYS INSTITUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 138, 10 June 1905, Page 6

THE LEYS INSTITUTE.

ELECTRICAL INDUSTRIES. The utility of the Ley* Institute was ally manifested last evening, when the •eture hall was literally packed by eople who had assembled to listen to lecture on ""Kleetrical Industrie*." A otieeablc feature w:is that by Ulr the rearer proportion of those present were oung people, mostly in their tovns. and lie fact that the speaker was ~ueh an ble and popular lecturer as Professor irown. M.A.. B.bc, no doubt contributed r> tile attractiveness of a subject so ineresting a-- electricity applied to inustries. ilr. 'I". \Y. Leys, in opening the proeeding.s introduced Professor Brown, lid explained iliat the charge, made foi dniission was merely to cover incidental xpenses. as Prolessor Brown and all tin ither gentlemen who had kintiiy consent d to deliver lectures at the Institute ;ave their services gratuitously. (Ap ilausc , .) The course of lectures liac ieen arranged with the object of conibin ng instruction with ■entertainment ?hey conM see from the apparatus witl \iiich the table was covered that in f eeture of tllf present kind Prores»:>i 3rown cave more than merely his gra uiious service, as it, entailed v good (lea if expense lo the lecturer, he uesired >n behali of ihe committee, to tlianVi J rofessor Brown and the other gentle ncn who had r.ronuFr.'d lectures for the uiblic spirit, and liberality they hat nanifested in the matter. (Applause.) Professor Brown said he took it hat the large gathering was c-videnw he young people of the district hac linis and ambitions. asked to de iver a lecture, he thought of how tlv ate Mr. William Leys had aimed at mi Droving the condition of the people, ani ol lowing out that thought lie decided 01 hat night to try ami tell tlx-m of tlv power that existed in the rivers ai)i waterfalls of New Zealand, ami how i night, in the future lie utilised r>o as t> aaterially aid in the prosperity or th colony. He knew a good deal about th kvater power in the colony, how in th South, at one place alone. luo.uOO h.j: ■ould be seeuivd. while in the Xorth !>■ land they had Hie lluka Falls and th \V;,ikatc) River capable of developin. hundreds ill' 1 housantls of horse-powei ivhifh wu-« at present running wadti into the -."■a. Klectriciiy developed heal light, and power, ami be proposed t i-hnu how it could he applied to indu. ; lie-. He in'd noi dwell upon the pier trie light, because tl':.«y were faniilia \\-i»11 J; iii i\v train carp. Professor Brown next showed by a , ipparatus how the power for an eleo trie motor was generated, hut explaine that, in speaking about electrical ii duatries. he did not refer to eleetri tramways, as the mere carrying of peopl backwards and forwards ivu.-s searcel an electrical industry, being rather eoi ilucive to the development of laziness tha anything else. ( Li , lighter. 1 What h proposed to deal with was the application, of electricity to the manufacture of useful articles. The application within the la.-t ti'W years of electrolysis hail made the employment of electricity in many ' industrial pursuits a commercial sueBy entertaining experiment* illustrated by limeiight viev-, the lecturer showed how the insertion of a positive and' negative poles ot the battery in chloride sodium solution re-u!te.l in the. separation of tin- chlorine from the sodium. This hu\inp been duly explained, the -nine process was applied to other liquids, and the actual working sliown by means nt the lantern, sulphate ■if copper Ir.-ing deposited in one in.-tanoe. e'llorid." 01 tin in another, while ordinary water was separated into oxygen and livdrrgvu ga-e-. In connection with tin , deposition ..)' eoppf.r. Professor I'.rown : -aid it had recently - bren discovered llial ' by nienn- of a rotary magnet it was po-- ; silile to m.ike copper tubing, and in illus- , Lraliuli held up ;i lube he !iad inude tip" day. Having ilius illu-irated tli.> mc- ( thod, l'n:tes-~or lirown next showed its 1 application to industries, and in the ; presence of the audience electro-plated | a brass plate in a bath of silver solution, nnd next gilded a spcon in a bath of gold solution. Incidentally, he mentioned that the gold used in gilding the spoon did not cost more than one penny, although tlv price charged when anyone wanted ii done would give Ihe impression I hat the process was a costly one. By tlv , use of electricity cau-tie potash and soda could be manufactured in the colony, yet he noticed that in WirJ. the quantity imported was set down at n value of £11.000 to £12.000. Y<4; by .-leetrolysis this should be obtained from the sea. Silt was also imported, which could also be obtained from the sea without the use of electricity, and the salt could by i?lw-, trolysis be converted into caustic sodu ' m<l chlorine. By the same process, aluniiiiuni could be manufactured. L"p at A'aiotapu there weiv.> millions of tons of iluiii rock, and within a few miles roar-i ■d the rapids of the VVaikato River. riiere they had the material and the lower almost side by side. What better neans could tliey wish for the manufaeure of aluminium. (Applause.) The lecturer then illustrated on the ■ereen the system of making aluminium. ,bowing th,? furnaces used, and explain-' ng the procerus, after which ingots of the n<u»l were handed round the audience, j The manufacture of ozone was next I lustra t?d by an apparatus on (he plat-! form, and Professor Brown explained that the ozonised air was utilised in some' countries for the purification of the >vater for cities. Tt was thus utilised.: for instance, in Holland, wheiv.- the eouii-i try being Hat and marshy the water, from the wells was ijuite as dirty as that, supplied by the municipality to Auckland. 1 Laughter. I Views were then shown on tlh? «creeu.' illustrating thi' way in which the ozonised air was used to kill the ohjeetionable bacteria in water. Professor Brown next shnwrd pictures of elecLrnal lurnaces. and then refernd to the possibilities of the manufacture here of eaieium carbide, which was used to produce the -eetylene' gas. also earhorumtuin. for; grinding wheels. j At the close of the lecture Professor Brown was loudly cheered. On the motion of Mr. Leys, a very hparty vote of thanks was accorded Professor Brown for his interesting and instructive lecture. Professor Brown, in replying, expressed pleasure at seeing such a large audience, and especially so many young people, manifesting a keen interest in electrical industries. It appeared to him to augur well for the future. He was sorry at not being able to show an .?lecfrieal furnace, but when the municipality laid «n a eabie from the refuse destructor ho might then be able to come again and giv£ another lecture. 1 Applause.)