THE ELECTRIC AGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 102, 2 May 1925, Page 10

THE ELECTRIC AGE.

INCREASING DEMANDS. NEW STATIONS IN ENGLAND. AMERICA'S PROGRESS. Mr. Herbert Hoover. Secretary of Commerce in America, says:—" America has invested £14,0U0.000i000 in power and light plants, plus EI2.OOO.OUIUHHI in electric railroads. We have outdistanced all the world's electrical development. The American wage earner has at his elbow ."ill per cent more j power than any of his competitors. I consequently his production is greater. his wages are higher, and the physical strum thai he undergoes is less. ' " Figure, speak for themselves. The income uf the electric light power industry in America exceeds £200.(100,001) yearly. Dining 1924 the output was 54.0110,00(1,(1(10 kilowatt hours. :)7 per ccnl of which was developed hydroelect rieally and 03 per cent by "fuelburning stations. Power and Prosperity. "Last year 1.f10U.000 nvw customers were added, bringing the total up to 10.077.000— K1.000.000 being domestic. 2,000,000 commercial, and more than .-.0U.00i) indict rial users. Our power houses arc regarded as the heart of the body of industry, transmitting prosperity to the surrounding territory. " The United States is now engaged upon ii project to unite the whole of the country's production and distribution of mechanical energy in a single ■Mr.'w. ii. Wuodhouse. president of the Institution of Klectrieal Engineers and one of the pioneers of electrical power supply in England, in an interview with the ••Westminster Gazette,"' foreshadowed a rapid and continuum increase in the demand for electric li-dit and power. c There cannot be the least shadow oi doubt that the average person—both man and woman—in the British Isles is becoming electrically minded he declared. " - The new electrical era cannot give 'is thllt superiority over the other conntries of the world that the introduction Ot tne steam engine gave, since we are not alone in tins ne w electrical field, hut tt-p cannot possibly afford to fall behind S;. n " 1i0,,( '" U '° "I*"™"™ o« thi. "It is not ton much (o say." be con I'llllOil, "that electrical development lm* been largely ,he result of the work of British scientists and engineers. One can assert that recent developments o f electrical science are so rapid that we are quire possibly on the eve of some new and valuable application of cleetriBritain's Progress. "To what extent Britain is becoming electrified can b.< judged from the follow- " In London the Deptford station has been greatly extended, and at Barkins there is a new station on the point of parting; while as soon as the bills now before Parliament go through an immeuiflip stfirt will bo undo with 11 etruction of one or more large stations to the west of London. " The important area on the Clyde in and around Glasgow is already supplied by large power stations. On the Ivne and on the Tees there are laree stations, which supply the greater part of the electricity used in Northumberland and Durham. " In Lancashire, in addition to the Stations of the Lancashire Power Co. and tlie .Manchester Corporation, Blackpool Proton and Saltford will all provide additional plants. In Yorkshire, Leeds Sheffield. Bradford, Rotterdam and the Yorkshire Electric Power Co. produce from largo stations the bulk of electricity used. The Power Company is now establishing a new station, which is planned to be lr>o.ooo kilowatts. " Birmingham and Shropshire are already being dealt with efficiently, and schemes are being prepared for the Black Country. In the .Midlands the power companies and the corporations of Nottingham and Leicester will be the principal suppliers. In South Wales large developments arc also being made, and recently in the West a supply of wide area has been begun by the Gloucester Power Co. Smoke Abolition. " The final result of the establishment of a chain of large stations will be an economy of fuel which, in view of the world-wide movement in this direction, must make the question of coal production one for reconsideration.

'■ Tf one can predict any social results from the electrical age it will be a reduction of arduous labour, the greater application of machinery to all purposes —particularly reducing domestic labour —the abolition of smoke, and the spreading of our industries to factories scattered over the country side in pleasant and healthy surroundings. The introduction of steam power was largely responsible for the growth of large towns and the creation of slums. The use of electricity, it is hoped, will abolish them.

"All the new model villages to-day are being supplied with electricity for lighting purposes, and in many eases for cooking. At present one cannot foresee the time when every farmer will have electric mains brought to hi-s door. The problem here is not cleap current, but cheap distribution. Other countries have met this difficulty by adopting very largely the use of overhead wires, and in this country there is an act which gives the suppliers powers to obtain wayleave for such lines by compulsion if necessary.

" I may say that the demands for electricity are increasing very rapidly, and the industry i-s busily engaged in meeting them and at the same time providing with confidence for a continued increase for a number »f years. Italy has developed its water power. Switzerland not only electricty for all purposes, but also had electrified large sections of its railways. Germany was making tremendous strides in utilising ligmite. and as a consequence would soon lie in a position to export a considerable amount of coal. France is establishing a huge system, and is coupling power generated by coal in the north with that produced by water power in the centre and the Pyrenees."