DO IT ELECTRICALLY

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 16, 13 October 1927, Page 7

DO IT ELECTRICALLY

Electrical Motli.atoria. Moths, by common consent the worst enemies ot upholstery, will be barred for ever from their pastures of plush and velours if a recent adaptation of electricity becomes popular among furniture dealers (says “The Electrician”). This new contrivance, called a Mothatorium, and made possible by easily regulated electric heat; aims at killing the eggs and larvae of the moth before they have a chance to ' start feeding. The method used in the Moth-atorium to combat their activities is simple, and apparently entirely effective. Experiments have shown that the development of both eggs and larvae is most prolific at temperatures between 70 and 80deg. F. A temperature of 115 deg. kills the larvae in a few minutes, while a temperature of 125 deg. will dry up the eggs in about two hours. In order to be on the safe side, the owner of the Moth-atorium maintains an average temperature of 165 deg. It is a room of ample size, located in his basement, and thoroughly insulated on all six sides by double layers ot asbestos, sealed with heat-resisting water glass. The heating is accomplished by using a battery of twenty air heating units so distributed as to maintain an even temperature in all parts of the room. Glass windows are built into the walls in order that the temperature may be read from the outside, and the whole operation of “baking out” the larvae and eggs may therefore be controlled to within a few degrees.

Electro-Chemical Possibilities. In considering ways of levelling up the. ‘tvalleys” in load curves, few station engineers seem to have contemplated the possibility of carrying on a sort of bv-product industry in conjunction with the undertaking during offpeak load periods. Examining such outlets for surplus output, “The Engineer” draws attention to an experiment made by M. Leopold Henry in ms station at Langenbrugge, where, for nearly a year, he has been making about 20 tons of calcium carbide a day, thus providing the station with a load of 3500 kW., and suggests that many other processes, such as the preparation of nitric acid, magnesium, sodium, caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen „ and oxygen can all be effected by electric or electrolytic methods. Various other auxiliary processes of a purely mechanical nature, including the grinding or pulverising of materials, are suggested as being capable of absorbing a considerable amount of power, and capable of being stopped at such times as the power is required for other purposes.! In making these suggestions the publication does not take account of the fact that most power stations are municipally owned, and that, in many places, public opinion is sturdily opposed to the further expansion of the municipal trading field, even if other obstacles were removed (remarks an exchange).

Egg Cleaning by Electricity. . Another use, this time in the cleaning of eggs, has recently been added to electricity’s long list of practical applications This new plan, it is said, has greatly reduced the cost of handling and packing eggs in Petaluma, Ca ! l ' fornia, the egg centre of the U.S.A. in Petaluma, the business of producing and marketing eggs is tackled scientifically (savs a recent exchange). The Amencan’s prejudices are an open book to the inhabitants of Petaluma, whose prosperity depends entirely upon their ability to meet these demands successfully. They have learned, for instance, that Boston prefers brown eggs to white and that in New York, on the other band, white eggs are more acceptable than brown. But one prejudice they have found common to all egg eaters thev want their eggs spotlessly clean. It is in adding that final touch of perfect cleanliness that electricity has found its latest use. Formerly this was done by hand, an experienced egg cleaner being able to clean about seven cases of a dav. Eventually, however, it was decided' to trv the application of power to the cleansing process. After much experimenting, engineers finally supplied an electrically-operated centrifugal compressor which would direct a blast of sand upon a continuous procession of eggs, moving in stately fashion on an automatic conveyor 1 Ins blast of sand removes all extraneous substances immediately, and imparts a fine even finish to the most untidy egg. The direct result of this innovation m the eng industry has been to increase the speed of cleaning eggs by. eighty times, to reduce breakage to a minimum and to'do a much better job.

Miscellaneous. . Harvesting at a wheat farm in Cneyenne County, Nebraska, is being carried on at nivht by electric l>gl'tBurglars used an electric drill to make a tunnel 75ft long beneath the State, Printing Works at Warsaw At a 50,000-acre ranch in' Texas,_ electric appliances ’nclude branding irons, milkers, horse brushes, pumps, churns, washing machines,. cookers, and fires. The residence and outbuildings are electrically lighted. ..... An electric cord which acted as a push button at any point of its length is. according to “Nature,” coming into use in Berlin. If the cable is squeezed at any point throughout, its length the circuit is completed, by having . the wires woven into a loose braid separated by an elastic non-conductor, which, however, makes contact .when pressure is applied. .... Electrically heated . blankets are among the latest appliances produced in the United States The first professional baseball match placed in artificial light was held at Lvnn, Massachusetts. Six banks ot twelve flood ■ lirrht projectors, mounted on fiftv-foot poles, lighted the field. Twentv-five other projectors formed a canopy of light to a height of 500 teet, so that high balls Were at all times visible to players.