II From Candles to Current-Impetus to Industry

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1932, Page 9 (Supplement)

II From Candles to Current-Impetus to Industry

W ITH the brilliant illumination of electricity available by the mere turning of a switch, it seems a far cry to the days when residents of the Grey district had to depend upon candles and oil lamps. A great improvement was brought about in 1870, when the Gas Company was formed at Greymouth by a group of business men, w'hose confidence in the undertaking was fully justified. The works were subsequently purchased by the Borough Council, and are still being successfully conducted by that body. The advent of steam-generated electricity, in 1926, marked further progress, and this was particularly noticeable, for instance, at Blaketown, where the gas service was not available, and the residents changed their oil and acetylene lamps for electric illumination.

In the list of important and progressive steps taken in the Grey district during the past fifty years, the formation of a Power Board may be given pride of place. The impetus given to the industries of the district, particularly coal-mining, has been great, and, with ample hydro-electrical energy now available, the industrial load carried by the Board’s plant may be expected to increase considerably. The larger number of residents and industries in the Board’s area have appreciated the advantages of electricity, and are using it for the home, farm, and industry. People are gradually being made to realise that most household tasks, a great deal of farm work, and all power requirements, can be met more economically and efficiently by electricity. From remotest time until about 100 years ago, the work of the world was accomplished by human and animal muscle, slightly assisted by the pressure of wind and the weight of falling water. During the older civilisation, when the Pyramids were built by the Pharoahs, when Columbus discovered the New World, almost down to the time when Queen Victoria ascended the throne, men were still using these sources of power. This limitation checked the rate of human progress to a degree which, to-day, it is difficult to realise.

THE STEAM AGE. f Upon a world thus limited burst the discovery of steam. In an incredibly short period of time, a new industrial civilisation arose which completely changed the' conditions of human life. For the first time in history, goods could be transported quickly and cheaply to all mankind. Economically, it was a period of increasing wealth. Socially, it was a period of great upheaval. As steam power could only be used at or near its point of generation, production was concentrated into factories, while workers were drawn \ from the countryside and crowded into towns and cities. Coal, the basic source of power, was wastefully used, and huge volumes of smoke were allowed to pollute the atmosphere. To the credit side of steam power may be placed the possibilities it gave for increased production and rapid transport. On its debit side it created a dirty, congested and wasteful civilisation.

If the great event of the 19th century was the exploitation of steam power, the great event of the 20th century is the development of electric power. With the early experiments of Franklin, Faraday, Swann. Edison and others, which led to the invention of the electric generator and the electric lamp, scientific and industrial research took a new turn. The industrial development of the 19,th century was based on steam, and

; this form of power determined the I rature of the machinery used. But I the mechanical inventions and teclii nical developments of the 20th cen- | tury have, in the main, electricity as 'their basis. The wise and efficient 'generation of electricity the world jover has become a question not only I for the engineers, but has become a great public question as well. As a very striking example of this point may be taken the Electricity Act which was recently passed in England, and which has already been put into practice. Generally, it may bo said that this Act aims at co-or-dinating the generation of electricity i ’ii Great Britain, the elimination of j many small power stations, the con- | hecting of selected stations by a grid or inter-connecting net work of hightension power cables, and the standardising of voltages and frequencies Glasgow may be taken as an interesting example of the economies that can be effected by focussing the generation of electricity in large stations.

In 1920, four power stations provided Glasgow with electric current, but a new and larger station was built at Dalmarnock, a suburb of Glasgow. and in 1925 this new station took over the entire load. In 1925, the City of Glasgow used 212 million units of electricity, and under the old system of four stations, ,297,000 tons of coal would have been needed to generate this quantity, coal, of "ourse, being the source of power in practically all the United Kingdom power stations. By concentrating generation on one large station, only 170.800 tons were required, thus effecting a saving of 126,200 tons. SCIENTIFIC WORKING. The steam age of the 19th century was a period largely governed by rule of thumb. Power was expanding, but scientific standards were little known, and less understood. For instance, lighting in the old days of the oil lamp and gas flame, had no scientific standards whatever, but with the in- 1 troduction of the electric lamp we | possess a source of illumination whose ; candlepower is definitely measured and perfectly controlled. There is scarce-, ly any industrial activity that has not been transformed by electricity. Communication has been, revolutionised by the telegraph and telephone, while more recently the extension of wireless communication promises to bring within instant contact all the peoples i of the earth. But electricity is val-1 tied in industry chiefly by its power to drive machinery, its capacity for , providing light and beat, and its abil- I ity to excite chemical action. > !

One of the most important of the changes which electricity has made in industrial processes is the change from the indirect electrical drive. Steam, engines drove long lengths of shafting with intricate systems of pulleys and belts, or long steam pipes

were sometimes used to convey steam from the central boiler to small engines scattered over an extensive factory. In either case, the power losses were enormous. But the introduction of direct electric drive —to each machine its own motor—has changed conditions materially. By its aid it is now possible to secure a better arrangement of workshops, and more convenient grouping of machines. Jl is also possible in factories such as sawmills and wood-working shops to eliminate the waste of power and money occasioned when a whole system of belts and pulleys is needed to be driven to operate one machine. EASE OF CONTROL. The capacity of electricity to generate heat in an easily controllable form, constitutes another asset for industry, and in this sphere its safety, the saving of waste, and the higher quality of the resulting production, are so pronounced as to make the mere cost of current for many purposes of little account. Electric heating is now used to a considerable ex tent, for tempering Vnetals. Electric

we’ding is also displacing rivetting in the manufacture of sheet steel goods, and for repair work when rivetting is difficult or impossible. Where refinement of product is important, electricity for industrial heating processes is steadily winning its way. In order to secure efficient workmanship,

workshops require to be well lighted. Requirements vary with the trade practised, but whatever the needs, they can be fully satisfied by the scientific use of electric light. The investigations of various commissions that have been established in England and America to study questions of industrial fatigue indicate quite clearly that the productive ability of workers is adversely affected by eye-strain. By following the advice of lighting engineers, and by using light in a scientific way, production has been considerably increased without fatiguing the worker. At an exhibition of industrial electrical heating apparatus held in London recently, the following were some of the diverse types of apparatus exhibited. Cast-iron immersion elements for melting lead, tin, solder and similar alloys and metals; electrically heated soldering irons and glue pots; spot welders, drum welding plant and wire welders; electric furnaces for annealing, heat treatment of high speed tools, carbon and alloy steels, electric branding iron; ovens for all purposes, j such as bread baking, enamelling, stov-1 mg, core-drying, etc.; electric steam l raising boilers, electric rivet heater, ' also steamer . for steaming felt hats, j and an electric still for the produe-1 lion of distilled water.

Of the above-mentioned apparatus, that which perhaps has shown the greatest local development is the electric bread-baking oven. It might be interesting to place on record some historical facts concerning breadbaking. Bread-baking dates back to prehistoric times. On the walls of a temple built in memory of Rameses 111., who died 3000 years ,ago. was found a painting depicting the whole process of bread-baking. Usually the Egyptians mixed and kneaded the dough with the feet, only the Pharaoh and high officials being supplied with bread made by hand. It is worth recording that the method employed by African natives and inhabitants of the Bismarck, Philippine and other islands at the present time, is to bake bread on hot stones covered by one large stone suitably supported over the bread. A baker’s oven and mill of the Roman period, constructed about 2000 years ago, has been unearthed at Pompeii. It is surprising to note that ovens Qxist and are still being erected which show but slight improvement on early examples, but with the arrival of electricity in the field of industrial baking, it is hoped that this age will at least provide baking methods distinctive from those of other days. The transition from the steam to the electric age has given rise to many problems, both social and economic. Many of the mistakes made in the early days of steam, at the dawn of the industrial system, were forgivable. Our grandfathers and greatgrandfathers received as a gift from Nature the discovery and use of steam power. They took it and used it forcefully and energetically. By its aid they built a civilisation that was remarkable for its enormous increase in material values, but because l bf the very nature of the power they used, that civilisation was dirty, congested, and somewhat unhealthy. What is to be the nature of the new civilisation to which electricity is leading us, no one can as yet foretell. Electric power may bring about the decentralisation of industry, just as steam brought about its centralisation. Indeed, there are many signs | of this happening in England now. But no one who understands anything of the potential qualities of electricity really doubts that if we who ive in the twentieth century I

use this gift of electricity as forcefully and intensively as our grandfathers used the power of steam, :i civilisation can be built that will be spacious, clean and healthy, where theirs was congested, dirty and unhealthy. Thus can be added to the material values that were created in the age of steam, some of the more human values of health, culture and leisure that belong most properly to the electric age.