The Hawera Star. WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1924. POWER.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 July 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1924. POWER.

Delivered •‘.very evening t>y 5 o’clock iD Hawera. Msnaia, N^rraanby. Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatokl. Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeuc- Manutabi, Al(on, Harleyville, Patea, WaverJey, Mokoia, Wbakamara, Mereiaere. Fraser Road. and

Throughout human history mankind has always displayed a love of power, and however much fear it may have caused its manifestation has proved progressively fascinating. A strong leader has perhaps used cruel method s to maintain his position, and he may have been in every sense of the word wicked, but the strength of his personality and the power of his will have fascinated for a time at least- the majority of those who have been under his domination. But physical and mental power is but a tiny thing compared with the mighty forces of the universe and those powers which are experienced daily by the inhabitant's of the earth. Thunder, lightning, earthquakes. ’wind, rain, and storms are among the mighty forces which have very important places in human life. A storm develops and blasts miles of country; the sunshine within a few weeks restores the vegetation—two powers over which man lias no control, but which are very important to his life. Again, a storm may he followed by a heavy frost, as on Monday night. Thousands of square miles of country are a fleeted. True,, our scientists can make frost by refrigerating processes, and they have discovered machines which will produce great heat. Butthe best that man can do- is tiny bv comparison with the work done daily in Nature's laboratory. This is the age of mechanical power, but recently the cable messages reported statements by an eminent scientist that the British Empire’s known coal resources would last about 600 years at the present rate of production and consumption, while the world would bo without coal in 2000 years. These statements were probable read with passing interest, but with little thought of what the world owes to eoal. which lias for generations past been a most valuable servant. Eor

heating purposes coal has been in use from the earliest times, and millions of tons are being consumed annually. The steam engine a,nd steamship have increased the consumption enormously, and every day sees further inroads made upon the world’s supply in order to give man the power required to meet his demands. In recent years oil and electricity have been added, but in spite of great hydro-electric works the consumption of coal continues to increase. Mechanical power has become almost as essential to human wellbeing as the air people breathe, and few of us ever stop to think of the truth of the fact that the world has no exports and no material imports, except meteorites. The world’s supplies of coal must have a limit, but though many generations will have passed before that limit is reached, it i<s interesting to think what will be the position when the world supply of coal ceases. “Civilised man. enthroned in his citadel, and defended by all the forces of nature that he has brought under his control, is (says a modern writer), alter all, in the same situation as a savage shivering in the darkness beside his fire, listening to the pad of predatory feet, the rustle of serpents,. and the cry of birds of prey, knowing that only the fire keeps his enemies off, but knowing, too, that every stick he lays on the fire lessens his fuel supply and hastens the inevitable time when the beasts of the jungle will make their fatal rush.” But man will no doubt find other ways of meeting the situation, for power he mu6t have, and in electrictiy he has at hand a force which in many respects is preferable to coal or oil. The harnessing of the great waterways enables that power to be generated and carried long distances for use as desired, and each year finds electric power becoming more widely used. The world's coal and oil supplies, if their use be continued, will ultimately be exhausted, but as long as there are rivers man will be able to substitute electricity for the powyr derived from combustion. Electricity is enabling many wonderful things to be achieved in these days, but scientists believe that the world is only at the fringe of the great field of discovery of electric potentialities, and if the progress of science continues as it has in the past fifty years it is. possible that the- day will come when there will be no further need for drawing upon the world’s capital in the form of coal and oil for power, for man has within his reach in almost every part of the world ample supplies of water with which to generate the current to meet his needs. There appears to be no case in which mechanical or heating power is needed that will not be met by electricity, which has already revolutionised the world and changed many of the old slow and arduous processes into speedy and accurate operations, and helped in a wonderful way to -bring about the progress witnessed during the present century. No one knows what scientific discovery will lead to before the dawn of the next century, hut electricity is likely to play a still greater part.