The Future of Electricity and of Gas.

Southland Times, Issue 4483, 22 November 1882, Page 4

The Future of Electricity and of Gas.

Siemens, the pfissidert , of Ae British Association, was one-in~a different tone .n« direction.frbiQ that given ltet year by ; S^Jotm? Lubbockv < Or, Siemens is a; et»ofeifct,"b«t i: »ff it happens he is as a SSBJSf** yi^ Sat *V M 2 l >g wiS^V' WteßtSon^'-an*' f rom i which the ensatept practical .results are anticipated. in the<ici£ijce o£-> atoctncity. ix> nwgivcu ti«-;tbe r iale«wpb r the ttlephone, and niimbe f rfes»i«*plicatk»». fit. galvanism aid mmenetiwrf «ut iihert is .a widespread beiMstiiat s there is much more to come. If is«Wtt ihat the scieritific advance made is muclLgreater than the practical applications $rt Effected, and that • some apparently small and unimportant adjußtmei& to" De\reach«a perhaps carnally, mßy^permit o£ £ many greater utilisations oi^lecteieity/ttian^e^aveat coramaod at piesentrilJt c is»weTl toireTiew the whole fieldwto;isee what are, the objects chiefly KeiJt in' View, 1 and the probability of attamintf ihemi' No man. is' bitter competent to inHfce««ch ft review than Dr Siemenß, and if <u iS f(> iii' this 'attempt to forecast the approaching' achievements to be expected from electtical science that the interest of his address .principally lies. In glancing thrqugh;its,niain points and anticipations it,ls^d^uVtOnremark 1 pwlmtas>**#b*r^iqiEj^e;^expected in thes&rtwo of .science as injthat of jhistory, ahCb«ai6w TDany;. and^how. great haye been th€«^scientific ' discoveries; of i:which the closest observer could- not have felt the sniaHesVpresentiment. ' ■-; v . We^neeU ; n6t, ftir ; the J purposes of ; this af ticTeVc^cern 4 ouraelyes with the purely sbienfeparVjffir Ke^ns^ address^ One objecfisßnefly tb enumefttethep^actical applications of elecVrici^r for which he "tliinka we are entitled to fook.at'no distant date. 4.nd among fte; it. prempßt, t of js-, the employment of [^electncityaj'a-roeans of transmitfingniechanicalpowerjqadistance. Alltdifficultieshave)been surmounted, and ml^tanical power can be transformed into el&Btf^felc6jttj^yed:tp ; a diatancei, and reconverted into mechanical power, without losing more than 50$>er-cent. of the original energy? ?Ittilwiys worked hyeleCfricity as motive^¥ow l e"r^llplt'is' thobght, rpossese great advantages' over tibrtfe or steam powei for towns, in tjunnejs,;and in aU cases where natttral'sources 1 of 'energy- are 'available j b^uFitr'is not at present Expected thai el^ctncity'<^n : c6nipet® ; 'W'itn. 'stie'ain ' oil ' or--4iiia|y;rafl,w^4l;i^^?^"^'^ <r ' G^^^ identified! ''i§'-J)r i Sieriiens .with elecincal science! andjife. 'applications,^ it ,is cheering to thoee interested: in. gas to ob'serve/how large a sphere of usefulness he allots to gas after electricity; f has doine its utmost. He'has, bfe course, much to; say for the electric light— its immunity from injurious products 6f combustion,; the fact that it : ia white in'sTead of 'yellow, and thus enables iik tp fi^ee jipictures,^furniture, flowers, &c.j aH by daj(llgb,ti' .and its capability to support growing plants instead of poisoning ing ! tnem,\lt^ liability to stoppage has been reinoved by the introduction of the secondary ; battery, and all objection on this "ground; .therefore ceases. It is held that electric lighting will inevitably be adopted for the lighting of large drawing and dining rooms, theatres, museums, chiirdbes,' factories, passenger _ steamers, and by spreading artificial daylight over large areas such as haibors, railway stations, and the sites of public works. Dr Siemens, , assuming the cost of electric light to" be practically the same as gns, considers that the preference for each will in each cose bo decided Dpon tlie grounds of relative convenience, but he ventures "• to '.'think that 1 gas lighting will hold its oW as the poor man's friend ;" ' A gbod'deal'of attention is given in the acldress "to the future of gan, and all that the president of the^British Association had to say on the subject is encouraging to the belief that a great future of increasing iitiiity remains for gas. He, indeed, looks an to, Mime when gas will be. largely used as " the most convenient, the cleanest, and cheapest of heating agents, and when raw coal will be seen only at the colliery or the gasworks." These works, he considers, will ; be placed at the mouth or, better still, aV'tby bottom Lof the coal-pit, when this is not tp6 far from the town to be supplied. It' is noli only that the burning of the raw fc'oal is productive of so many nuisances from the- smoke and soot generated, it is aWo,;w'astef ul in the , highest degree! ; , Ai the present time the by-products from coal yielded in ; the distillation, of gas in the United Kingdom largely exceed in value tie cbal used.- Of these the fnbst important part is'th« costing matter which yields the bea'dttf til '''aniline dyes. If the coal is burned 'in its raw state all these are not only>lpßt, they, remain as poisonous matters in-the atmosphere, and spread a murky pall over-ttie ! «cities* where I . the coal iscohsumed. It is calculated that the-'soot contained in the smoke clfeud«which glo'oms over Lbndon on a wintex's day, amounts to 5,0 tons, and tba f t- the' carbonic' dxide-^ a poisonoiiß com- ' pound resulting frOm-the imperfect combrs'SonM co.il^-may be taken' as tit least five times that amount.. All these products, are' converted 'into 'valuable marketable commodities wh'eri the coal is reduced! to the form of gas. Moreover, itis proved that the -> fine dust carried i into • the^atmosphere from the imperfect comtmstibn of coaL is mainly instrumental ' in the formation of fog. So that the anticipations of Dr Siemens hold Out the pleasant prospect ef smokeless cities, the residents of-wliich will enjoy as bright a sky and will "breathe as pure an air as the dwellers in the country^.!'.: ;".;.- ' • ■ There is another province of usefulness open-to .gas.: ; It comes with something like a shock to learn that the steam-engine on which two or three generations have been priding themselves as one of hum's greatest triumphs over the forces of nature ' is wasteful and ■, extravagant, and indeed only a relic of the days of scientific barbarismjijThe reader will be distressed to learn that this ridiculous engine in its best formtdoes" not yield in mechanical effect. inpr,e r than.,lr7th ,part of the heat-energy . ; re^sMipg in. the, fuel consumed." It is not only clumpy ..3(nd wasteful; it is also extra,vagant, audinuat at no distant day give place"' to the gas or caloric engine .working at a consumption of not more than one pound of "foal per efEective horse-power per hour. -"The 'ad-vent of such oilengine," observes Dr Siemens, " and of tlie dynamoln^'cliine' ihiist : rhafk a aew era ,6f,' material projir«Bs at lr-ast equal to lliat producect-by ilib^'introiucfToii* 'of- Pts-am-pbAvjer "in ihe enrly part of our cenmty/ ? " And thus we may look! on to.; aconnng ' time; when the ste' mi-e'rigirie vHll be p/dservedin|mnseuins side by Bideiwith the • -flint' airow^j heads of prrne\f«L mail, 'and the' rude implements of the savage, as an^ appliance that he's been oujjjrown and discarded, and that is preB?fved'6nly ; as fa I; curiosity; ;;