The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 27, 1932. ELECTRICITY'S NEW ERA.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 19093, 27 January 1932, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 27, 1932. ELECTRICITY'S NEW ERA.

In view of the increasing import' ance of the generation and distri bution of electrical energy in New Zealand, and the repeated demands that are being addressed to the Hydro-Electricity Division of the Public Works Department for substantially reduced rates to bulk purchasers, it is interesting to mention that some of the greatest research authorities in the world are forecasting that a new era is dawning in electrical science. Some days ago. Dr. ,1. C. McLennan, of the University of Toronto, announced that after nine years of unrelenting research lie had unravelled a mystery which had baffled scientists for decades—how an electric current passes through metal. One of the most momentous applications of the discovery will be, he claims, the production of an alloy which will be a perfect conductor of electricity. The highest hydroelectrical authorities in Canada promptly noted this arresting announcement, the importance of which will l>o appreciated from the following summary of expert opinion in Canada: The only handicap to be overcome before all electrical transmission equipment in the world becomes obsolete is, Dr. McLennan claims, the production of an alloy which will be a perfect, or nearly perfect, conductor at ordinary temperatures. Millions of dollars would be saved every year In Canada if the perfect alloy was forthcoming. It would mean an end of the tremendous waste which occurs through the drop in potential of current carried a considerable distance.

A prominent Canadian scientist declared that the discovery will upset the present trend of industrial and social history. “No longer," he said, “will large factories have to be situated near sites where the water-power is great, removed far from the centres of population. Electricity will be carried hundreds of miles, if need be, to the centres of population. Power manufactured in the northern wildernesses of Canada will be made available in cities a thousand miles south.” It is obvious that Professor McLennan’s discovery opens up incalculable possibilities, since if he produces the perfect alloy, his discovery, the scientists say, will : have the profoundest influence on | the whole electrical industry. It is j pointed out by electrical experts that not only would wires made of such an alloy prevent all leakages, but also they would be far thinner than anything used at present. “With a perfect alloy,” one expert claims, “a whole city might be lit with a wire no thicker than the little finger ”

VAGARIES OF THE WEATHER. Once upon a time the reported movements of distinguished sailors like Lord Jellicoe would attract such world-wide attention that in times of international tension a more or less rigid censorship was imposed in the interests, it would be explained, of national safety. The cabled announcement that the one-time Governor-General of New Zealand has taken his departure for Madeira where he hopes to recuperate after a somewhat severe illness, has no national significance; nevertheless, a wide circle of friends in New Zealand will wish him well. It was stated, however, that Lord Jellicoe’s presence in New Zealand had a somewhat close relationship with the naval problems of the Pacific —in view of the moving storm centre of future contests for sea supremacy—which were engaging the attention of high naval officialdom in the Homeland, no less than the people in the outposes of the far-flung Empire. It is merely a coincidence, of course, that Lord .Jellicoe has selected another of the centres of attraction as his happy hunting ground —this time in quest of good health. As a matter of fact, Madeira ought to be very much in the news at the moment, not because of its strategical importance in naval defence, but because it is stationed at the crossroads of the winds of heaven, and is regarded by international meteorologists, who are trying to discover what is wrong with the weather, as the world’s weather traffic control centre. The vagaries of the weather have not only upset the meteorological authorities and the people of New Zealand, but weather experts all over the world are puzzling over the queer happenings in nearly every country. Sir Napier Shaw, the distinguished British meteorologist, drew attention the other day to: The remarkable fact that England is being kept unseasonably warm by winds from Bermuda and the Caspian Sea, which have been converging near Madeira and then flowing in a fairly constant air stream over the greater part of the United Kingdom and on towards Finland. “There appears to be,” said Sir Napier, “what might be called a great reservoir of warm air in the vicinity of Madeira, which is being ‘fed,’ so to speak, by currents from Bermuda across the Atlantic, which belong to the Gulf Stream, and by currents from the Caspian Sea passing down the Mediterranean. “Many of these currents are coming direct to us, while others from the same sources are converging in the opposite direction, thus forming the trade winds blowing to the Equator. Although the weather experts

know \vh:i I Is going on all over the world, they confess to be baffled by the unusual behaviour of the air currents which are being switched hither and thither by the unseen wind traffic I'tjntrollers at Madeira! In m;uvv countries the man in the street realises in a general way just as the man on the land knows to Ins sorrow, that something has gone wrong with the world’s weather. In England in November, strawberries, plums and raspberries were gathered in North Essex, which at that time of the year

should have been in the grip of winter. Apple trees came into new leaf in orchards near London ; in Kent primroses were blooming in the last week of November and rose trees continue!! to bud and bloom. Similar phenomena occurred in parts of the United States when winter conditions should have prevailed; at Niagara apple trees were blossoming as in spring; in Kentucky and Ohio, fresh strawberries and raspberries were being sold, and butterflies were to be seen on the wing. Early in December, New York was basking in the amazing temperature of over 70 degrees Fahrenheit—23 degrees above normal. In Eastern Canada the weather was so unseasonable that a second crop of wild straw berries was being picked in the mouth which ought to have brought mid-winter. In some coun-

tries where winter should be, a second summer lias come, and where summer is due there lias been a sudden return of winter. In New Zealand and Australia the vagaries of the weather has confounded the most daring weather prophets, and crushed the man on the land. In New Zealand, and particularly in the wheat-growing districts of the South Island, the long spell of dry weather lias inflicted heavy losses on the agriculturists. Obviously the thoughts of the man on the land must turn to more comprehensive irrigation schemes, which could be carried out in this district by the use of labour now being frittered away in unremunerative relief work. For the moment, however, it is plain that the world’s weather lias gone wrong. The problem is puzzling the meteorologists all over the world, for the vagaries of the weather are being studied as an international problem. Referring to the abnormal weather being experienced almost everywhere, Sir Napier Shaw said that “it looked as if syncopation had been introduced into the symphony of the seasons. . . . Nobody can account for it—yet,” lie

MR HOLLAND’S PROTEST. Expressing the fervent hope that the Special Economy Committee “should have as much time as possible at tlieir disposal before Parliament meets,” the Prime Minister lias so far found it either impossible or impolitic to announce the personnel of a committee which is to be entrusted with the gigantic task of submitting a report on national expenditure which the Government anticipates will be of the greatest importance. As far as we have been able to judge, the Coalition Administration can offer no substantial reason for the extraordinary delay in setting up the Economy Committee. It is encouraging to note, of course, that the Government itself has been examining the position very closely and has effected many economies, but it savours very much of a confession of failure that a committee can be found that can overhaul, in about a month, every channel of governmental expenditure, and discover where further drastic economies can be effected, although Cabinet and all its assistants, after months of investigations have supposedly reached the limit of its economy plans! There is something to be said for Mr Holland’s protest that the country is being kept in ignorance of the Government’s intentions. So far Ministers have preserved a significant silence. The Leader of the Labour Party demands to know something • about the Government’s proposals. Appeals have been made by the Coalition Leaders and their supporters for co-operation in the interests of the nation, even at the expense of Party, but it must be obvious to the Prime Minister and to his colleagues, no less than to the discerning general public, that very little progress can be made in the direction of closing the ranks on the political front, until the Government’s policy has been propounded.