HOW THE MOON MAY WORK FOR MAN.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160711, 26 July 1920, Page 2

HOW THE MOON MAY WORK FOR MAN.

POSSIBLE EPOCH-MAKING INTENTION. 4 A CHINAMAN’S INGENUITY. This ' article, discussing how the may b© put to practical us© for earthly .purposes through the medium of tides and water power, is of much interest to N©w Zealand. The conditions in America referred to in the article, Which is reproduced from the Philadelphia Public Ledger, have their counterpart in this country. It sems a fair guess that the • next great epoch-making invention—incomparably more important to the future of mankind than the flying machine —will furnish means for harnessing the moon whereby that long idle satellite may be compelled to justify its existence by working for the benefit of the earth’s inhabitants. As the earth revolves, the moon, by the attraction, of its enormous mass (75,000,000,000 tons), raises that part of the ocean nearest it to a height of about three feet, thus forming a wave that travels around the globe once in twenty-four hours. Wc call this wave the tide. To utilise the power of the tides for the production of mechanical energy is a problem that has been much discussed, and which, in a small way, may be said to have been measurably solved. Such being the case, it seems very odd that the method employed,, undeniably successful on a minor scale, should not have been developed on a large and comprehensive plan. One might say, indeed, that the invention in question was long ago an accomplished fact. For during many. years past there have been in operation aloqg th© New England coast, at points where tidal inlets offered opportunity, flour mills and sawmills run literally by moon power. HOW THE TIDES WOEE. Whe.ro such local conditions exist it is an easy matter to dam the inlet, thus providing a reservoir into which the sea flows as the tide rises. On the ebb ox the tide the water is allowed to flow out through a gated opening, causing a wheel to revolve driving the machinery that grinds the grain or saws the lumber. In some cases the tides are made to work both going and coming. To make this method efficient on a large scale, it is necessary merely to construct reservoirs of great size, with the requisite machinery, in places where hug© bodies of water can be handled. Why has not this been undertaken? Nobody knows. But at the present time (so news despatches say) capital is being enlisted for the purpose in England—one scheme contemplated being that of damming the waters of the Elver Dee, and equipping an immense power plant with turbines and electric generators to furnish energy and distribute it for long distances over wires. Not merely inlets, but large estuaries can, it is claimed, be used in this way for tide storage, and the production of transmissable energy on an enormous scale. The little flour mill or saw mill of the New England coast that derives its power from the moon is properly to be regarded as a mere suggestion of the vast things practicable in tho same line. A HUGE DAM. Consider the Gulf of California—a great arm of the sea with a twelve-foot rise and fall of tide. If a dam wero Ifuilt across it, say competent engineers, it could be made to drive every mill, locomotive, and street car on the"Pacific coast. At the north-east corner of the United States is an an# of the sea called the Bay of Fundy. There the moon gets in some very picturesque work. Its attraction piles up the water in the bay to such an extent that the latter rises and falls 30 feet twice in twentyfour hours. Why not provide extensive reservoirs for the reception of some of this water and allow it (in flowing out) to operate turbines? A small fraction of the power that thus goes to waste would suffice to run the machinery of all the factories on the Atlantic coast, operate all the railways and trolleys, light all the cities, and heat all the houses and business buildings. A LOST GUN. Many years ago an American warship lying in a Chinese river lost one of its biggest guns over board. How the accident happened is not a matter of record, but this has nothing to do with the story. Tim gim lay half-buried in the mud of the river bottom, and all attempts to fish it up proved fruitless. Then a Chinaman 0 came along and offered to nn dertake the job. The terms were no pay unless he delivered the goods. “Go ahead,” said the officer in command ■— incredulous, of course, for how could a Chinaman accomplish what Americans had found to be impracticable. The Chinaman brought half a dozen helpers and some tall sheelegs, which ho planted deep in the mud. The sheerleo-s were provided with a substantial wooden float, which was attached by ropes to the gun—the water being of no -s-reat depth. ° CHINAMAN SUCCEEDS. The next tide raised the float six feet and with it the gun. Made fast at that height, timbers were placed underneath the float again and yet again, so that each subsequent tide " lifted it an additional sis feet. The process was coutined until the gun was raised clear out of the water and placed on the deck of the warship. The American naval officers were astonished. But it was a very old idea from the Chinaman’s viewpoint. For many centuries they had been accustomed to use this method for lifting huge stones required in th© construction of docks, and for other purposes. Given sheerlegs long enough, and plenty of timbers, any submerged subject, no matter how big or how heavy, could be raised by such means, not only out of the water, but hundreds of feet in the air. What, after all, was the secret? Whence the power? Why nothing could be more simple. The Chinamen who recovered the American warship’s gun and placed it again on her deck were availing themselves of no earthly energy. They were employ, ploying the pull of the moon.