Conquest of the Wind.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 2, 1 December 1910, Page 466

Conquest of the Wind.

It fell to a firm of English engineer-scientists to make what, is the most remarkable step in conquering the wind that has ever been made. Eighteen months ago, as the result of years of cxperhnent, they completed a series of patented devices which, acting in combination, make of the intractible windmill, alternatively lazy and runaway,, a steadily working machine that is constantly storing electric force. Once you have electric force, you can drive anything, from a mill to a steam launch. So that the nett result of this firm labours is simply that they have harnessed the wind to do man's work, costing nothing but the running expenses of the machinery. They have done this before the great forces of the sea-tides have been taught to do our bidding, or even the enormous waste energy of waterfalls has been thoroughly exploited. This is a great accomplishment in the world of applied science. The Childs' patents comprise an ingenious device, perhaps the most important of all, which makes the electric generator adapt itself to the force of the" wind that may be blowing at any moment. When the wind blows at six miles an hour, the generator begins to make current on its lowest power, and therefore its demands on the. turbine rise or fall as the wheel driven by the- wind turns fast or slow. Thus all winds, from the lightest to the heaviest, can be utilised, and as a precaution against high winds which would work the machine., too quickly, there is another arran«fgr"fint which enables the winddriven wheel to decline automatically to receive more power than is. sufficient to drive the .generator at its greatest capacity. :• .■■■■.. ~ , ; The purposes for which this epoch-making invention: can be used are as. varied and useful as those of electricity itself. A turbine 24ft. in dia,meter will provide light for a fair-sized

country house, besides charging the batteries of■ an electric motor-car, and launch, and giving current for electric cooking and for working an electric lift. In addition to its electrical possibilities, it would pump water, grind corn, cut chaff, saw wood,, and drive dairying machinery. A turbine of 48ft. in diameter, made for a large Somerset estate, provides current for 300 electrie lights, as well as energy for a score of otheroperations on the farm. Smaller plants are. of course, equally manageable and useful in proportion. For irrigation work, the device should have a wide application. It is well known that there - are millions of acres of land which only require sufficient water to render them of considerable value. It may be urged that the construction’of ; dams and waterways would be an expensive item, but it has been found that water itself makes the reservoir and channels impervious when it holds clay in suspension. This has been observed many times in our colonies, where water is often conveyed for many miles over a gravelly bed. In conjunction with a suitable pump, the wind turbine would yield excellent results in irrigation work. In connection with mines and other large undertakings of a similar nature, a large wind plant would be found the most economical form of power for providing the energy for pumping and supplying electric light. The advantage of thus catching the energy of the wind, otherwise wasted, is obvious. Easily handled (one hour’s attention from a person of average intelligence is all that is required per week), cheap in running, and supplying force which costs nothing, the device obviates all expense of coal, petrol, or other fuel. After a run in an electric motor, the car can be re-charged with electricity either directly from the generator of the wind-plant, or from the storage battery, so that it is always ready when required. The, same may be done for electric launches. All sorts of other appliances have been connected to the wind-plant, for which success all over the world may be predicted as great as those of the steam engine, the motor ear, and the other great motor inventions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The organisation of the motor trade of New South Wales is proceeding along lines almost identical to those familiarised in this country, and it is suggested to form a Society of Cycle and Motor Traders in New South Wales to conduct an annual exhibition, to prevent illicit importation against sole agencies, eliminate price-cutting, &c. • * #■' * Simple as the spanner seems, much damage can be done with, it to refractory nuts or studs in careless hands. Firstly, care should be taken that, the jaws fit evenly on the square of a nut or bolt head. If an adjustable wrench is being used, it should be placed in position, then tightened up, gripped firmly in the right hand, and, when there is room, held in position with the left. If the nut is very firm or rusted up, a little paraffin dropped on to the bolt end a few minutes prior to the attempted unscrewing will oftentimes assist matters. A better grip can someimes be obtained by placing the spanner vertically over the nut and a downward pressure used.