WATER POWER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 76, 24 December 1918, Page 5

WATER POWER

AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT,

The relations' between the developmen of hvdro-electric power and' the goners prosperity of the Dominion is empnasrse in the report of tlin Chief Electrical Ei gineer, laid before 'Parliament during th recent session. The report 6tates that th extension of the Lake Coleridge-suppl to the country.districts 'in ■■•Wainiair, Eyre, Halswcll, Paparua, and, Springs ha served to .demonstrate its conveniens utility, and its effect in lessening th, drudgery of farm life and m increasni production, especially s ° ln l WW I *, districts.; . ' .' . •'Electricity as a power agent is f, flexible and adaptable and its, uses theri fare so manifold that there is scarcely a aspect of human/activity to which I cannot' be applied, the number of pr( cesses to which it is capable of being at plied on farms being about 125, says th Engineer. "The'supply of electricity t farms and homesteads has already .a' tained considerable dimensions in sqm parts of the United States of Amend the extent of'which is not generall known. A census made, by the Wesceij Power Association of California.in 191 cives the- total horse-power of electa motors on farms at 190,141, and the est, mated figure for 1018 is 200,000. -Electri pumps are largely used in the districj mentioned for pumping water for irrigi Hon purposes, which accounts for a.larg proportion of the power used, but aftj allowing for this there remains a sul stantial balance for other purposes. i "One of the most remarkable and cli plorablo movements of the present day j the drift of tho country population ml the towns. Various reasons have bee advanced to account for this tendency, bi it will be admitted that the drudgery al wiated with farming is'one of the mail if not the primary, cause. This drudger will certainly be lessened when a generi supply of electricity is available and th farming community has had time to bi come habituated to its various uses. I fact the movement will then be in th opposite direction, as the stnnulatio "iven to production and the miprovi ments made possible in the conditions c living will result in closer settlement r the country areas. At the same time the* districts will lie brought moro closel into (ouch with the towns by the cor stniction of light railways, made poi siblo by n general supply of electri •power. , . "Using the word 'industry' in the mor restricted sense of 'manufacture, th importance of a supply of cheap, olectl'ii ity for manufacturing purposes is one C paramount importance. It places at th disposal of the manufacturer a subtle an flexible form of energy which is adap, able to every kind of power, tp heatin or to electro-chemical and electro-metal lurgical uses. He is able to extend an adjust his:business to the growth of ri< maud without being hampered with th many considerations which a.Biannfai turer has to face if ho has to providei, generating nlant or increase its capacitj "These advantages are, of course, we, known and appreciated, but what is nc appreciated enough is the importance, c a general supnlv of electricity wine should be. available for use anywhere v the Dominion. At present if a manufai turer wishes to avail himself of,a supnl. of electric power he lias to locate hi works in the vicinity of a town wher ho can get a supply, or he has. to con pidci' the (uiestion of the coal supply art the cost of coal, with the result that til factory is not always placed where it l best suited for tho exigencies of the bnsi ness, and it is quite certain, that a mini ber of industries which might be carxicj on are neglected owing to the clement q power being difficult to procure.", >