DO IT ELECTRICALLY

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 130, 1 March 1928, Page 7

DO IT ELECTRICALLY

Reading in Bed. The old-time warning against the practice of reading in bed was quite justifiable in the age of candles and oil lamps, but times have changed, and with the present-day method of using electric light in the home there is neither danger of fire nor injury to the eyes provided the light is so arranged as to throw its rays on the book. This mav i’ot always be possible where the'fittings are over the dressing table, or even in the centre of the room, but bv using an adjustable bedside electric' fitting it is possible to overcome this little dilhculty. this device enables one to control an ordinary electric switch from a distance, switching the light both on and off. The lamp itself can. be clamped on to the bedrail immediately over, ones head, throwing the light rays directly on to the reading. A length of fie:: runs from the lamp to the nearest ordinary electric lampholder, the controlling switch being on the portable lamp, thus saving that unpleasant necessity of getting out of bed on a cold night to switch off the light, or groping around in the dark to find the wall switch. This little application of electricity in the home is but one example of its extreme convenience. Museum Illumination. All of the new animal exhibits in the Los Angeles Museum will be illuminated bv overhead electric lights. The lights are placed above a glass ceiling and another white plastered ceiling above the first serves as a reflector. By using this method of illumination the animr groups are flood-lighted with a minimum of glare and shadows. John Rowley, an internationally known taxedirmist, lias designed the new Los Angeles Museum exhibits for electrical illumination exclusively. It has been found through years of experiment and observation that mounted animals do not deteriorate or fade out under electrical illumination while when subjected to natural sunlight they tend to show the effects in a very short time. “I have found through my work among various museums about the country that the only method of solving the . lighting problem is by the use of artificial illumination,” said Air. Rowley in discussing the lighting methods he is employing at the Los Angeles Museum. “We must bear this extra work and expense for the future generations, when many of the animals will be exceedingly rare or extinct.” Electricity in Alining. In the Lancashire and North Wales division, 107 of the mines used coal-cut-ting machines, and of these 101 were driven by electricity and 826 by compressed air. In 1925 109 mines used coal-cutting machines, 99 being electrically driven and 841 driven by compressed air. Electricity was used in 141 mines for winding, haulage, ventilation, coal washing and screening and other purposes above ground, and for haulage, coal-cnttintg and other machinery, pumping and other purposes underground. The total horse-power used on the surface was 45001 and underground 49,093, a total of 94,091 t h.p., compared with 90,450 in 1925. The number of electric lamps in use was 13,560, compared with 12,318. Electricity was installed at 15 of the metalliferous mines. In tile North Midland division electric power was used n 129 mines, and the total horse-power was 142,636, compared with 123,087. Electric safety lamps increased to 68,996 from 65,995.