Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1882.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 27 October 1882, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1882.

It ii perhaps a sign of the times that the president's address at the last annual meeting of the British Association was devoted principally to a consideration of some of the more recent discoveries in electricity ; to noticing the methods by ■which they have been utilised in a variety of ways; and to an endeavour to indicate the directions in which further practical results may be expected in the not remote future. ' In such an address telegraphy would naturally occupy a considerable space, but although at the present time any advance in that branch oi the science is felt over the widest area and by the largest masses of the human race, it may not always be so. The idea is rapidly gaining ground that electricity will be the great force of the future, that it will to a large extent take the place of steam, that it will be generally adopted as a lighting agent, and that ie will be used for many other purposes in connection with which it may not as yet have even entered the stage of experiment. The results which have already been attained are so varied and important, and in many instances so thoroughly unexpected and startling, that even men whose speculative instincts are habitually controlled by sober judgment are oftentimes, when speaking of the possible future of electricity, tempted into seemingly extravagant utterances. But in this science the speculative has so frequently developed into the true, and the disappointments in comparison with the successes have been so rare, that the incentive to further experiment is never wanting. The president of the British Association is not, however, amongst those who can be charged with allowing his fancy to run away with his judgment. He iB hopeful, and perhaps we might aay confident of results, but it is of results which have already begun to cast their shadows before them ; and in several particulars he does not go nearly bo far as some of his contemporaries. He .fully recognises the great fact that the electric current has for practical .purposes entered the lists as a transmitter of power, and he gives some interesting particulars with regard to loss in its application. He says : — " Tho transformation of electrical into mechanical energy can be accomplished with no further loss than is due to such incidental causes as friction and the haating of wires ; these in a properly designed dynamoelectric machine do not exceed 10 per cent., as shown by Dr John Hopkinson, and, judging from recent experiments of my own, a still nearer approach to ultimate perfection is attainable. Adhering, however, to Dr Hopkinson'a determination for safety's sake, and assuming the same percentage inreconverting the curro n into mechanical effect, a total loss o

19 per cent, results. To this loss must be added that through electrical resistance in the connecting line wires, ■which depends upon their length and conductivity, and that due to heating by friction of the worhing parts of the machine." The result which Dr Siemens arrives at is that, allowing for all mechanical losses, fifty per centof the power would be available for useful effect, but it is nvideut that he believes there is a probability of the percentage of loss in convening mechanical force into electrical force, transmitting it to a distance, and reconverting it into mechanical force, may be very much diminished by improved appliances. Farmers are not accustomed to look to electricity as a source or medium of power ia agricultural operations, and yet it has already been so utilised. Dr Siemens says : — '• To agriculture, electric transmisson of power seems well adapted for effecting the various operations of the farm and fields from one centre. Having worked such a system myself in combination with electric lighting and horticulture for upwards of two years, I can speak with confidence of its economy and of the facility with which the work is accomplished in charge of untrained persons." Most of our readers are aware that numerous experiments nave been made with the object of ascortaining whether electricity can be profitably Employed on railways aa a substitute for steam. At the present time there is a short electric railway working in Berlin, and the system, as there tested, is said to be economical, and, indeed, satisfactory in all respects. Dr Siemens opinion is that the electric railway possesses great advantages over horse or steam power for towns, in tunnels, and in all cases where natural source 3 of energy, such as waterfalls are available ; but it would not be reasonable to suppose that it would in its present condition compete with steam propulsion upon ordinary railways. Such a dictum 'as this coming from such a quarter will take a good many people by surprise. It is a deliberate statement, by a first-rate authority, that already, under certain conditions very often to be found, electricity has the advantage of steam on railways ■ and although it is admitted that, in the present stage of scientific knowledge, the steam locomotive cannot be dispensed with, it will be seen that the president of the British Association was guarded in his utterance aB to future possibilities. As a fact electric force is now stored and carried from place to place, and made available for locomotion. We are not acquainted with the system under which the Berlin electric railway is worked, but electric railway engines, and carriages for ordinary road traffic, carrying their own supply of stored electricity have been- successfully worked in Englandj and improvements in their construction are being constantly effected. The great drawback to their more general adoption has hitherto bean the large space occupied by the electric chamber. Those, however, who are best qualified to speak on the subject are strongly hopeful that this difficulty will be, to a large extent surmounted. In the course of his . address Dr Siemens touched on the mi^ch-vexed question concerning the relative jnJß.rits._pf; the electric^ light and gas. ' He ' admits that ■' tlie'' former has proved itself superior for spreading artificial daylight over the large areas of harbours, railway stations, and the Bites of public works, and that it has been widely and successfully applied to the lighting of concert rooms, museums, churches, factories, etc. But he says : — " Assuming the cost- of electric light to be practically the same as gas, the preference for one or the other will in each application be decided upon grounds of relative convenience, but I venture to think that gas-lighting will hold its own as the poor man's friend." One of the most interesting i parts of the address, although only supplementary to a paper read last year by Dr Siemens, related to the ' effect of the electric [ light upon vegetation- He says that "in experimenting upon wheat, barley, oats, ,ahd-,other cereals sown in the open air, there was a marked difference between the growth of plants influenced and those uninfluenced by the electric light. This was not very apparent till towards the end of February, when, with the first appearance of mild weather, the plants under the influence of an electric lamp of 4000' candle-power placed about five metres above the surface, developed with extreme rapidity, bo that by the end of May they stood above 4ft high, with the ears in full bloom, when those not under its influence were under 2ft in; height, and showed no sign of the ear."