246 Master Minds of Modern Science 



the delays caused by what is commonly called ' red 

 tape ' would be avoided. 



And so there came into being the Electricity Board. 

 It was laid down that this should consist of six members 

 selected from men of proved business capacity, with a 

 really first-class chairman. The first duty of the Board 

 would be to plan out a comprehensive scheme for the 

 whole country, and the Board was authorized to borrow 

 up to thirty-three million pounds for carrying out the 

 work. 



In 1926, when the Electricity Commission started work, 

 there were no fewer than five hundred and seventy 

 separate electricity undertakings in Great Britain, four 

 hundred of which were so much behind the times that 

 between them they provided only ten per cent, of the total 

 output of power. The Board decided to scrap most of 

 the existing stations, and to replace them with about one 

 hundred and fifty stations, each provided with every 

 appliance that modern science could suggest. These 

 stations, a number of which are already in existence, will 

 eventually all be connected on what is called the ' grid " 

 system. 



The difficulty associated with any electrical supply 

 system is that the demand is not constant. In every 

 power-station graphs of the demand are kept. Between 

 midnight and dawn the line of supply sinks almost to 

 zero ; it rises for breakfast, and keeps low, but fairly con- 

 stant, during the day. Just after sunset it rises with a 

 tremendous sweep. Every one is turning on lights at the 

 same moment, and there is the extra demand for street 

 lighting, for electric signs, and for cooking the evening 

 meal. After eleven o'clock the demand again falls rapidly. 

 In summer, of course, the demand is not nearly so heavy 

 as in winter. 



When electricity is produced from coal, obviously you 

 cannot damp out your furnaces. They have to go on 



