229 



coal, less lmiu;iii labor, and a clcaiici- i|uaii\. As a iiu'tliod df conscrxiii;.; 

 l)o\V('r it <aiiii<it lie callt'd sue* cssful. altlimmli the railurc in one case nia.\ 

 be laid to flic fact that tlic cbainiclinu' niacbincs used witli c((iniircsscil air 

 are ot tbc old steam types wilb tlic air bnsc int ruilm cil into tlieir boilers, 

 thus keepin.i;' tbe faults (d' the steam cbanneler and adding- to tliem tlu' 

 line losses ot couiitressed air. Tins nietliod woubl be lar more erouoiuical 

 witli modern compressed air clianibers. 



Second, a central plant for eacb district uiiuht be constructed with an 

 idea oi' haiidliny the <oal more e;isil^\' and :i:ninu an adeiiuate water suppl.x'. 

 These plants could be located so that the i-ost of distriliution of the power 

 by electricity would l>e a small item, as the disti'icts are reasonably coin- 

 pact and easily reached. 



Third, we might consider water power with electrical distribution to 

 I he plants. In fact, such a jiiant is already in existence at Williams, bui 

 on account of the uncertainty of their water supply the plant is equipped 

 with a steam auxiliary. Their proximity to the quarries and mills of Law- 

 rence County makes it iirobable that most of their power will be sold 

 there, as the heavier line losses in distributing to this district would tend 

 to center their interosts in tlie southern part of the storie belt. Other 

 projects have been suggesti'd. but the e.xtremel.v high hrst cost of the 

 construction of a water-power plant makes it r.-ither a (luestion of the 

 future than of tlie present ])OWer problem. 



liastly, and proliabl^' the most econonucal solution of tlie problem is 

 the construction of a large central plant in the coal tields with high tension 

 transmission of the power to the quarry districts and the use of electrical 

 niachin;'ry thi-oughout the plants. Tiiis ]ilant could be equipped with 

 modern automatically st(,ked l)oik'rs with superheaters and condensing 

 engines; or the plant could be equipped with gas producers and gas 

 engines. An interesting calcuiation on the subject can be made by taking 

 a .single district and .showing the possibilities for that district if the oper- 

 ators could unite to solve their power proldeni. 



I have taken District No. 1 and attempted to calculate the cost of 

 such plants from the data available, but. in i;eneral. calculations of this 

 kind are only ai)i)roxiniatel.v true, as the price of materials is constantly 

 changing and the tendency of contractors is to hide tlie true costs by 

 unbalanced bidding. This makes it ditHcult to estimate prices. 



The following figures are reasonably correct for a 1.000 H. P. plant: 



