already been applied to sea-going craft ; 

 a marine gas-driven engine of 500 horse- 

 power is Tinder construction, and 

 i\ 1,000 horse-power plant is designed. 

 It appeals that these producer-gas phmts 

 will render inestimable service to the 

 mining industry of Tasmania wherever 

 water is scarce, and I venture to suy- 

 gost that these advantages have not r» 

 ccived the attL'ntion which they deserve 

 In the railway world, the past year lia« 

 been remarkable for the building I'j 

 England of the largest possible engines 

 that could be safely got through exis*:- 

 ing ttmnels and stations. Speeds of 70 

 miles an liotir have been recorded, and 

 maintained with safety. At the oppo- 

 site end of the scale comes the railway 

 motor-car. Its advent is no longer an 

 experiment, it solves the problem of 

 maintaining traffic at reasonable expendi- 

 tttre on railways built through districts 

 of which the passenger and goods traiiiG 

 is too small to be remunerative under 

 the present system of working. These 

 railway motor carriages have not yet 

 been introduced in Tasmania, where the. 

 opportunities for their employment are 

 so evident that it may be a penny wise 

 and pound toohsh policy to delay their 

 introduction. In the development of 

 motors for nse on common roads, it may 

 be noted that the steam car has been 

 defeated in the struggle for sxipremacj- 

 liy the petrol engine. This is largely 

 due to the great improvements in the 

 construction of the explosion en- 

 gine, and to the methods discover- 

 ed to vary the speed of these 

 engines, otherwise than by gearing. 



The Panama Canal is an undertaking, 

 prospectively, of great importance to Tas- 

 mania. The completion is very far off, 

 and very sanguine people think it may be 

 constructed in 12 years; nevertheless, the 

 steps that are being taken to achieve suc- 

 cess deserve our attention. The Govern- 

 ment of the United States has made this 

 canal a n.ational enterprise. After law 

 and order had been established in the 

 canal zone, the American Government 

 proceeded to exterminate the yellow fever 

 mosciuito, and to carry out other sani- 

 tarv reforms which have made Panama, 

 and Colon possible places for Europeans 

 to live and work in. In fact, it is more 

 than probable that Panama, which has 

 for generations had the reputation of be- 

 ing ill the most deadly zone of the 

 tropics, will soon become a model of 

 sanitation, thanks to the combination of 

 modern science and the uncompromising 

 methods of American administration. Pre- 

 sident Roosevelt appointed a technical 

 commission, on which he associated with 

 the leading engineers of the United 

 States the greatest experts the world can 

 furnish in canal construction. This com- 

 mission lias recently presented its re- 

 port, and, to the relief of those genuinely 



interested in the success of the Panama 

 Canal, the majority reported in favour of 

 a sea-level canal; but, if the newspaperH 

 are to be credited, the President of the 

 United States supports strongly the re- 

 commendation of the minority, which is 

 in favour of a canal Avith a series of 

 locks. The work of excavation at the 

 higher levels which is being done at 

 present on the Panama Canal will be 

 equally useful whichever project is fin- 

 ally adopted. A canal comprising a series 

 of locks and lakes offers the advantage— 

 which is, probably, only an estimated ad- 

 vantage—of taking shorter time to build. 

 It also makes it easier to dispose of the 

 flood waters of neighbouring rivers. On 

 the other hand, a canal with locks would 

 become useless as the result of even 

 slight shocks of earthquake, which would 

 cause the locks and dams to leak. When 

 a dam, holding back a large volume of 

 water, begins to leak the chances of the 

 gap widening and the whole work being 

 carried away are appalling. Well-wishers 

 of the Panama scheme desire that 

 it should be, as far as pos- 

 sible, immune, both from a.ccident 

 and from destruction by design, and 

 that the canal should therefore be cut 

 down to the sea level. The importance 

 of this canal to the whole of Austra- 

 lia generally, is immense. The commer- 

 cial aspect of the canal is, perhaps, but 

 a secondary question side by side with its 

 strategic importance. When the time 

 comes for a. struggle between the white 

 and yellow races for the mastery of the 

 Pacific, Anglo-Saxon America, with Anglo- 

 Saxon allies, will be sure of victory if 

 fleets can be concentrated by the use of 

 the Panama Canal; those who study with 

 earnestness the future of a white Aus- 

 tralia should welcome ever;: step in 

 this great work. From ' the com- 

 mercial point of view the Panama 

 Canal will add to the natural advantages 

 of Tasmania's commercial position, and 

 by offering new markets for Tasmanian 

 a.n'^les, and more speedy transport, this 

 new outlet will relieve the anxiety of 

 those who think that too many orchards 

 are being planted — ^an anxiety which I do 

 not share. 



Professor Milne, the best-kno-n-n au- 

 thority in the world on earthquakes, 

 has recorded the opinion that there 

 are about thirty thousand earth- 

 ciuakes in the world every year. Some 

 of these are, of course, verj- faint, and 

 are only recorded on delicate instru- 

 ments ; but it is pleasing to note that the 

 comparative immunity from serious 

 earthquakes enjoA-ed by England is also 

 enjoyed by Tasmania. There is little 

 doubt that the principal cause of eai-fh- 

 quakes is the shrinkage of the world as 

 it gets older and colder ; this causes dis- 

 turbances of the ciTist, and there is reason 

 to believe that the countries, suok. as 



