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Power for California From the Furnaces of Nature Story of the Gor\ceptior\ and Execution of the J^ost Colossal Engineering Scheme of Modern Times— Utilizing the Heat Imprisoned in the NoW Dormant Volcanic PocUs of Our Western Goast ajJSLHE present age is one of eigantic en sl*V ter rises Measures which a faw jItQ years ago would have challenged and received the contumely of the incredulous to-day are generally investigated before the seal of approval is affixed. The "im possible" is stricken from the lexicon and •only the "improbable" remains with verj uncertain tenure. The needs of the world . have stimulated genius into the produc • tion of results which .hail they occurred n hundred years ago would have condemned their creators to (he fate of the witch. We are no longer surprised at what happens. The capital stock of a telephone line to ■the moon could be successfully floated in .any city were it positively known that "there was somebody at the distant end of the line to answer to our "hello." The great need of most of our large cities arises from their desire to be manufacturing centers; and this is unat tainable witi; the presence of "power" with which to revolve the wheels of ma chinery. Where there is the fortunate contiguity of abundant and cheap coal supply the growth of the manfacturing in dustries depends only upon the business j>asacity of the citizens; but where coal is distant and its procurement costly and 't^.cerUin the city aspiring to manufac ficrri is sadly handicapped. A Thus there is ever presented to the ge- Aius of the times the solution in practical shape of the problem of "power produc tion" in such places. To this end natural . gas fields have been piped to distant cen ters of application. The enormous force of falling water pouring over Niagara's cataract has been harnessed to drive the mechanism in factories, propel the cars and- light the streets in towns and cities very many miles from the source of power. The stupendous character of the opera ■ tions no longer deters man in his approach ' to the consummation of his desires. What . in the eighteenth century was considered .beyond his grasp is to-day in his posses sion, his willing slave, performing for him ' the labor which by its fruits xuakes fuller . and more enjoyable the lives of the many. California has not the immense torrent •jof Niagara, nor nas she, as far as known, the immense reservoirs of hydrogen gases 'which have made famous and valuable the northern regions of New York and Pennsylvania, but she possesses a source of power beside which the water and the gases of the Eastern natural power-fields sink into pigmy insignificance. • 'From the northernmost point of North America to the extreme end of South America there extends a continuous range .of mountains situated close to the western iige of the continents. This entire range is volcanic. Along this line, which em ■ braces the Coast Range of California, may be found thousands of moribund craters • and volcanic vents, their salient outlines . mostly hidden by the accumulated debris and soils formed by the operations of moisture and temperature during long years. The entire country bordering the Pacific is composed of igneous rocks, • basalts and lavas, erupted in the past from Aue interior of the earth in molten con- Idition. Professor Whitney, State geolo \z\tt, n his magnificent report on "The V jiogy of California," speaKir.g of the hot springs, the borax deposits and the formations of the coast regions, says: *'There will be no difficulty in under standing the origin of these phenomena • when we consider that they are displayed along a line of former intense volcanic activity and where now the igneous forces are not entirely dormant. Even on Mount Shasta the last expiring efforts of this once mighty volcano may be traced in the ejection of sulphurous vapors and steam still going on near the summit." (Report of 1565, page 95 et seq.) Temperature increases as we penetrate into the interior of the earth. It is not germane to the purpose of this article, which simply aims to record the concep tion and execution of the most colossal "engineering scheme ever undertaken, to discuss the causes leading to such increase of temperature; it i* sufficient to say that it is a fact. In the mines of the grest "Comstock lode the rate of increase of tem perature has been estimated to be one de gree of Fahrenheit for every forty-five feet of descent until a depth of 20C0 feet is reached; and below that, as much as one degree for every twenty-nve feet of addi tional depth below tne surface. Assum ing that this regular increase of tempera ture continues, a simple calculation proves to us that at a depth of say 7000 or 8000 feet a temperature of 212 degrees Fahren heit will be found, one sufficient to boil water at the earth's surface; and at a depth of about twenty miles the tempera ture will be high enough to melt cast iron. In other parts of the world this in crease of temperature, as the earth's crust 5s penetrated, is found to obtain, though with less rapid increase than is marked on the western coast of America. 8o well es tablished Is this fact that it has been seri- Jpsly proposed by European scientists and practical engineers to make very deep oorings in order that supplies of warm THE NEW STEEL SHIELD THAT GIRDLES THE HULL, ARRESTING TORPEDOES AND SAVING THE SHIP. water may be obtained for heating pur poses. Arrago and Wolferdin. two emi nent physicists, suggested this method for the j urpose of warming the Jardin acs Flumes in Paris. The lack at that time of proper mechani cal appliances deterred the enterprise. ! Now that such important improvements have been made in carrying borings to enormous depths tha time is at hand when we may draw upon the supply of subter ranean heat. The city of Budapest is now extensively supplied with hot water from underground sources. It must be known that this rule of in creased temperature applies to the earth's crust considered as a level coinciding with the surface of the sea. In the vol cano the subterranean heat is projected far above the line of sea level. To reach a region of desired high temperatur* In a volcanic region it is not necessary to bore deeply into the bowels of the earth. A horizontal shaft piercing the vent of the volcano above sea level will reach the in candescent material in a more direct an.l shorter route than a vertical one. Recog nizing the great need of a.loquate heat — for, after all, heat is the basis of mechani cal power, whether it be in the shape of coal, gas or even water force, it H simply the determination of how many units of a "mode of motion " that are obtainable that solves the problem of all manufac turing industries— recognizing this prime fact, the scheme has b«en bad under con sideration for along time by prominent promoters of industrial enterprises of utilizing, if possible, the heat imprisoned in the now dormant volcanic rocks of our Western coast. For if it can be made available the greatness of Ibe Pacific CoaM is assured. The market for whatever manufactured products she may create is and has been waiting, and it is an im mense market and a growing one. To this end, quietly, but systematically, investigations have been going on by thoroughly competent men of well-known engineering and scientific ability, who have just concluded their labors and made their report, which ie now in the hands of the executive committee of a syndicate formed of Eastern and English capitalists, fully able to deal promptly and compe tently with any undertaking involving the expenditure of hundreds of millions. The report states that at numerous places along the line of volcanic fracture and upheaval, known as the "Coast Range," a temperature of lrom 200 to 300 degrees (Fahrenheit) may be reached by means of a horizontal tunnel or drift con structed above sea level ; the elevation of the cutting or boring above sea level vary ing with the locality. As, for instance, the temperature mentioned may be found at the termination of a boring projected into the side of Mount Shasta at an eleva tion of 8000 feet, while the same tempera ture would have to be sought for at lower levels elsewhere. It is not meant by this that molten material or even incan descence would be found in such cases, but that the boring would reach an interior region having the temperature men tioned. For reasons that will be well understood these borings will be conducted at levels uot greatly elevated above sea level. Id the case of a huge mountain, as Mount Shasta, the outlet of the fiery material at the time of its ejection was through a central dike or funnel, the enormous amount of matter ejected having in time largely formed the mass of the aides of the mountain. To attempt to reach the hot interior funnel would, therefore, en tail the necessity of an extremely long tunnel. The object to be attained — the presence of heat — may be had by means of much shorter tunnels projected into lower volcanic formations having thinner walls. This latter condition is the one recommended by the report. The report is accompanied with elabo rate geological and physical maps of the regions Inspected, and also by numerous drawings showing in sectional elevation the various localities which are available to the purposes. The practical application of the scheme comprehends the cutting of tunnels ol working dimensions into tbe Hides of cer tain mountains in the Coast Range; the tunnels will vary from one to three miles in length, or until the temperature sought for is reached. In the tunnels will be placed a system of pipes leading from the mouth of tbe cutting to its interior end. In the furthest end of tbe tunnel will be placed what mfght be termed boilers; only they will contain no water, simply air. These boilers will be made of cast iron, of peculiar construction, so that any num ber of them may be connected together, to form one "battery." A portion of the pipes leading to the "boilerß" will carry cold air, and another portion convey the heated air from the "boilers" to the en gines. Within the tunnels, removed at suitable distance from the hot end, will be placed hot-air engine*, using tbe ex | pauded hot air in much tbe same manner as if it were steam. Air is the most elastic THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1897. material in nature.^ It expands to enor mous volume under the application of heat, and contracts with cold. The object of locating the engines close to the "boil ers" is to mnke the greatest possible use of the power of the expanded air. The en gines will be used to create'electricity and also compressed air, which will be trans mitted to desirel points. 1 have briefly outlined the salient points of this gigantic scheme, which to many may sound as if bodily taken from the romancing of Jules Verne, but it is in fact a genuine project, planned by shrewd, far seeing men, investigated and approved by known practical physicists and engineers, and backed by very largo and cautious capital. Certain details have yet to be arranged before the matter can be made public in the sense of incorporating and exploitation. A scheme of such colossal proportions and involving the investment of millions of capital calls for careful cons deration of every feature. Legal advice is absolutely necessary to provide against future annoyance in the determin ation of property rijcuts, and it has been determined by the syndicate to obtain from the Legislature of the State proper authority to carry into execution the great plan. It i- understood that a bill, now prepared, will be introduced at the present session of the Legislature, conferring upon the syndicate the necessary rights and authority. Wnen this is done, the pre liminary borings will be begun. The value THE NEW AND INSTRUCTIVE FAD THAT SOCIETY HAS ADOPTED. of the enterprise expressed in dollars is not to be fixed at this day. It is estimated that the power thus to be derived is a million times greater than is that de veloped by all of the water falling over the cataract of Niagara, and will continue to be available long after that famed water fall shall have drained the shallow pool forming the Great Lakes. F. M. Close, D.Fc. Is Gibraltar Useless ? An article of exceptional interest — evi dently written by a Spanish military of ficer — appears In the current number of the "Memorial de Artilleria," showing that the extended range of modern artil lery has completely revolutionized the conditions which have hitherto enabled Gibraltar to protect its own arsenal and dockyard and to afford safety for vessels at anchor under the guns of the fortress. When Gibraltar was taken by the Eng lish Is 1704 the greatest range for artillery lire was onJy about 3000 yards, so that a fleet under the batteries of Gibraltar was secure against attack from the Spanish coast. It is now pointed out that with a com paratively small expenditure of money by the Spanish Government batteries con structed in (he bay of Al<;eciras, upon the ri.life of mountains known as the Queen of Spain's Chair, woulrt actually command Gibraltar at a distance of 1)000 yards and would De capableof demolishing the whole length of the fortifications from the Gal leries to Europa Point. These Spanish batteries would also threaten the entry of ships oi war to Moles. This plan would merely involve the mounting of some forty heavy guns of from 4.7-inch to 12-inch caliber and a similar number of howitzers. At the present moment the strategical points on this part of the Spanish coast are entirely unfortified, and with Spain's present embarrassments in Cuba and the Philippines it is not likely, as the "Broad Arrow" points out, that the Madrid Gov ernment will take immediate action in tbe matter. But that these batteries may be constructed some day or other is far from improbable, and in view of the great importance to England of Gibraltar as a naval base, and the renewed expenditure New Fad for Society peading Character ir\ the Eye — The Droop of the bid or Slope of the BroW Are Unfailing Indications of One's Peculiar Jraits PJJSIHE latest society fad which promises vl vlo ecli se palmistry, thought-read **j^ inir, pln-rinding and all other im aginations of the heart and the intellect that have found work for idle brains to do is that of character-reading by the eyes. The fact that tho eye is "the window of the soul" woc.ld make it seem probable that by its light we may distinguish the Inner mind and possibly make a guesß at the interior decoration of tiie palace of thought. Like other windows, especially those of cathedrals, the eye is of various colors and consequently the views obtained through it are tinged by Its hues. A blue eye shows the mind in a different light from that given by a black, hazel or brown one. and a part, ol the opticist's art is to differentiate and to decide on the meaning of ibe various tints obtained through this medium. According to L.avater and others who have made a study of physiognomy the color of the eye is the key to the character. A hazel-eyed woman, we are tola, never elopes from her husband, never chats scandal, prefers his comfort to her own, never talks too much or too little, always is an intellectual, agreeable and lovely creature. The gray is the sign of shrewdness and talent. Great thinkers and captains have it. In women it indicates a better head than heart Gray eyes are of many varie ties. There are the sharp, the shrewish, the spiteful, the cold and the wild gray eye, but the fact remains that the gray represents the head. There la one variety of gray eye of which every lover should beware, the soft eye with a large pupil that contracts and dilates with a word, a thought or a flash ot-leeling. An eye that laughs, that sighs almost, that has its sunshine, its twilight, its moonbeams and its storms. A wonder ful eye that wins you whether you will or not, and holds you after it has cast you upon its combined arsenal and dockyard, the subject is beginning to attract the serious attention of naval and military authorities. — New York Herald. Bees, according to a statistician, must, in order to collect a pound of clover honey, deprive 62,000 clover blossoms of their nectar. To do this, the 62,000 flowers must be visited by an aggregate of 3,750,000 bees; or, in other words, to col lect hi 3 pound of honey one bee must make 3,750,000 trips from and to the hive. As bees are known to fly for miles in quest of suitable fields of operation, it is clear that a single ounce of honey represents millions of miles of travel. off, no matter whether the face be fair or not. No matter if features are irregular and complexion varying, the eye holds you cajtve and then laughs at your very chains. Black eyes of course are typical of fire, heroism and firmness, and have a spice of diabolism in tbeir rays that has a potent attraction in women's hearts. And green eyes; it is said of them that they betoken courage, pride and energy. A prominent or full eye indicates great command of laneua.e and ready and uni versal observation. Deep-seated eyes, on the contrary, receive more accurate, defi nite and deeper impressions. Round-eyed persons see much. They live much in the senses, but think less. Narrow-eyed per sons see less, but think more and feel more intensely. Width of the lower eyelid is believed to indicate a disposition to extenuate and to justify one's self, to defend conduct by giving cool reasons for It, When this lower lid curves downward and shows the white below the pupil, then, oh then, pause and Hesitate to trust your welfare to the owner of that eye. If opticists are right it is an indication of profound, cal culating selfishness. John D. Rockefeller has such an eye in a recent cartoon. Per haps this proves the truth of the assertion. Eyebrows may be thick or thin, fine or coarse, smooth or busby, arched or straight, regular or irregular, and each iorra and quality has its special signifi cance in reference to temperament and character. Thick, strong eyebrows generally betray a fall development of temperament. When also coarse, bushy and irregular we may expect harshness of character. Thin, fine, delicate eyebrows are indicative of a fine-grained organization and an active, if not predominant, temperament. The art of the opticist needs no studio nor cabinet in which to practice. The eyes can be examined in public as well as in private. To Arrest Torpedoes ft Huge Steel SKield Extending From BoW to Stern and From j(eel to Water Line, Is the First Effective De fense for Battle-Ships §ONDON, Feb. 6.— A vast amount of attention has been attracted recently in admiralty circles to a new device for the protection of big battle-ships below the water line. The new mode of hull defense is the idea of Dr. Herbert Jones, a naval con structor of note, and is designed to act as a torpedo-guard for the vessel below the surface of the sea. It has met with such universal favor among naval architects and marine engineers that the Govern ment of Great Britain is seriously con sidering its adoption. The plan of Dr. Jones is simply to place a huge steel shield along the hull of the battle-ship on both sides. It will consist of a number of large plates in juxtaposi tion, extending from stem to stern, and from the keel to a point just above the water line. The plates must fit exactly to the model of the hull so as not to retard the speed of the vessel when there is no occasion to use them. Even those who are unfamiliar with naval construction must know that the most vulnerable part of a ship is that of Vier hull below the water line. There are located the very vitals of the marine monster — the boilers, engines, magazines and furnaces. On each of these the life, power and movement of the vessel de pends. One shot, or even 100, or even 1000 shots might pass through the upper parts of a battle-ship without destroying or even seriously disabling her, but let one torpedo pierce the comparatively thin body in the weak spot under the water and the chan ;es are a thousand to one against her remaining afloat long after that. The millions of pounds sterling expended by the great powers of the world on the offensive and defensive merits of guns ver sus armor has brought them no nearer to a solution as to the superiority in the one c ise or the other than they were thirty years ago, and for many years past the idea oi one ship destroying another by stand ing off and exchanging shots from a dis tance nas been recognized as an absolute impossibility. Lord Armstrong on this point has well stated that these stupendous warships "cannot be made invulnerable," and that their cost is so enormous that no country can have a numerous navy of such ves sels. While the great naval powers are busily engaged in bringing submarine warfare to a perfect system of attack by means of div ing torpedo-boats British naval authori ties agree that England has apparently neglected the means of resisting marine uttack. There are, for instance, torpedo boats, torpedo - boat catchers and tor pedo-boat destroyers, and it is an admitted fact that the so-called catchers are In ferior in speed to the boats they are sup posed to catch ; and as to the destroyers, their special destructive powers ara not very apparent. In a fair aboveboard sea flcght between the types mentioned and first and second class battle-ships it is a question with na val experts which would destroy or be de stroyed. The greatest dancer to battle-ships would be at night when the destroyers, owing to their speed and handiness might get a torpedo in contact with the enemy's side, when the battle-ship, devoid of under-water protection, would inevita bly be destroyed. Hence, declares a lead* ing naval officer, "the term destroyer in its fullest and truest sense is only applica ble to the modern diving torpedo-boat. As sure as one of these submarine ship-de stroyers, in a state of suspension at a reg lated depth below the surface of the water, is navigated to within striking dis tance of a 15,000-ton battle-ship bo surely will the ponderous battle-ship be destroyed immediately on being struck by a missile aimed by her unseen submarine foe. There is no give and take about this what ever, as the submarine torpedo-boat when deeply immersed is out of reach of its op ponent, while at the same time it strises at the most vital and unprotected part of | tne nuil of the monster floating above it." It is upon this very point that the ma rine architects and engineers of the world have been puzzling their brains for years. That is, they have taxed their inventive powers to the utmost to devise a form of protection against the scientific advance of submarine warfare. The only contrivance now in use to protect the lower portion of a ship's hull from torpedo attacs is a huge netting of wire slung from booms on the side of the ship and supposed to pene trate far enough beneath the surface of the water to furnish protection for the entire bottom. This apparatus affords protection to some extent when the vessel has hove to, but when she lias speed on the net is sure to drag astern and expose a large surface of ttie hull. Then again torpedoes have been invented for the very purpose of cutting through the netting when it is found as an obstacle. With Dr. Jones' new device, the torpedo could not reach the hall proper bat would explode itself against the preventive hull, as the guard might be termed. That of course would be demolished, but the hull itself would be saved from destruction. As previously stated, the shield must fit snugly to the hull. The shield consists of a number of wide piates placed side by side and hung by hinges on a long rod running the length of the ship, just above the water line, and extending to the keel. Above each plate is a davit securely at tached to the ship's side. A tackle is suspended from each davit, and the lower block hooks into a ring bolt in the lower end of the plate. The falls run into the hull and connect with a windlass, so that the guard can be hoisted out by steam. When placed in position for defense it must be hauled outboard about twenty feet from the hull. Thus, besides the re sistance of the shield, a huge cushion of water which has been formed aids in the protection of the ship. Captain 8. Eardley Wilmot, K. N M lat« chief torpedo expert of the Admiralty, in his report has the following to say on the subject: "The development of the 'Whitehead 1 torpedo, with which now nearly ail na tions are supplied, renders the question of protecting ships against this attack one of the gravest consideration. "The torpedo of to-day travels at the rate of 30 knots an hoar and carries 200 pounds of explosive compound directed against the most vulnerable part of a ship, that of her hull under water. "We hare been enabled by the addition of large masses of armor to fairly pro tect the water line and above it against the effects of artillery fire, bat cannot ex tend this to the submerged portion of her hull as a defense against torpedo attacks. We have therefore been obliged to restrict oar endeavors as far as structural ar rangements are concerned to give ships of war a double bottom, and subdividing them internally into a number of water tight compartments, thus seeking to diminish the effects of an explosion and restrict the inflow of water at that point. "As, however, these arrangements could only give very partial protection at a time when torpedoes carried a compara tively small charge, it was considered de sirable to stop them before they could reach the ship and for this purpose the present system of net defense was de vised. "This consists of wire nettine suspended vertically from steel or wooden booms at tached to the hull of the ship, from which they project from 25 to 35 feet. The nets hang down to a depth of 20 feet and ara connected together in sections so as to then form a continuous crinoline of net- ting. "But should the ship move through the water, the nets are more or less impelled toward the surface according to the speed of the ship. For these reasons naval offi cers do not consider that nets can be used* at sea. "Thus It is evident that if external pro* tection is to be relied upon it must be in a different form, ana Dr. Jones has devised a torpedo-guard which is not only novel, but free from most of the objections in herent to the net defense. His plan is to have steel shields made to the form of ths ship and ordinarily resting against the hull. They are, however, capable of being projected outward when required to a dis tance of twenty fast from the hull, and this cushion of water, together with the resistance offered by the steel plating, should secure a ship from material injury in the event of a torpedo exploding against the guard. It is obvious that the plate could not be cut through like a net, nor would it be forced out ot position by a current or the ship's moving through the water. "An advantage of this system is that all the appliances for working this protection are above the water line and always in position, thus enabling the protection to be pat in position at the shortest notice, while it overcomes the difficulty attached to supporting steel booms or rams if pro jected to a distance of twenty or thirty feet. "Thi3 plan now proposed by Dr. Jonei is, in my opinion, the best which lias been put forward for guarding against the terri ble effects of locomotive torpedo attack, and looking to the grave issues involved I consider that expenditure would be wisely incurred in giving it a trial." Many others have signified their ap proval of Dr. Jones' torpedo defense for protecting costly warships and the lives of gallant seamen from the appalling dan gers of torpedo attack, among whom are the highest expert authorities of the United Kingdom. In the front rank of these is £. J. Reed, X.C.8., weli known as having designed and constructed war ships for all the naval powers of the world. The accompanying illustration shows one of Dr. Jones' modes of protection against torpedo attack. It gives a fore shortened view taken off the port bow and represents the vessel with the improved torpedo guard expanded to its protective position while the dreaded missile ex plodes against it. Art Said Life to Art: "I love thee best Not when I find in thee My very face and form expressed With dull fidelity; "But when in thee my craving eyes Behold continually The mystery of my memories And all I long to be." Charles G. D. Roberts, in Century. Germany possesses 24,843 miles of rail ways; France, 21,396; Great Britain and* Ireland, 19,811; Russia, 17,823; and Aus tria, 15.442. 27