Evening star., 1869-09-11
SHALL OUR WATER POWER GO To
WASTRp

without ito be, in fact, heIplessly dependent
UpcU the Government teat for support. II We
Were se'f--elIant, energetic. able 10 80 alone,
able 10 d. without the Capital, then the Capt
tsI, with feminine caprice. would insist upon
Saying with Us. We should hear the last of
removal.
The DIs,rict Of Columbia has many resources,
Il utilized, whereby b. can make itself self
sustaining, and first and foremost is its aoun-
daEt water-pover, now runnIng to waste Ii
= remarkable that while the waisr-power in
the Northern States Is held in such growing
importance. and is not only carefully hus-
handed, but vas. sums spent in increasing the
supply, or the means OF access to n. that the
immense water-power Of the District, directly
upon nayIgable river, and with railroad COM
munIcatIcn north south, east and west, should
LC; be brought into play-or rather trort. In
Msine. the vast use made OF the wa,sr.pover
Il that State, and the threatened exhaustion
q the supply, has necsssited tue estab
Hsbnent Of hyGrOgraphical survey to
stow what new sCureesof supply can be made
Sysiiaole BY dammiEg the lakes for reservoirs
And railroads are being bull; expressly 10 open
Up ays!laole power on the Saco, Presumpscot
henEe5ec, and Penobscot rivers. Maine a
cold. sterile State by an energetic use OF the
means placed n her command is growing in
wealth and population, under the most un.
promising circumstances.
Aprclsct for increasing the available watsr-
power Of the Delaware river has been on foot
FOR some seven years past. the most Importlnt
feature OF which has Iust been successfully
completed A recent Publication in regard TO
this important enterprise, says.
"A wing dam has been thrown completely
over the Delaware river, short distance be-
low >cuddsr's FalIs-an opening $50 feet wide
merely being left fer the passage of RATS: a
larse bar nearly in the centre of the river nay-
iug been first removed This structure by
IaTrcwIng the width of the river, ana increas-
IIG the depth Of the water above, increased the
capacity and velocity of the water belo " ac-
CclYlishss the object sought. The work has
been entrusted TO the mountain lumbermen OF
tt-awa COUNTY. and Tor three years they hav-
been eECamprd At Ssucder's Falls. engaged
upon T.. v hat they nave accomplished Will,
4 i estlUafed. IL crease the atsr-pover in its
IelSEoCIhOOd tvOfOlt- and will enable the
TCaI ufG Cturers 70 substitute water for steam.
which has heretofore proven too expensive an
agent.
The mills and factories in that vicinity are
all y CTked oy wa;eT-power owned ana con
tIcllsI oy chartered company. The con.
s-Tuc'lcL o: this water-pOwer. In lSS2, gave 4
great impetus 20 all branches of manufacturing
Industry The Improvement lust compla.ed
VIII. Il > thought simulate that Class Of in-
Cas-ry even mOIr."
Ik-ss references show the energetic efforts
= Z made eIsevh here 10 AZ crease wa.er-supply
AID tEe InpOrtar- results realized. Let US see
il
and 70 what ext-Et IL may be used The rough
scCle barrier. called by courtesy q dam. across
fa- Potomac. which backs water 10 feed the
Georgetown level Of the Chesapeake and Oaio
CsLai, l. above the Little Fails of The Potomac.
ard distant about hve miles from Rock Creek
cr rcUr miles frSm the western boundary OF
Gecrgs-cvr, the canal running about a mile
through the town
TIE surface level Of the canal a. G GEORGETOWN
49,
c. -Es Potomac, thus giving a far greater esd
q. wA-sr than ia most places where water
power Is used Tor manufacturing purposes
Th- 50 called dam, above referred 70. was ouiIt
by tre C1Eal CJupa2y, aud Is a miserably
constructed and inefficient arrangement, be
ilE. - We have animated, nothing 10 ore than a
usrrisr CT ruoble stone, through which the
water runs a through sieve. When heavy
--es--.> wash CT portion OF the material,
IaV-- l. thrown On unn enough resistance Is
,r-r,t - force small stream through the
CsLal. Ye: even with this "shiflleSs'' ar
TIgenen', ana the Necessary drain and unne-
C-s-&ry wa-tzse through the lock-gates q,
AIe1sEdTIa snd GeoT geIoEn, there Is not only
enough water-exc-p- when the PJ.omac IL
unusually loT-to keep ihs Georgetown level
art tae Alexandra Canal (Iggr-gating over
c-L CIi-s IL l-ngthl fall enough to float heavy
CCai-b1a,s, bat 10 keep seven large Touring
T1.il-. one ELL for grinding corn, pspar mill,
AID txo GOAL docks il operation. These mills,
% say 5thiry CT the water used for working
he hosting apparatus for unloadiny co,l-
bl1r-. take frcn 900 10 90 in hes uperficial
q; wa,,r-ve have not the exact figures. Tais
luarfI'y OF water, with 3 head OF thirty-six
t-ei. v Inch Is the fall from the canal to the
rive-- represents, il round numbers, 1850
Tse power The foariny mills are large es-
Adjustments. capable @: tarning cut two
hUrtie1 10 I've hundred barrels OF Il our each
J.. cay-the last figure probably representing
yrTy really the capacity of welcb's large
I-IIl, ana H,u's paper mill turns out from
~ TO ION and a quarter o: paper daily.
This l. what is being done now. If, how-
ever. $1,000 saould be spent in baiIding q
substantial and tight timber dam across the
Tivsr. II enlarging tie feeding and in strength
eEILg the canal this power would be doubled
l;IO: trebled- And il is not too exIavagant
20 say that II would be worth that much daily
70 the District of COlu % bia. By raising such
dam and enlargIEg the canal, and half the Poto-
mac might be turned into IL, anordIIg water
enough 20 run five miles of mills side by side
from Rock Creek TO the Falls; for the volume
OF water Is more than ample. The present
wsier rents probably yield the Canal Com
PsEy 5000 FER num, or the legal interest on
-lCO,1OO. Ii is all along she line only q few
hundred 1eet rom the canal 10 the Ilyer, SO
that the raw material goes directly from the
CaEsI into one end of the mills and the
rnanufaciu ured product out OF the other end
directly into vessels on the Potomac. This
places the District practically nearer the
New York markets than Lowell, Lawrence,
lewiston. Gardiner, Manchester, or any of the
leading New England manufacturing towns
The last named, q thriving nan ufacturing city
N New Hampshire on the Merrimac, Is nifty
miles from tide water 10 8 rough, sterile,
thoroughly unpromising country, and yet in
the first twelve years after the essay to make
the water power available it had grown from
nothing 10 o city of $50 inh ,oit ants. The
coronation who started the settlement put the
lots At a liked price Of i5S cents per foot, and
town was soon built. And yet Manchester is
nearly one hundred miles BY raj and two hun.
cIed n lies by water from market. We are
very much nearer the sources OF cotton sup.
ply than the New England manufacturing
towns. and have the unparalled advantages o
uce water on one side Of our mills and
canal on the other afordipg ample water power
ard II direct communication with the ricn
grain fields Of the valleys, the great oitumious
coal mines Of the country, and abundant min'
eIal resources Of all kinds.
At the Great Falls of the Potomac, twelv'