Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-09-18
A. MAZE OF MACHINERY


ought to go into operation in the mex,
five years, and Of all the places afford
ing natural advantages for it there are
none in the State to surpass Cratic
Rapids, on tie Wisconsin, Of which
witt, the readers good pleasure, / slial
now attempt to give brief survey.
At this point the river takes a long
plunge over d rapid, rocky reach OF
about three miles in length; where a
natural power is formed that has at
tracted & cluster Of the best saw-niiis,
grlst-mills and factories in the State.
The power row used comes SO natural
" Under control that little artificial aid
has ever been called ii to assist it.
Recently, however, an engineer has
been employed uqon it to devise means
for making use of 4 greater proportion
Of it. This engineer is the same one
who devised most Of the plans for con-
trolling the water power at Minneapolis,
| and, far-fatncd as that manufacturing
point IS, he pronounccs the Grand
Rapids power superior III almost every
! respect.
10 Pive an idea Of the character Of
this water privilege, let me say that
while the main stream runs over rap
ids rocky bottom through which pas
saee-way8 are formed for floating lumber
and legs in time Of frcshets, there is d
natural boomage Of immense capacity
formed thus: About three miles above
the foot of the rapids main boom has
been thrown out in the deep water for
the purpose Of conveying logs into a
system Of continuous slonghs that run
down the west side Of the river and par
allel with it, and reaching down almost
to the foot Of the rapids, This passage
way is separated from the nain course
Of the river by a series Of islands, the
first of which contains $50 acres, the
second about 100. These are followed
by other smaller islands extending far
Their down and making the whole length
Of boomage nearly three miles. The
old passage-ways between the islands,
through which water formerly escaped
into the river, have been closed, and
thus perfectly safe storage for logs in
any and all Seasons is secure. This
long reach OF barriers for securing and
holding logs is Of natures own build
ing, aud can be relied upon to with
stand the seyerest trials to which prop
erty in the stream is ever subjected.
It is safe TO say that IN expenditure Of
$500, 900 could not have made log
storage SO perfect and reliable.
II this condition Of the streanl served
no other purpose tla11 merely that Of
boomage, It would be Of immense value;
but added to that, it is Que Of the rar-
asst opportunities for manufacturing by
the use Of water-power to be found in
thu Northwest. The amount OF pow
81 available Is only limited by the vol
;t,ne OF water In the river, aud, as the
engineer expressed it there is no poss-
fility at present Of properly estimating
it. From the head Of the slough down
ward for some distance the water is slow
and deep and afterwards it gains some
what ii speed but in the entire dis
lance it has u fall Of 2oa feet, while
the bed Of the slotighs lies ut an elesa-
ton varying from s feet to % feet
above the bed of the river. On oil
this iirt the water ctti BID used over and
over n]aln admitting of factory seats
and mill seats every lew rods. Messrs.
q. Garrison & Go. have mill Cd this
power and have leased privileges to
come two or three others With these
exceptions it Is all awaiting improve
ment.
On the opposite side of the river
the power IS utilized BY Several mills.
all Of which have an unfai'Mg supply
Of power. Three miles balew, at Pert
Edwards, dam has been thrown etrpss
the river which forces heavy column
ot water into natural slough, rst{hga
bo omsge capacity of 10000, ODo iae,,
Id furnishing power for the mills Of
i, Edwards Il Company. Just below
the lniils there il a natural boom yet
unimprovcd shat can be made to store
over $50, 900, 600 feet, 80 thai taken
altogether The water power and boom
capacity Of Grand Rapids Is simply
enormous,
thought to be mentioned as . natural
feature of vast value that fne clay
has been found underlying the town
and vicinity that promises to become
In article Of extensive commerce, and
| take pleasure in saying that the s4a-
tinei was 6rst to recognize the value Of
this deposit and make its existence
known abroad A bank Of this clay is
now opened about two miles out Of
town. The thickness Of the vein is not
yet known, Blu: it Is certainly over six
feet,
SEVERAL FURNACE MEN
in the State have adopted it fer fire.
brick Innings end repairs to the exclu-
sion of imported clay and find it much