The Grange advance., 1874-12-29
CANNON FALLS.
It's Immense Water Power.
(Continued from last week.)

Proceeding south and up the river
from the falls, us far as the lake would
extend, We find at its head chance for
another dam Of six feet or more in
height, with flow back three fourt!ls of
mile, makiug the fourth water power
described. The fifth is two and a half
miles from Cannon falls, a mile from
this point, and is now occupied by
Messrs. Archibald l. Wilcox.
\ permanent stone dam raises the
water twelve feet, the chuunel below
having recently been dccpened two and
a half or three feet, on which is one of
mills, the building and arrangements Of
which We're made without regard to ex-
pense, and is indeed IL mill unrivalied
in its convenience and capacity for busi-
ness.
Retracing our steps: We now find
ourselves again at the junction Of the
Little with the Big Cannon river.
Proceeding up the Cannon river. we
come to another superior water power
(the sixth J.. with smooth rock river bed
and banks Of suitable height for dam
Of twelve feet about sixty rods above
the Junction Of the Cannon river. Here
both banks are nearly level, affording
elevated sites for mills on both siles OF
the river. This is the best mill site on
the Big Cannon river within the plot
ting OF the towns addition, and as vet
both the addition and water power is
unimproved and awaiting development.
Forty rods west in straight line, al
though by course of the river, twice as
far we come to the seventh water pow
er just outside the plotting of the Can
non Falls addition. Here the banks
are low and level, and river wide, with
smooth bottom and banks of rock, af-
fording a natural fall Of four and Il half
feet III twenty feet of river; called
Hale's Falls.
The land here is level on either bank.
covered with from three to four feet of
soil, requiring a dam but four and
half feet hig h with ample room for
waste water. On the left or south bank,
the side on which the company's ad-
dition is plotted, is a depression in the
ock under the soil in a straight line
toward said addition like canal, into
which the soil has washed, which ex-
tends about fifteen rods with corres-
ponding depression running parallel with
the first, a natural mill race where the
water would run into and could find the
river as many rods below, after leaving
the canal on the bank. The fall thus
obtained would be fourteen or fifteen
feet. Mills on this site would stand
ten or fifteen rods from the river, and
close to the plotted addition, = This is
altogether the safest, most elevated and
commanding waterpower on the Big
Cannon river near the town, and could
be carried by canal opposite the
towns addition. No freshet would dam
age mills situated on this site, and q
canal could be easily covered in front Of
the mills, as we'll as the race below and
none seen within fifteen rods from the
site.
Above on the river bank three-quar-
ters Of q mile, we come to the celebrated
spring known as the Parks Spring,
which rushes from the south bank and
tumbles in rapid descent fifteen feet
into the river, and affords an excellent
three horse water power, which was so
used three years since, to run the card
ing machine Of S. Hale, now at River
Falls, Wis.