News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-12-20
fOWER FROM THE WAVES.
no 0"eer Mill in Course of Erection
on the Pacific Coast.

Many visitor to the Cliff House bos
wondered what the spiderv -loolxino con.
sflVance is that they have s,,an . fow
hundred yards up the beach ~ po;nt
LoDos: If they will go up to it now NJ and and
make inquiries, for it is at last in ,vorlN
ing order, they will find that it is a ma
chine Tor turning the rhythmical beat.
ing OF the waves against the rocks into
power that can be utilized for working
mills and manufactures, and driving
cable cars and putting salt water baths
INTO city houses, and sprinkling the
streets and flushing the sewers. Though
the result OF supplying q power that can
lake the place of high priced coal is so
important, the machinery 10y which it is
accomplished is simple enough. One
wonders as soon as he sees it why some
body didn't think of it ages ago.
All that there is of it is sort of de-
yeloped suction pump, in which the
power is supplied by the waves, reser-
yoIr, and water wheels. Suspended
from big iron uprights is framework,
across the lower part of which is fasten-
ed heavy planking. This planking pre-
sents face to the waves about six feet
by twelve, and its framework is SO ar
ranged that it can be raised or lowered
as the tide rises and falls. The waves
dashing against this move it in iron
groovs backward and forward, and its
motion is communicated through some
other machinery to q twelve-inch piston,
SO that movement of thirty-two feet
by the framework causes q nine-foot
movement of the piston. This pump
connects with q long suction pipe, the
other end of which is under water. This
pipe is fitted with screen to keep out
sand and debris. An air chamber four
teen feet high keeps the pressure in the
pump steady, and forces a constant
stream of water through the big iron
pipe that Chambers up the cliff and over
the hill to height Of $50 feet. That is
as high rs the pipe goes now, but the
force is sufficient to pump the water
height of 500 feet above sea level. The
of the plan is a huge reser-
voir at that height and system of water
wheels, which would supply power linn
tied only by the number of motors.
After the water has passed over the
water wheels it is the idea of the COM
rany that it could be brought into the
city and used for private baths, street
sprinkling, sewer flushing, and other
things. At present the motor only is
and the water pumped up is
allowed to run off in the ground.
Only one piston has been put in as yet,
but this pumps at the rate of three bar
rels per minute, and the motor could
lrive also four others of equal capacity.
The force, of course, increases as the |
tide rises and as the wind sets in toward |
,he land. Ordinarily the motor does not
work at low tide, but will run usually
rom eigteen to twenty hours per day,
md under favoring conditions nf ""'~1 !
md tjIr~,tr:'
This motor was begun about three
years ago, but unfortunate circumstances
have delayed its completion. Severe
storms have several times thrown the
work back, and when the dynamite-load
ed schooner exploded off Point Lobos
the rock upon which it was being built
was split in two. 1t has only Just been
but so far has worked with
success.-SGn francisco Bcan1-
'Dggs