Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1889-06-14
LITTLE FALLS.

LITTLE FALLS. .s5.. :
q Town Attracting Marked Attention ON
Account Of It's notwithstanding and
Other Advantages.
From the Northwestern Real Estate and Financial
4 Register. ss5,ss, .sS 81,
One who visits Little Falls IL struck with the
resemblance II bears to the Minneapolis Of ten
years ago, and while to-day the prosperity Of
Minneapolis Is attributed to her manufacturing
industries, so In few years when the water
power Of Little Falls is utilized to its fullest
capacity this ehterprising town will undoubted.
ly be able to boast Of as rapid a growth as Min.
neapolis is credited with today. very few know,
says correspondent, that on the line OF the
Northern Pacific Railroad, about a 100 miles west
OF that city, there Is water power which has
been improved and augmented in capacity and
volume within the last year SO that It possesses
today the largest and most effective and, may
properly add, the most durable and economic
water powers in the United States. This power
is situated In the thriving and rapidly growing
city of Little Falls In the State of Minnesota.
surrounded by an unsurpassed farming region,
prolific and un falling In its products and i'm
mediately adjacent TO and surrounded by vast
timber districts invaluable in wood working and
other industries 49,. aa"., -., .
The water power is owned and controlled BY
the Little Falls Water Power Company, an in.
corporated association with 5000, 600 capital. To
this company as we'll as the Little Falls Improve
ment Company. is due i'll q large degree the
marvellous development of Little Falls.
With Its present population Of 5000 energetic
citizens, with almost every advantage and
auxiliary requisite in the way Of clean municipal
government, good schools, churches, parks and
climate the place stands in the foremost ranks
oil Minresota's progressive towns. Offering
bundle of opportunities second to noue to those
seeking Profitable Investments or looking for
homes. Little Falls is 100 miles nearer than St.
Paul and Minneapolis to the wheat regions of
the Red River Valley and North Dakota the
heavy pine forests Of Northern Minnesota, and
the immense wool product Of Montana. The
iron mines of the Lake Superior region are also
within much shorter distance as is likewise
the lakeport Duluth. through which supplies of
coal and heavy goods are received by all these
cities. Within few miles, and easily accessi-
BILE are extensive forests, comprising white oak !.
white and black ash, blackberry. cherry, butter
nut, linden, red and white elm, poplar, sugar
and white maple. birch and several other less
prominent varieties Many of these trees are of
large size, tall and limbless to considerable
height, suitable for making lumber and material
for manufacturing. This Is especially true of
The white oaks, elms, NAPLES, and lindens The
contour ofthe country is such that the city is
remarkably easy OF access from every direction,
both for rail and wagon roads. and much Of the
timber may be- foated hither down the Mlssis.
sippi and Its continent streams Its existing
transportation facilities by railroad are: First
1t Is on the main line of the Northern Pacific
giving it direct communication with st. Paul
and Minneapolis, and with the Red River and
the ,ich agricultural and pastoral region Of
North Dakota. also the mining districts of
Montana.
The durability of the water power, says cor
respondent, at Little Falls will be better under.
stood when It Is explained that the river here
runs for several miles over a refractory rock of
hard slate formation lying in nearly vertical
strata. which, at the depth penetrated, is as
hard as granite, and at no great distance below
the dam is succeeded by eranitic formation.
The island already mentioned is Of the same
INDURATED SLATE FORMATION,
and rising in mid-stream to the height of 80 feet,
made two dams Of about 800 feet each necessary;
the eastern one beginning on the east side of the
river, where the bank is about Is feet high, and
extending to the island, and the other about 200
feet distant and from the western side of the
head Of the island some $50 feet to the west bank,
where the rock is about % feet above the water
level. The dam proper is of crib work formed
Of timbers IL inches square. notched and boiled
together seven feet between centers, and having
56-feet base where the river is the deepest. All
the bottom timbers are fastened to the solid rock
bottom OF the river by heavy iron bolts, wedged
into holes drilled twenty inches into the rock
This crib work is filed with coarse rock, sand
and gravel; and an embankment of broken rock
and earth from sixty to eighty feet wide, accord
ing to the depth of the stream, is placed above
the crib-work dam entirely across the river, tc
protect it from the pressure of the water, and
from the shock and strain of ice or logs.
The main canal is 900 feet long and Is fee
deep, with an average width of eighty feet. Ii
excayating it the rock was reached at the deptt
of about six feet, its lower half and nearly the
entire 2epth Of the waste weir being cut in the
solid rock. The sluices through which the wa
ter is discharged from the main canal, for i'm
parting motion to the turbine wheels which
communicate it to the mill or factory macbin,
cry, arc likewise cut through the rock formation
| for their entire distance from the canal to the
river, and the sites for the factory rest upon thu
same rock. This is spoken of particularly, be-
cause 1t is unusual to find so many natural nd
vantages and elements of strength grouped II
one place, and 1t proves the claim of durability
for this work has good foundation to rest upon
The gate house sub. structed is begun on the
solid rock bottom at the head of the canal anc
is ITO feet long by seventeen feet in width 1t i.
u solid wall composed of heavy blocks of dressed
granite, and is twenty-oue feet in height 1t /.
pierced with eight arched openings, each six
| feet wide by ten high. These are provided with
substantial gates. raised and lowered by the mos
approved modern machinery. which may be
operated by water power from wheel chambe,
| III the east end Of the structure and the wate1
! In the canal be ways amaintained at uniform
height. The superstructure, resting upon THU
base and forming the sata-no proper, rise!
| to M additional height of twenty ieet, and !.
very substantially built in modern ornate style
| with parapct battlement, and covered with ar
iron roof.
That this splendid water power will not re-
main untitled any great length of time il
amply evidenced by the fact that one largs
| Touring mill has already been completed anG
| another partially built. with = combined capac
ity Of 200 barrelsper day. Early Ia tho spring
! two saw mills, already contracted for, will b
UNDER FULL HEADwAY
| aud win have a capacity Of 2oo. 900 feet per day
Other important industries must inevitably fol
'ow. and five years hence will see the city O
Little Falls one vast bee hive of diversified indus
| tries, employing their thousands Of operatives
and swelling the channel of trade with an in
crease Of many thousands of dollars monthly.
- A Woman's Discovery.
Another wonderful discovery has been made
and that too by a lady in this county. Disease
fastened its clutches upon her and for sever
years she withstood its severe tests. but her vita
organs were undermined and death seemed I'M.