Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-10-12
me NIAGARA runnEl.


NraGARA FAILS. Oct. lf.-hemnfAauie
3eyeIopuents have taken place since active
work was begun on the tunnel which IL to
harness the power of the famous cataract
Where two years ago there were rocks
which had not been moved since the hard
eninx of the eartll's crust, is now tunnel
600 feet in length, entirely lined VIII
brick. and all completed save the portal.
Where two years ago the solitary heron
stood among the cattails, fiourishing rs they
did when Father Hennepin first gaxed in
awe upon Niagara. now stands the greatest
paper plant in the world.
What two wears ago was a bueolic corn
field has been converted by an excavation
into $500, 900 canal to feed the wheel pits
of the tunnel Land along the river mar
gin that two years ago was used rs COW
pasture, has now d short railroad running
through it that cost $4,000, destined to
carry freight to and from the mills soon To
be erected. 4 thousand feet of dockage
will be built here next spring. On the 1850
acres of land bought by the Tunnel Com
pany before drill was started, dozens of
dwellings, are now building. and Sioo 900
is ready 10 be used in seweriug. grading,
lighting and silewalking this district. The
tpnnel portal will be completed by the 18th
inst, and the hydraulic canal by Jan. l..
The 500 paper mill is hustling to complete
lis plant in order to begin operation by the
first of the year.
But big AS is the American tunnel scheme
ii has A mate. The Canadian side of 4
river is to have q tunnel. too, though Z
has been said of this enterprise than of
other. The same company will develop e
power on both sides of the river. 1t is -
pected that tunnel 500 feet long ON te
Dominion bank will develop 100, 900 horse
power, while boring of G,.0o feet was
necessary on the American side to obtain
100 900 horse power. The British govern
mem will derive revenue of So, 0W Il
year from the Canadian tunnel privilege,
and the power being generated in Queen
Nictorias park, must be transmitted tot
factories outside of the park, as the bui :
Ing of no mills will be permitted in the
park preserves. Work will be begun on
the Canadian tunnel early next spring, and
it is hoped that motive force of nearl y2o. 900
horse power may BE- available year from
now.
1t has been enormously stated that work
has already commended on the Canadian
tunnel The truth is that little tunnel is
being constructed that will produce 20oO
horse power, which is to be used to run the
power house of the electric railway on the
Canadian side This tunnel is being exca-
waited by the railway company.
For several reasons the purpose is to
| transmit to Buffalo the power that is gen.
Grated on the Canadian side. First, it is
expected that all the power that is devel-
| oped by the American tunnel will be utilized
| bv manufactures that will locate. as has
the paper mill, at the falls; second, it is
not expected that the Canadians will OIL
can use anything like 100, 900 horse power
n factories on the Dominion riverside
third, the distance from the Canadian
whcel-pits to Buffalo will be several
miles less than from the American wheel
pits; fourth the tariff laws will not permit
Americans profitably to locate factorie.
across the river, while according to the rul
ings of the nited States treasury depart
ment, electrical power may be entered free
of duty. If power can be transmitted tc
| Buffalo without too costly diminution, the
experiment will follow of wiring electrical
energy to Hamilton, and perhaps even tc
| Toronto, which city uses more electricity
today, according to its population, thar
does Buffalo Undoubtedly several fac
tories will be erected by English capita
near the Canadian power tunnel, as already
the agents of corporations are on the ground
pricing land.
The Tunnel Power Company promises to
be one of the greatest molopOlies of the
| age, for with exclusive rights on the Cana
dian side, and the ownership of all available
! land on the American mars.n, nobody car
| build a competitive tunnel without excaya
ting under very large chunk of the State
of New York The Tunnel Power Com
pany practically have such a ''clinch" or
the territory that factories must locate or
| its lands in order to get connection with tn.
wheel-pits and to secure shipping facilities
| In the matter of dockage, cribwOrk is
now beng constructed in eight or nine foo
of water from the old Hydraulic Canal tc
the steamboat landing at Schlosser's dock
| With lille dredging, there will be a per-
fectly safe harbor just above the American
rapids, with an open channel all the way tt
| Tonawanda and Buffalo. This channel i.
now being improved by dredging, $50 ,oo'
appropriation having been granted by &c
LESS this year as starter. The day ,
come, no doubt, when harbOr will strett
all the way from Black Rock to the Falls
!
Sale. There is room here for all the yes
sells now afoat that carry the American flag
at the masthead.
Meanwhile high authorities in the elec
trical world are wrestling with the problems
of translation and transmission of energy
Prof. Forbes of London, the consultir
electrical engineer of the Tunnel Pow,
Company, has been here twice this year
each time spending much effort in passing
upon the plans offered. Naturally there is
much rivalry among the makers of dynamo'
| for the contract to furnish the power house,
on the Canadian side. SO much progress
| has been made in electrical science in tn,
last two years as TO beget confidence tina
when the tunnel is ready for its harness,
all problems connected with the buckles ant
straps will be solved.
AMERICAN cApITAI IN H0N0tlRAS