The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-12-08

The Electric City of Montana.
The remarkable success which has r.
9 suited to this city by the Harvesting {
Q a small portion of it's vast water powe
. and the transmission of it to be used fo
8 various purposes by its conversion int
: electricity, must be a matter of seriou
| study to a thinking man.
/. When we remember that the Missouri
) river for untold ages has flowed past thi
point with a power u%nthought of, ,:or i
so, requiring a discerning mind to grasl
the possibilities of its development, it il
a matter of surprise to think how few
years it has taken to build up gigantic
establishments worthy of the "..larges
cities of the world, as also what the pos
sibilities are of the near future with thu
advancement in the application of cleo
tricity.
At the present time electricity is used
in many ways and forms in Great Falls
among which may be mentioned, electro.
communication, electro motion, electro.
heat, electro light, elcctro-metallurgy
and many others.
by electro communication we have the
telephones: 10y elcctro-motion we have
a street car line system. which in point
OF equipment has no superior, Il flour
mill with an output of 80 barrels per
day has been operated to its fullest ca
pacity, and sewing machines and others
Of a similar light power are run by a
small motor attached To them. by
electro heat hotels. laundries, workshops,
dwellings,, street cars, etc, have been
and are heated as thoroughly as by the
combustion of wood or coal.
By electro-light the streets, hotels,
store and houses are almost universally
lighted, either by arc or incandescent
lights, and which has resulted in fewer
fires, and thus a reduction IN the rate of
insurance.
By electro-metallurgy, however, Great
Falls has been able in conjunction with
an unlimited supply Of water for concen-
trating, to assert her supremacy in the
copper marts, by the pureness and cheap
ness of her product, so that now in the
eastern markets the Great Falls product
is considered the standard by the pur-
chasing syndicates.
Looking at the vast smelters and re-
tinery now in operation, examining the
different uses and almost universal
of electrical appliances in
this city, how much of our water power
has it taken to form all these results. |
One dam II feet high. of which not one
tenth is yet in use, and the enormous re-
serve of over 800 feet in fall of the Mis-
souri, river contingent to the city not
even yet touched.
When we consider the uses to which
electricity can be put as motive power
or mills, factories and other establish
nents for the manufacture of paper,
WOOL. cotton, paint, etc, as also its very
,asy application We can, see the writing
IN the wall, that Great Falls is the COM
ng manufacturing city Of the north
vest.
Great Falls is not only a large user of
Electricity but she will also have it for
in the future to her sister towns in
he state. When the loss by long dis
ance transmission is overcome, which is
rapidly approaching, we shall see
ur city supplying others by means of
Upper wires and cables, cheaper by far
han they can manufacture it them
and it also goes without saying
hat every new electric discovery, every
ew invention for the adaptation of
lectricity to the industrial arts and ,
will only further tend to make
Falls known as THE Electric City
I Montana" {