The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-12-10
s MIGHTY FORCE.
Niagara Falls VIII soon 10 Tanned b,
Electricity.
tSpcciYl Correspondence

lSpcciFi CorrespOndcncc.1
NEW 1oKk' = uovernor Flower
of New York state does not pretend to he
anything of II rhetorcnn, nor has he ever
studied any of the rules laid down in the
books by which it is said that Il person can
make of himself an interesting public
speaker. Yet during the last four or five
weeks the governor has been making n So
ries of speeches throughout New York state
which ought to be collected and printed.
since they are OF interest and Importance to
every person i'll the United States who de-
ponds for his livelihood upon agriculture
Governor Flower in these addresses hns
insisted that the best farming, the most
busnesslike cultivation of the soil, NAV
prove of no avail to the farmer unless there
are good roads, so that he may convey the
product OF the soil to the nearest transpor-
tation place with the least cost. The roy-
ernors luea Is that there has been n very
great wastage and unconscious eXtrava-
gance all over the United States on nc
count of poor roads, and he has said to the
people of New York that he believes it
would be economy for the townships to
combine with the state to construct every
where throughout the state public hiyh-
the elements-therefor pcrmanent-of easy
grades, SO that the cost not ONLY of trans
porting the product of the farms to the
nearest railway or canal stations would he
reduced, but al o the wear and tear uDon
farmers Hehlcles. upon horses and draft
beasts would be greatly lessencd, thereby
reducing expense.
These speeches, while they may have no
rhetorical interest nor those charms which
are furnished by great orators, neverthe-
less may have had permanent and imme-
date influence, which after all is the true
test OF oratory. For it is quite likely that
the legislature of the state of New York
Will appropriate money that, in conjunc-
ton with proportionate appropriations by
the townships of the state within the
next five or six years will pay the ex-
penses of furnishing New York state from
one end to the other with public highways
which are as perfect in their construction
and appointments as are those of the rail
ways
Recently Governor Flower met a number
OF gentlemen who represented capitalists
controlling i'll the aggregate probably half
u billion dollars in the suburbs of the CITY
of Rochester, and it was the law partner of
President Cleveland, or rather the lawyer
who had such association with the presi
dent III the four years between his first and
second term, who said that he had heard
many thrilling and powerful orations, but
after all he had never heard one that was
OF so mighty consequence and suggestion
to tile American people rs that one which
Governor Flower delivered upon that occa-
sion.
The governor and the party were more
IMAM ioo miles from Niagara falls They
were standing upon n canalboat. Over the
canal md uhOnt hu1f hot
bank there had been put up wires such as
those who have seen the trolley railways
in cities in operation arc familiar with.
The governor, Mr.. Francis Lynde Stetson,
the recent law partner Of President Cleve-
land; tho president of tho New York Pro-
duce Exchanges; Mr.. Thomas, That veteran
telegraphcr, who, with General Eckert
and General Arson Stager, was the first to
send messages over the wires after Morse
had demonstrated the commercial avail
ability of his invention Mr.. Balch, DIR.
Coleman Sellers, one of the greatest
mechanical engineers of the world: Nicola
Tesla, whose discoveries in the world of
electricity have almost rivaled those of
Edison; George Westinghouse, who is one
OF the most marvellous and interesting de-
velopers i'll his career of these later DAYS of
the nineteenth century, and many other
men, representing great achievements and
great capital, stood upon this canalboat. and
when the electric power was transmitted
to the wires all of them, with enthusiasm
OF speech, said that the American business
world was OH the era of new develop
meht FOR 1t was made plain that the trolley
system was as available for cunalbonts ms
1t IS for street cars, and the farreachinp
and mornentouS consequences of that deyel-
opment to the American people, and espe-
cially to the farmers of the far west, can
hardly be appreciated
Governor Flower in his speech, simDlc in
words without adornment, but having the
highest enthusiasm of cloquencc sincerity
and earnestnesS, said that with good roads
in every state and with the demonstration
that electricity WAS available for the pro-
pulsion OF canalboats, the American people
stand on the threshold Of new era, and
one winch promises greater prosperity than
any which they have experienced in the
past. The extraordinary suggestion of
these experiments was that by the use of
the force of niagara falls, and n quantity
of water which would decrease the flow
over the falls less than two inches, or an
amount not appreciablc to the eye, there
can be furnished a power which will carry
the wheat and grain of the prairies of the
west 10 the markets and furnish the cheap
est transportation for other products.
1t was said at that gathering that before
the beginning of the twentieth century it
was probable that the power which has
gone to waste for the 100 years since the
United States became nation would, now
that it had been captured, furnish light,
heat, and driving force for the states of
New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, as we'll as
the greater part Of lower Canada
L. j. EDWARDS.