The Penn's Grove record., 1894-05-25
CAPTURING ~HESATARACT.
NIAGARA FALLS rs "HARNEssnp.
FOB MANS BENEFIT.

i AAbt1 Ad -hAkl ltlISs BHVS % 1
~ Buffalo letter to the New York
Press, the dream OF engineers
x has been to "harness Niagnra.n
| We'll. the dream has come true. Z Mac
ara is In harness. To be sure. tho !
trace chains have not yet been hooked 10 |
the whifletrees Of Industry, but tho col.
lar and hames, the Birdie and bit are in
position and ready for the strain when it
shall come. The greatest cataract OF the
world has been subdued,s and If. In |
knowledge Of its captivity its roar is
moro sullef than Of yore when it existed
only as an ihsurmountable obstacle to
navigation and a wonder for sightseers |
to grow solemn over, tho smiles on the |
faces of capitalists, the new Jingle in tho |
rockets Of residents Of the village Of
Niagara Falls, and the compliment
propheaies Of che Buifatonian that ten
wears hence trChfcago VIII not be in IL,
sir, no, sir, not on your life," are atone.
ments.
1t Is estimated that tho total power Of
the great waterfall Is equal to that of
Is, 900, 900 horses. To any one who has
seen It's mighty volume this does not
seem absurd. The present scheme will
only uIiizs less than one.hundredth of
that vast wasting force, but It may be
stretched In the future to as great a
length as may be made useful.
Tho effect Of this great enterprise may
not DO as great q, the saneuine remark
| Of the Buffalo man who has been quoted
| would imply, but it will DO very great.
| OF course many of the manufacturing
interests which will be attracted by
cheap power will gather 10 tho little
town which hovcrs on the brink of the
cataract, and which has in tho past been
notable principally for its big hotels, Its
clamorous cabbies and Its Indian bazaars.
But a plan has been devised whereby the
power will DO electrically transmitted to
Buffalo with comparatively small loss, SO
that this city will undoubtedly come in
for many OF the buildings piums. The
village Of Niagara Falls itself has gone
wild with a boom almost Western In its
enthusiasm.
The first attempt to utilize the water
power. Of. Niagara Falls was made by
Horace a. DEFY, who In 1850 built the
old Hydraulic Canal running from above
the rapids to what are now known as
shoelkopf's Mills on the brink Of the
cataract. This canal discharges Its
water into wheelpits only sixty feet
deep, which In urn discharge at a point
more than 100 feet above the level OF
the river below the falls, SO that more
than three quarters Of the possible force
/, wasted. The old Hydraulic Canal
gives in all only about 5000 available
horse power.
The new netho ! is tie same principle
differently applied. A canal has been
cut from above the rapids as in Dey's
plan; but 1t rams only o short distance
before 4. reaches the pits, which arc 100
feet deep. A sheer fall through great
pines is thus obtained, which is nearly
as great as the height Of the falls.
THUS fnr the work was comparatively
easy. The fun came in giving the water
a won't from the bottom ofthe wheelpits.
This was accomplished by the construc-
ton OF q great tunnel through solid lime.
stone rock, from the whealpits to below
tae falls. The water distracted from
the river thus flows for a short distance
through the canal, then takes Its big
tumble through the pits down to the
turbine wheels, and then flows through
the tunnel to the rivers lower level.
This tunnel IS S713 feet long, twenty.
eight feet high aud eighteen feet broad,
in semi. circular form. It Is brlcked up
along Its whole lea5th, an undertaking
which has consumed $4,000, 900 cubes
OF baked clay, and which, had it been
done by single bricklayer, would have
occupied his entire attention for twenty
four years. 1t was thought to be a bet
ter plan to employ 7J0) men in its con.
struction, however, and they have man
aged to dig it an | line it In a little less
than three years, hqviag kept hard at 1t
day and night. Tie total cost OF the
enterprise so far has been a tribe OF
S $4,000, 900.
with the wheeIpits already finished or
under way, the plant will develop q
minimum OF 100, 900 horse power. This
would be more than sufficient to run
seven OF the largest steamships adoat,
and steamships are not easy things to
run. It is highly Improbable, however,
that the power from the falls will be
utilized IN ocean navigation.
But II the dreams OF the projectors OF
this big enterprise come true, some
things almost as remarkable as that
would be are likely to occur. Its pro-
motors have been dcvotinS almost as
much attention to studying how to trans
NIT the power as they have to studying
how to develop It.
In order to Increase the power 1t will
be necessary only to dig new wheel pits.
The canal and the tunnel are big enough
to hold water for 1000, 900 horse power,
and that is what the company places Its
maximum capacity at. OF course there
are sneers, but the company has Niagara
Falls and the engineers on Its side, and
seems likely to come out ahead.