Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-07-26
NIAGARA HARNESSED.
Wonderful Results Achieved by
Skilled Mechanics.
Scientific Tests show the Enormous Power
Which VIII lie DeveIoped-Great
Expectations of the Mann
moth Project.


The experiments which have been
going on at Niagara falls have been as
delicate, as carefully conducted, as are
those which the chemists or scientists
make in the field of original research.
The human intellect can scarcely con-
ceive of the enormity of some of the
results already obtained and of others
which are expected. In the Harvesting
of a ma estic implement which is to be
used to. develop an electric current of
enormous power 10 another colossal ma
chine, which is TO receive the prodigious
power that is in the Niagara current
and convey it to this electric trans
former, work was necessarily as deli
cate a. that which the matchmaker has
need of. The expectation is, says the
New York sun, that the revolutions of
this dynamo will be SO rapid that only
10y comparison can they be understood.
Therefore, il has been necessary To test,
and, with gradually increasing speed,
the relations of the various parts of
this complicated whole machine TO one
another. suppose there had been
deviation of a traction of an inch in
measurements, or some chance for fric-
ton, which had been overlooked, and,
therefore, unprovided for, or some vari-
alton from the quality Of the bearings
of the machine: then there was danger
that after a certain rate of speed was
reached there might come one mighty
crash involving the whole machinery in
destruction.
A few days ago some Of the capital
lists and few scientists went TO Nj
agara To see how far the tests had been
made. Their going and coming was
not known by the public, nor have they
felt free To give any detailed Informal
ton of their experiences. The number
of revolutions of the dynamo was run
run up To about one hundred and fifty
and with perfect success. The wheels
spun with the beauty and evenness Of
top, upon which only the laws of ma
ture operate. One hundred and fifty
revolutions "A minute do not convey the
idea To the mind of the prodigious
force that is required TO produce that,
but some idea may be obtained by say
ing that if the wheel were placed upon
a railroad track and was set agoing at
that speed it would cover mile in
minute.
That, however, is scarcely fifty per
cent. of the power that is contemplated.
Gradually, carefully, patiently, this
speed Will be increased, and probably
within the next three or four weeks,
until, at last, when the full force q
Niagara, SO fast as the penStock cisn
carry It, is delivered to the turbine.
and 10y that agency redelivered To the
dynamo, that instrument will receive a
force capable of making it revolvc at
the rate of nearly three hundred revo-
lutions a minute-nOt quite that, about
two hundred and eighty, to be APP
proximately accurate. That will rep
resent a speed upon railway of two
miles minute, and it is only by such
comparison that the mind can grasp
the enormity of these figures. At the
rate of two miles minute the conti-
nent would be crossed in twenty-four
hours. The trip from New York to
Chicago is made in six hours, or from
Philadelphia to Queenstown in a single
day. But that is not all. When at
last this wheel is set going at this
speed it must go day and night, week
in and week out, at a rate equivalent to
nearly three thousand miles every
twenty-four hours, or equivalent To a
journey around the world in eight DAYS
OF course, when the other wheels are
set up, occasionally this one will be
stopped, but by and by, if the com
mercial development of the electricity
there obtained proves TO be as great as
now expected, there may be as many
as three or four transformers whirling
at this speed, which can be likened
only to some of the movements of the
celestial bodies.
The capitalists and most of the scien-
lists who witnessed the experiments
the other day have now no doubt about
the commercial as well as the scien-
tific success of this mighty work. Yet
they admit that the problem will not
be solved until the transformer con-
verts the mighty force of Niagara into
an electric current, and delivers that
current to the shop, the trolley, the
electric lighting plants in Buffalo and
elsewhere.
When returning from Buffalo some
of the scientists talked about this prob
lem. The experiments they had wit
messed were purely mechanical for the
transformer has not yet been permitted
TO convert the force into an electric
current. Yet there was not one of the
scientists who did not express the opin-
ion that when the electrical machinery
is attached and the current developed
it will be found to have as perfectly
solved the problems as all of the work
hitherto has done.
The Telephone I'm Honolulu.
Each fa 1nilu Of Stnndin1r In uonnl,l1,