The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-09-04
Imperial Enterprise.

ter-of-fact Yankees. The project en-
countered physical and economic OBJ
stacles that were insurmountable until
time had furnished the men to COM
plete the subjugation of the wild horse
caught by Franklin in the last century.
The dream has at last become a stupen-
dous reality.
Over Niagara's brink fall the waters
gathered from 100000 square miles of
territory. Mathematics teaches me-
chanical engineers that 10, 100000 horse
power has been for ages running away
from the base of the great cataract. To
appropriate some part of this wasted
energy, water-wheels must be placed
near the level of the bottom of the
falls. The precipitous sides of the
rocky gorge through which the waters
flow precluded the possibility of plant
ing wheels or building mills upon the
banks of the torrent. Until electricity
and electrical discoveries presented the
means for the profitable transmission
of power to distant points, the immense
cost of surmounting the engineering
difficulties of the situation rendered the
investment of capital uninviting. But
science and discovery have resolved
every difficulty and overcome every OBJ
stacle, and Niagara's great cataract is
destined to become industrially famous
with a fame that will rival its world
wide celebrity as the greatest and grand
est of waterfalls. Some five years ago
the Cataract Construction Company
was organized with the view of furnish
ing at Niagara all the power that can
be probably used at that point, and with
the further purpose of transmitting
power by the means of electrical machin-
cry to the surrounding communities.
To carry out its purpose and obtain room
for desirable mill-sites, canal 250 feet
wide and twelve feet deep was made
from point above the falls, extending
LOO feet in a northwesterly direction.
At its terminus an immense wheel-pit
has been sunk in the solid rock to the
depth of 178 feet. From its bottom an
ample tunnel for sluiceway extends
700 feet to point below the falls, near
the end of the new suspension bridge.
A spacious and massive power house
contains the electrical machinery. At
depth OF 1856 feet below the water
level in the canal, the wheels are
placed in inches in the walls of the
shaft. The water is conveyed to them
in penstocks of steel, seven and one
half feet in diameter. A shaft of hol-
low steel three feet in diameter, con-
meets each wheel with huge dynamo
in the power station that will deliver
5000 horse power. The company's
plans contemplate an ultimate supply
of 100000 horse power, for industrial
uses in towns and cities as far away as
Buffalo, twenty miles distant, and, per-
haps, in New York and Chicago. Sci
entfic and practical men of affairs are
working out this vital problem of the
transmission of power over long dis
tances. Whe the one has demonstrated
that it is scientifically possible, the
other comes in to reduce it to possible
economical and commercial conditions.
Science and mathematics unite in dem
onstrating that electrical power can be
furnished at places distant from the
point Of production at prices per horse
power that will compete successfully
with steam power. The development
of the experiment at Niagara will be
watched with interest the world over.
Already several large manufactures
have built works upon sites furnished
by the Cataract Construction Company,
among them the Niagara Falls Paper
Company, which uses it own wheels, in
an independent wheel shaft, opening
into the great tunnel raceway.
The recent alliance of the Westing-
house Company, manufacturers of cleo
trical machinery, and the Baldwin
Locomotive Works, points significantly
to the substitution of electricity for
steam in railway transportation. The
discovery, some ten years ago, by
Nikola Tesla, Edison's great peer in
electrical research, of the rotating
magnetic field" has rendered possible
the extension of the use of electricity
from the furnishing of light and trans
mission of sound to its employment,
effectively and proftably, for mechan-
ical purposes. This discovery lie the
basis of the Niagara enterprise, and
underlies the venture of the Westing-
house. Baldwin combination. Reduced
to practice, Tesla's discovery set car
wheels in motion, and is now driving
the machinery of mills and propelling
railway locomotives. Thus far the
49, Il. Al H.. -