Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-21
NIAGARA FALLS.
The Present Condition of the Electric
Power Plant.

The Present Condition of the Electric
Power Plant.
Professor George Forbes in the London Times.
Nearly three years ago you published a
letter from this place in which / gave some
account of how the dreams of the engineer
were in the act of being realized. land with
out injury to the natural beauties of the
spot Three years have passed, my work Is
ended, and it seems natural TO continue the
narrative and tell what these three years
have brought forth. I am perched ON top
of a small Eiffel tower, lately erected and
casting my eyes up the river, over the
house tops and beyond the town, 1 see a
new world created.
that gigantic power house, where three
turbines are set up to drive three dynamos
of 5000 horse power each. There is the
bridge to carry cables across to the trans
former house. Inside the power house the
water Is carried down by pipes seven and
half feet in diameter into, the turbines,
whence it passes through 1000 feet tun-
mel under the town, emerging below the
falls and capable of developing 100000 horse
power. Far as the eye can reach extend
the company's lands, with here and there
a huge factory either now using the water
power or waiting for the electric supply.
zone of these uses $500 horse power,
another 800 third one 800, and that I'M
finished. mill requires 1000. You can see,
and improved sewage works with drainage,
pumps for water supply, electric light and
wel-paved streets. There, again, is the
dock, where ships from all parts Of the
great lakes can unload, and there huge
expanse of reclaimed land, while the whole
is swept by the company's railway, seven
miles long, connecting every factory with
the great trunk lines. The power is trans
mitted by electricity, and the first work is
to produce aluminium with 100 horse pow
er. New types of machines have been de-
vised for this work, as also for every other
purpose: .,-.
has been swept away by the results achiev
ed, and the efficiency of each type of ma
chine is greater than has been attained be-
fore. All the machinery for the first work.
ing has been made and tested in the shops
and the last parts are now being set up.
The plans for carrying the power to Buff
falo, eighteen miles distant, are complete.
In month or two factories will be in full
operation; in a year Buffalo Will be sup
piled: i'll two years the same company will
be working the Canada side of the falls,
and in ten years iShall We say?) the whole
of the 100000 hor.e power which can be
supplied by the existing hydraulic works
will be giving power to smokeless manufac-
turing towns.
.'The period of planning the transmission
scheme, of designing the greatest dynamos
in the world and of construction of the first
plant row closes. The financial period COM
mences with the new year. The earning
of dividends and the ordering of duplicate
machinery is the future work of the COM
pany. In conclusion. it is difficult for me
to say who were the bodest-the capital
lists who embarked on the scheme before
any plans were matured, or the manufac-
turers who moved their factories to this
field before single result had been achiev-
ed. The action Of both was typically Amer
lean but their confidence was not mis-
placed. Their success is now assured"