Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-27

| $50 feet wide. It Is built partly Of masonry
and the canal that feeds the wheels from
| the damned water Is wholly of masonry
The river has fall of 50 feet from dam
| to power house, and about 20 feet of the
! fall can be utilized. Two wheels are now
| in place and two more will soon be estab-
| lished. The current is sent to Sacramento
| over twelve wires. six being used at one
time. The line is duplicated to insure
| safety in view of possible accidents. The
wires are strung overhead, along the high
way that leads from Folsom to the state
| capital. six, being on each side of the road.
Ihey are OF copper, quarter of an inch In
diameter
| At the Sacramento end of the line the
current Is transformed into a lower volt
| age. and is then distributed about by means
of switch, among the various dynamos
and motors that are used for the different
functions of the power. The plant is a
private one, having been built by the LIVER
more Brothers and Albert Gallatin. with
the aid of the state, for which the latter
receives certain part of the power de-
rived for use in the states prison In adj
dstion the state received several large
grants of land near the site of the dam
and gave the use Of convict labor to the
projectors in the construction of the dam
and other parts of the establishment The
owners have in contemplation the sale Of
the waste water from the dam and tur-
bines to the surrounding territory for IT.
rigatson purposes, so that the actual cost
of production Of the current will be re-
that this VIII mean reduction of The price
at which the current is sold in the Sacra-
mento market. 1t is projected that other
streams flowing down into the valleys from
the Sierra Nevada mountains will be dam
med and their forces utilized in the same
way, and enthusiastic Caifornfans are de-
clarng that in short time the entire
state will be the scene of prosperous fac
tories run by this new power. so cheanly
derived from the hills. There is already
quite Doom in progress. and, with charac-
terist.c lmpetuosity, the residents of the
racine coast are predicting that their coun-
try Will soon draw untold millions of can
ital from the east to the land of plenty of
power.
Washington's Opportunities.
And that is why IL appears more strange
than ever that the natural power that Is
flowing every minute past the city of
Washington has not been utilized years
ago. There are two falls in the great river
that runs by the national capital, both of
them well within the range of the t,alifor
MA plant, and Also within the distance of
the city Of Buffalo from Niagara. Little
Falls at six or seven miles, and Great Falls
at eighteen miles. are thus inside the radius I
that is now known to be possibility in the
Transmission of electrical pover There is
an untold power tn the stream. Besides
furnishing tremendous quantity of wa
ter to the city for drinking and washing
purposes the river has still within it a
practically inexhaustfbIe force If it could
ever be harnessed. There is sufficient fall
in the ground to give a descent of the wa
ter upon the turbines, and the mystery is
that this opportunity has not, years ago, |
been accepted by projectors. There have
been propositions made in the past, to be |
sure. and at times the government has
taken tentative steps toward establishing |
great plant at one or the other of the !
cascades for the Illumination of the city, |
but as far as practical results are con- !
cerned. all these plans have come to |
Eaught.
A recent publication in The Star told the |
story of the organization of new company !
to effect this end, Little Falls having been |
chosen as the scene of future operations,
and there are indications that either pri-
rate capital or the government will in the ]