Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-03-18
HURTS MILL OWNERS.
Fox River Valley Manufacturers Do
Not Appreciate the Govern
ment Order.

Appleton, Wis, March 12.-[Special.l
The -nfOrmal notice served upon Fox
river manufacturers by the government
engineers that the water level of Lake
Winnebago must be raised to the crest
of the Menasha dam by the time naviga-
ton opens, April 10, and held there all
summer, amounts practically to an ORDER
for a complete shutdown of drawing
any water whatever for hydraulic power.
The water now stands IL inches below
the crest of the Menasha dam. There
drained by Lake Winnebago and its trib-
utaries, and very little water can be
expected from this source when the
breakup comes About the only chance
for any considerable rise within the time
specified lies in the fall of cOpious rains
during that period, and this chance is
rather a remote one. 1t is altogether
probable that the only means of fulfilling
the required conditions lies in total
cessation of use of water for power, and
that in the very near future.
The effect of such an action on the
paper mills of the Fox River valley will
be to compel them to fall back on steam
power, with which they are all equipped
to a greater or less degree. The pulp
mills, however, cannot be operated with
out the use of water to a considerable
degree. Some of them which are very
fortunately situated as to use of water
independent of government dams will
be able to run to some extent, and others
will have to be closed entirely. This
will greatly curtail the output of pulp
and will still further reduce the output
of the paper mills operated by steam, be-
cause they will have to depend on out
side sources for their pulp and the cost
thereof will be greatly increased by
freight charges.
hn SC hrir 70
contemplate, but in any event it will not
be so serious as the shutdown of last
summer, when scarcely wheel turned
on the river and thousands of men were
thrown entirely out of employment. The
number of men rendered idle by the
shutting down of the pulp mills will be
comparatively small, while in the paper
mills operated by steam the number laid
off will be still smaller. It will be q
condition Of affairs where the employees
will not suffer so much for want of work,
but the employers will bear the brunt of
the hardship in the way of lessened prod
uct and greatly increased cost The pro-
one-third, but the percentage of labor
rendered idle will not be above Is or
20 per cent.
A feature of the shutdown, if it comes,
which will be most annoying to Appleton
people will be the loss of street lighting
failure of the water power of the Apple
ton Edison Electric company. Despite
the warning of last summer this com
pany has neglected to supply itself with
steam power, and a shutoff of water will
bring again the annoyance of no street
lights and no car service.
The best judges of water conditions
in this valley do not share in the belief
of superficial observers that the days
of a good stage of water and plentiful
power have gone by in the Fox river
districts, and their position is sustained
by the records which show the present
low water difficulties to be the culmina-
ton of a lack of RAINFALL in the water
shed drained by the Fox and Wolf rivers
for a period extending as far back as
eight years. In not one year Of the
eight has the rainfall been anything like
normal. This state of things cannot last
always, and it is confidently predicted
that the time will come, and not far in
the future, when the spring freshets will
again appear On schedule time, and the
subsequent "June rise" will once more
be in evidence. When that time comes,
some of the old wooden bridges along
the river viii have to be anchored down
with stones again as in the old days to
prevent them sailing down stream and
getting tangled up in the busy wheels
of booming factories