The leader., 1897-03-17
WASTE NATURAL FORCES.
Tremendous Power RunnIng Away IN
Our Rivers.


Our Rivers.
II is n curious fact that In a great man
ufacturing country like the United
States the vast resources OF water
power ore, comparatively speaking. ig-
ncred and neglected. It is no exaggera-
ton TO say that for every mill turned by
water a hundred might be in operation
The million and quarter horse power
which Is derived from water Is over.
shadowed by twice or thrice that
amount of steam power. The former
riay be compared to its own mill pond
standing still in the march of industry,
while the latter is pushing forward
with the speed and power of the locomo-
tive. For example, the increase OF
steam power in this country in the dec
sde closed in 1880 was so per cent, while
water power increased in the same pc.
riod but s.4 per cent. That the latter
could be almost immeasurably in
creased, IL warranted by economic con-
d;tions, is proven by the report of Prof.
Swain, the census expert, who says:
"a calculation based upon the best
ing result that the total theoretical
power of our streams, taken at an ay-
erage throughout the year, reaches the
enormous figure of over 200,000,000
horse power. Such is the energy de-
yeloped by our rivers, streams and
brooks, of which we are using little
over one-half of one per cent. Could il
he utilized, the power afforded would
probably be more than sufficient TO
.uIn all the machinery of the globe"
Steam has triumphed over all its
rivals. The water mill has become a
relic of past age and the windmill is
prehistoric. At the close of the last dec
ade the triple-expansion engine was set
up almost in the spray of the waterfall,
and the locomotive found level road
bed upon the abandoned tow path of
the canal. But another power came
upon the scene; or, to speak more accu-
rately, another method OF utilizing
power, with the ability to take power
from any original source--from steam,
from water, or from Withstand to
transmit it to distant point for utiliza-
ton. At once the science of mechanism
was revolutionized. AS soon as the
electrical transmission of power be.
came instead of theory a practical re-
ality, every waterfall, every coal de.
posit, no matter how remote from man.
ufacturing centers, took an added value
in the eyes of the commercial users OF
power. The mind of man cannot meas
ire the possibilities embraced in the
dynamo and tie copper cable. Niagara
Falls, with its 125,000 horse power di-
rectly available 100000 horse power
in the future) has been harnessed, but
rot until the principle of the electrical
transmission of power from turbine to
motor had been demonstrated, with
various degrees of success at Schaff.
hausen, on the Rhine; at Fribourg, on
the Sarine; at Geneva on the Rhone; al
| Guadalaxara, Mexico, and at hundred
| other places in the mountain regions oi
Europe and America; all OH much
larger scale, but illustrating the feast
| b;lity of the practical utiliza Gon of wa
| ter power through electricity.
Who can doubt that in the space of g
| very few years, in place of the present
| Liliputian water mills there will bt
Brobdngnagian turbines, utilizing the
vast reservoirs of energy placed by thu
wisdom of the Creator in every part o
this broad continent? The mountain
regions,so long looked upon as thewast,
| places of the earth, hold treasures fo
| posterity that will "far outshine tn
wealth of Ormus or of Ind" The base
of the Alleghanies, the Rockies, and tn,
Sierras. with the vast plains at thei
f.et will throb with the energy gener
ated by the streams fed by their livini
springs. The glaciers of the giant peak
of Oregon and Washington hold suffi
cient power in their icy grasp to tur1
every factory wheel and light and warn
every building in those states for Ger
fury to come, while the thousand noun
tain streams along the rocky barrier
from Montana to New Mexico will pei
form the double duty Of supplying pow
cr to the millions who will people thos
states (mills, mines, railroads, etc.
and irrigating the soil to provide TO
| their sustenance.-John II. Brunhall, il
Leslie's Weekly.