The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-05-23

+he Roanoke River, at what was theH
known as Great Falls, Eve miles aho'e
Weldon. and watched the Ereat volume
AZ water as it whirled to waste over
mile or more rugged rapids.
There was a force, q mighty volume
Of force. a great power lashins itself In
10 exhausted tranquility, paraiyzing ats
energies against the shoals and the banks
for lack Of more profitable utilization, and
then flowing on down the watery high
way until it gathered more force, to be
Iaahed again into lazy lethargy against
other shoals.
There was something in the man that
stood beside the river. akin to the raging.
restless stream. There was force in him,
a volume OF reserve power, that had been
nart)y going to waste. He had been mer-
chant. planter. legislator. but he had
force for all Of these and to spare.
He watched the raging waters and he
thought of the great money value that
was going headlong down the stream
never to return 1.-THE mills never grind
with the water that has passed" he
unused. That great pent up reserve force
IN the man exerted itself and he said, Il
win harness this wild torrent, this UNI
tanned, reckless force. I'll tame it and
make it do the Kidding Of the artisan and
the operative He did it. He turned it
out of its rugged highway and led it. or
great volume of it, through a graded ca
nal along the brow Of the hill for nearly
a mile He holds it in captivity and
releases it only on condition that is pass
Is out over mighty Leffels and Turbines
and starts in motion little city full of
pulleys and WHEELS, spindles. looms
and other machinery.
1t was not an easily solved problem,
this Harvesting the Roanoke River at
this point. 1t took grit, courage, patience.
time. brains, money, engineering skill and
good judgment Some of these were i'm
mediately available Some were not. The
men who undertook to build this canal,
tame this torrent of water and develop
this power must be industrial generals,
brave, patient. courageous and able. ]
They were found in the per-
sons besides Major Emry. of
Mr.. w. NJ Hableston and Mr.. Charles
Cohen, two wealthy and aggressive citi-
zens of Petersburg, Va. They saw the
possibility and practicability of the
scheme proposed and they knew that
great industrial activity would follow the
development of this great power. They
joined Major Emry. and DR.. Herndon. Of |,
Oxford, and few others joined the !
company. ,
The great money and business panic
was just about breaking out over the
country land before scarcely any work
had been done it broke loose and para
iyzed industrial energies everywhere.
The work here. however went
steadily forward. The great ca
nal was started. 1t was to
wind around the brow Of the hill, main
tanning perfect grade, until it
reached the point for industrial
sites = mile down the river. 1t
was to be 81 feet wide at the bottom. 1O2 ],
feet wide at the top, IA feet deep and a
good portion Of the way it must be cut
through solid stone. There must be a
strong, irresistible dam built from the
banks of the river at the head Of the
CANAL, out to an island in the center of
the stream, and at each end of this
island must be great wings constructed
81 stone and iron and timbers and riyet-
ed to the solid rock foundation in the
bottom of the river; there must be built
4 mighty bulkhead at the head Of the
canal Of solid STONE six feet thick
and twenty feet high, and stretching
rom the dam out across the canal and
away up the banks of the river. beyond
al high water marks. There must be in
his half Il dozen arched gateways
through which to turn the water into the
anal in just such volumes as was de-
ired. All this meant a vast expenditure
# money. of energy and an intelligent APP
'licatiOn of the best of engineering skill
md wise Judgment but the money has
'een expended, the skill applied, the dams
uilt. the buIkhead erected, the canal cut
md rip-rapped from end to end, the wild
orient Of the Roanoke has been diverted,
nd a year and half ago when the
rates of the canal were opened seven +,
thousand Eve hundred horse power :
lowed quietly into the canal and glided /,
,oi~elessly down until, when turned on
he wheels below it was under head of D
sOla feet and it was hurried into the
aumes it's mighty force was restored and
il tumhed down upon the wheels. set
hem in motion and then rushed on as if
! rcor,red TO get into the river again.
The work was done. 1t was perfectly
lone and the great water power was de-
,aloned Men with less grit and determl-
,ation. with less courage and confidence,
with less libcrality and aggressive public
would have faltered. Thou