Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1901-05-23
HARVESTING NIAGARA.
wonderful Machinery Employed in
the Transmission of the Power
Of the Fails.

Miss Gertrude NJ. Bacon describes in
Cassells Magazine the arrangement BY
which power Is transmitted from the
falls at Niagara: About a mile frou
the falls. on the outskirts Of the lit
lie town. stands handsome gray
stone building known locally as the
power house-the headquarters of the
Niagara. Falls Power company. Wait
ing on It's threshold the suggestion
arises of being at the entrance Of o
gigantic hive for from within there
issues a, dull and eeaseless hum as OF
bees in sMarming time or when the
bloom is on the LINES. Entering. this
noise is found to proceed from sundry
members. of the noble brotherhood OF
dynamos; ten of them, standing in
regiment down the long wide room;
maybe the biggest dynamos in the
world. as this is undoubtedly the larg
est electric station-for they repre-.
sent a horse power of 5000 each. or a
grand total Of $4,000 between them
Some half of these are at present in
motion. their field magnets spinning
round at a terrific speed. $50 reyolu.
tons in a minute. II a fly could con.
trive. which is inconceiyable, to take
its stand on this whirring periphery
he would be travelling at the rate OF
two miles every &c seconds. The out.
come of all this tremendous mass OF
machinery is a current of 1900 volts
transmitted, the most of il, along ca.
bles, to- the town of Buffalo. 20 miles
off there to light houses. work fac
tories. and drive street ears with a
tiny fraction of the force of the great
falls SO, far away. The transmission OF
its energy to such a distance is one
OF the most remarkable features OF
this remarkable enterprise, and no elec.
trio station incapable of producing cur
rent at such high voltage" or electric
tension could send its power, without
enormous loss. along the 30 miles OF
cable that connects the Niagara power
house with its outlying customers.
And now as to how this wonder is
achieved. and how Niagara has been
harnessed to such utilitarian labors,
without, be il noted, showing any visi-
BILE trace of machinery upon it's face (;
for it was an all-important part of the
original contract with the electrical
company that its works should in no
wise disfigure or interfere with the
scenic effects of the falls. just behind
the power house the visitor may see
the end of a small canal 500 feet wide
hy 10 feet deep. dug from here to a
point on the Niagara river some 500
yards distant, which is IA miles above
the falls. BY means Of this canal a very
small portion of the water that would
otherwise go over the cataract-far too
small a, quantity to make any percepti-
| BILE differences diverted from its
course and brought to the doors of the
electric station TO be employed TO best
advantage therein The current in
this slow-flowing canal is, naturally,
quite inconsiderable and Incapable OF
performing any serious mechanical
| feat, but the potential energy of the
water consists in the fact that it is
| accumulating increasingly, moment by
moment. at a height of 100 feet above
| the level of the river beneath. The
| force it would otherwise waste in seek
ing that level over the falls in the or.
binary course it is here obliged to turn
to useful account, before it is allowed
| to rejoin the Niagara river and aid in
its wild race along the rapids towards
| the quiet shores Of Lake Ontario.