The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-12
NIAGARA IN NEW HARNESS
THE CURRENT TO BE TURNED
 BACK.

Dam is Being Built to Dry Up the Wa
 ters in the River Bed so as to DsvsI-
 Op the Electric Power Of the Raids.
 When Niagara was first harnessed for
 electrical power nobory conjectured
 that in a few years new set of harm
 ess would be used, not only for the arr
 resting and curbing of the waterfalls
 great power, but for the stupendous
 purpose of turning the mighty, rushing
 current of the river backward in it's
 course. Yet there is just what is being
 done at the present time. It is an
 enterprise that has been undertaken by
 American energy and Canadian capital,
 and after three months of the work it is
 announced by the engineers in charge
 that success seems to be assured for the
 great task in hand. It is planned to
 beat back the swiftly rushing rapids
 dam their flow, dry up the bed of the
 river above the falls for 12 acres, then
 turn back the current into a new chan
 mel to be erected for part of the course.
 A shaft will then be sunk to a depth of
 160 feet, and through this diverting of the water into the shaft the cleo trical power will be created. To carry away the water after it has been used, a tunnel 22Oo feet long will be built at a
 depth of IT feet below the bed of the rapids. Under the very brow of the falls will be the exit of the tunnel for the discharge of the tail-race water.
 It was early in bring that a group of men stood on the shore by the rapids above Niagara Horseshoe, falls when Jacques Foisy, a river man. girded by a frail rope, went out into the stream and drove a spile into a creyice in the massive tableau of rock. To-day a party of New York mechanical experts Is experimenting the difficult and dangerous task of damming the rapids above these famous waterfalls Elec-. trical energy to equal 125,000 horse-I power is to be developed from this source, and the cost of the enterprise, when. everything is completed and in readiness for the power to do it's work. will be close to $7,000,000 The syndicate interested in the work is the electrical development company of Ontario, and some of the best engineering talent of America has been called into requisition
 by the concern. Restless, ceaseless in it's energy, churning along with the speed of a racer, the task of stopping this torrent above the falls is perilous one. Today the tourist who visits there hears new sound. It used to be the boom of the water alone, but now is ad-} ded the dull chuck, chuck of heavy machinery, the shriek of pony engines, the rattle of derricks, the falling of stones and the thud of beams in their lege to enter the sanctuary of Nature, but the spirit of connmercialism does not stand on ceremony. and demands as tribute the power that for centuries has been washing itself in foam.
 It is estimated that it will take from three years at least to complete the work, and when accomplished the feat will be one unique in the annals of en- gineering. The money is being supplied by Canadian capitalists, but the work of construction is in full charge of Americans. The work of constructing the cofferdann is a spectacular one. It bristles with startling suggestions. Ahead is the rear of the falls, the drop of the rocks, the whirlpool rapids and the Devils hole. Rehindsis the ceaseless torrent battling against the invasion this ciaining of it's right to flow and run at will Inch by inch the dam forces it's way into the currents, each foot from shore making water deeper, the rush more terrific and the battle between man and Nature more singularly earn est. One foot, two feet, 10, and now 24 feet is registered as the depth of these solid walls of water that roar against the dam, drenching the little corps of adventurous workers with it's spray.
 is little corps of workers of neces- sity, for it is not work on which a great force of men could be available. It is the Gideon's band, the selected few who are employed here. It is not a work that can be hurried. Each step, each movement, has to be taken with care. The men to do the outpost work on this dam were secured with much difficulty. Lucrative wages were offer ed. but one wrong step means death to the worker, death in the falls and then the whirlpool rapids to play with the body for a while. The dam will, when completed, be 2200 feet in length. The cribs will be "A by 16 feet and each one wili,,.it is estimated, be weighted with 225 tons of stone. When the work was commenced, many, attracted by the excellent pay, came to apply for the positions. Most of them listened to the falls, glanced at the rapids and left. Some worked while the dam was being built near the shore, but left as 1t poked its narrow nose out into the stream. To-day the most dangerous part of the work is being carried on by French Canadian river men. These are the men that the Canadian poet. pr. Drummond of Montreal. so well des- cribes. They are men who from child hood have lived near to Nature, either in the woods felling trees or riding the logs and driving them on through deeps and shadows to the mill. The roar of 4 the water of Niagara is music to them. They do not fear, but rush where the average man would hesitate to creep. They leap where most men would crawl. The rolling log for them is as certain as the wire to the rope walker, as the horse to the cowboy. When the waters are their widest they are at home; when the wind whistles over it's crest in hurricane they are not ruffied. They
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