The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-09-03
BACKUS GETS
WATER POWER
Exclusive Rights at Koochiching
Falls Granted by Ontario
Government.
Far Reaching Plans for Paper,
Flour and Lumber Industries
to Be Carried Out.
Special to The Journal.

0poofHI 70 Inc 5Ournals
Toronto o. Ont, Sept: Be: J; DAVIS.
turned. over to. =. w. Backus Of Min
neapolis, president of the Backus-
Brooks company, and Of the Koochi-
ching company, the final papers grant
Ing full and exclusive .waterpower
waterpower of Rainy river on the On
tarlo- Minnesota International boundary.
The plans for dam construction, sub
mitted, by Engineers Wallace and Fan
ming, have been approved subject to
the survey. OF the government engineers,
which begins next Monday.
The plans provide for a. dam that
will raise the waters of Rainy lake to
highwater mark. Koochiching falls
proper has net fall Of twenty-f five to-
thirty feet, and there is besides a fall
OF several feet from the two miles Of
foot of the lake. All told, It is esti,
mated that the dam will produce fall
Ct approximately thirty-two feet, and
that, when fully developed, the horse
power will reach 10000. This would
give the manufacturing enterprises in
Fort Frances and International Falls a
greater waterpower than that thus far
developed at any point outside of Buff
falo and Minneapolis, and fully equal
to the latter.
Completion of the waterpower de-
velopment is required on or before Jan.
l., 1907, with not less than $4,000 worth
son.. Work on the cofferdam has al
ready begun and the timbers are being
delivered on the ground. The esti-
mated total cost of the work is $780,
900. :
The papers delivered this week are
the contamination of eight years Of ne
gotiations on the part of the Backus-
Brooks company for the Canadian
rights to the Koochiching waterpower.
The American rights, it is understood,
were secured by H. V. Winchell and G.
ching company, in 1892: u The The union Hase Of
these interests in the reorganized
Koochiching company, with E: W. Back
us, PRESIDENT; H. V: Winchell and W.
F. Brooks, vice presidents; R. L. Horr,
tary, Joins in one corporation. complete
and exclusive waterpower rights to
both the Canadian and American sides
Of Koochiching falls.
The policy of the company will be in
dustrial development: It has no stock
ton, work will proceed on various
power to operate the first mills, It is
expected, will be ready early next sum.
mer. For the construction of the first
. -four I Pill ao company has been organized
Winnipeg and Brandon capital sub:
scribed, and this mill is to be in opera,
tion in time to grind the 1905 Manitoba
wheat crop. The mills will be built on
both sides of the falls. On the On,
tario side the town of Fort Frances has
200, and on the Minnesota side, where
the Koochiching company owns town,
site embracing five miles Of the river
front, the town of International Falls
has already attained substantial de,
velopment.
Paper, flour and lumber will be the
leading industries AS a, founda.
ton for the paper and wood-pulp in.
dustry, the spruce and poplar limits
. tributary to the Koochiching are be-
lieved to- be the greatest on the con
tinent. The flour industry will have
: the wheat crop of Manitoba and the
Northwestern Territories, already So,
100000 to 60,O0o,ooo bushels per an
, mum, within easy reach, free of tariff
duty. The lumber industry finds rep
resentation in the Rainy River Lumber
company. Thomas II. Shevlin, presi
/ dent, which has acquired large stump
age and has upwards of 100000 fee
of logs in boom this season.