The Springfield herald., 1904-10-28

yelopmcnt of'water power in considerable
quantities available for electrical trans
mission. Conversely, the development OF
water powers has not infrequently made
irrigation comparatively easy and pos
sibe addition TO the general plan Of i'm
provements proposed.
In California the setting to work of
the waterfalls has been accompanied also
by the release of the water in many
cases to the dry lowlands, and the in
tcresting spectacle is presented of new
source of power producing new manufac
| turing establishments and equally an i'll
| huN of population and at the same time
a yitalizing of the soil to such degree
as to enable it easily to support this
increased population. Truly these plants
in many eases have made the desert into
a garden and opened up productive cen
tcrs of the best possible influences.
Practical object Lesson.
At Niagara Falls the harnessing of the
water in the great cataract has changed
the whole aspect of the town, changed
it from show village. whose principal
industry was the entertainment of the
stranger, into n prosperous manufactur-
ing community where thousands of opera
tors are paid for productive work. Trans
mission OF this power to buffalo has in
manufacturing activities of that city and
has already had an important bearing
and effect upon its commercial status.
In South Carolina the waterfalls that
for all the centuries since the country
was explored have tumbled uselessly
down mountain sides, have been set to
work turning the spindles and looms of
cotton mills and forming a center of pro-
duction of high importance, both of that
State and the country at large. In every
instance where electrical transmission
had been called into play, for the utiliza-
ton of new power or powers hitherto
undeveloped, the general social effect has
been good.
kconomic Value of Trausmitted Power
1t is believed that in the future these
installations and these industries will
play no unimportant part in the general
development of the country. The water
power resources of the United States
have been by no means fully developed,
and while there is perhaps less incentive
here than in other countries, less favored
by Nature, with abundant coal deposits.
still the final utilization of every drop OF
falling water that can be set to work is
ultimately inevitable.
Where it was impossible formerly to
take manufacturing enterprises into the
wilderness. where the water power is To-
Gated, to-day it is easible to take the
power out of the wilderness and canyons
and bring it to the town and by the use
of electrical transmission, to coordinate
all the advantages of shipment and ac-
cess to raw material and to In Dor; a sit
uation hitherto impossible when the
works were perforce built alongside of
the waterfalls that furnish their energy.
Priceless Heritage of the West.
One of the most valuable assets that is
to come to the West from the recama-
ton of its arid lands under the National
Irrigation Act will be the vast electric
energy possible by harnessing the noun
tain streams. They will thus not only
give life to the country but, through pow
er thus generated, will inject into that
life the greatest possible useful activity.
In this area. more than one thousand
miles square, multiplied millions of horse
power can be created through the nat
ural gravity system of water.
There are thousands of valleys rang
ing in length from few miles to nearly
one Thousand miles, where ample water
can be had for all power purposes, as
well as for heat and light. So when the
hfe-giving fluid is applied to the parched
plains and the desert is transformed into
the orchard the water then furnishes the
source of energy for mill. factory, cleo
tric plants for lighting and heating, and
all possible mechanical devices. Per
haps at no other point on the earth's sur
face are such combinations possible to
such degree of utility. Having the eli
mate, the scenery, the soil, the sunshine.
the water, the timber, the minerals of
all kinds, the stone, and in fact all of
the products of the earth, both from its
surface and from its bowels, so readily
at hand, here in the western portion of
America, is destined to be wrought not
only the highest civilization but the high
est standard of citizenship and patriot
ism.
Will Develop Mine and Forest
The limitless mineral deposits which
have only been touched here and there,
as it were, will yield large profits and
ready returns, from the intelligent appli-
cation of electrical engineering. Mines
that have been worked and abandoned
and mountains of so-called "taiings,"
which contain from 81 to 81 per ton, can
be reworked, and thus a material addi-
ton to the worlds output of gold will be
assured. The vast forests will be felled
and transformed into dressed lumber,
and all kinds of furniture by the applica-
ton of electricity. The valleys, which
will be studded with prosperous homes
of men who occupy and own the land,
will be traversed by electric car lines
from one end to the other. and even the
fruit will be handled as freight by this
same method.
Great Industrial Activity.
Mammoth factories will be erected in
all the valleys and many of the canyons,
for the manufacture and conservation OF
the various horticultural and agricultural
products which will thrive to an exag-
cerated degree in this favored locality.
The labor Of one set of individuals will
serve as a complement or fair exchange
for that OF others. The fruit grower will
sell his fruit to the Gamer, and the can,
,erry complexion.c cure OF read about [