Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-01-26
DEMAND FOR WATER POWER
How Waterfalls Enable the World to
 Spare Its Coal Supplies.

How Waterfalls Enable the World to Spare Its Coal Supplies. Every day sees more and more of the wasted power of waterfalls. which lies at mans disposal in every hilly or mountainous country, turned to use in furnishing electric energy. The power of waterfalls is driving the greatest of all tunnels, the double Simplon bore. through the Alps; it is sending another tunnel, by devious ways, behind precipiccs and under glaciers. to the summit of the snowy Jungfrau: and n plan is now being perfected for constructing. once more with the aid of waterfalls. and to be run by them. when finished. n rival to the Simphn road. which shall cross the Alps between Turin and Martigny.
 Everybody knows what Niagara is doing, and how the waterfalls of Cali fOrnia, and of other mountainous states. are being harnessed
 A. X. Campbell Swinton. at the re- cent meeting of the British Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science,
 
 he had personally collected. showing rnat no le.'s than oiIe nil.0a, i've h,.aurea thoUsand horsepower ue- rived from waterfalls Is now being utilized :n various parts of the wor!G for the development of electric en,r- gy. Of this great total. which he ba- licved did not represent the full truth. for lie thought 1t probable that the real aggregatc is two million horse-p power. nearly onr-third must bc credited to the United States.
 There is ouc feature of this utiliza- ti,n of water power in place of steam power. which AIr Swinton brought out. and which is seldom thought of. and that is inc saving of coal which 1 if effects. Ou the basis of two million horse-pow"r derived from waterfalls. this saving amounts to nearly twelve million tons of coal per year.
 But inc maximum amount of water power that is available has not yet begun io he approached in actual uti- lization. so that tlr'annual saving of coal mIst Income larger and larger every year. This. iii view of the in creasing difficulty of working many coal mines. owing io the great .lcpiils io which they have penetrated. and in view of the approaching exhaustion | of some of the most famous fields. I,c- comes . highly important ,rilsi,lrFa- ton. Every little while the world iS reminded. marc or less scnsationaIiy. of a coming coal famine Tine fact i> that coal. of inc hotter grades. pns- .lsesScs so many advantages and con- vrnicnces as a fuel that ihe earth < supplies of t should lpc conserved for human use. as bong as po>sille. Men . of x, ience have more than once s"IIId- i e,i note of proieSt against tine wasl" af coal. for '-nal is the gift of geo locic age which can not bc renewed. ! Thus waterfalls. lIy enabling Us fO spare s-saI. ar. performing an in.Iire,-t ~esvisc only less important than their . direct ~crvi-a in suppiying electric Jawer. Rut for them tine growing use of electricity woukl s""n make drain uIson lhH sr,al HiiileS nj inc most seri- , aII< character.
 The era af waterfalls seems certain 1 iy ta have ,Iawnal. Eve-y great cat ar.asf will is-enmc focIIs of industry. just aS every great river valIev has a.- ways I--a 9 center of population. ansi Profe<<or BrigilaIn'S prs-lietjon. that . Niagara k ts lsc tine industrial .-eufcr 0f AmeTIe.l may tsc fuIfiIIe.i within 2 s..ueTaiion--tsarrrtt F. SrTvi<S n Sues-eSS Magazine