Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-05-24
WORK FOR DISTANT CITIES,
How Minnesota Water Ways Will
Be Harnessed.
Electricity Giving tho Water wheel
among the Most Venerable OF Me-
chanicaI Appliances. an En-
Iarged Usefulness.

A Duluth. Mimi. dispatch says;
This country Is on the verge OF An
era when, thanks to the aid of cleo
trcity, distant reservoirs and rivers
will furnish the power to light streets
and buildings, run trolley cars. pump
the water supply and keep machinery
moving IN mills and factories In Amer
lean towns and cities. The water wheel
is almost old az history itself but dur
ing the 18th century 1t was outrivaled by
steam as power producer.
Now among the other innovations due
to Goth century ingenuity comes new
era Of usefulness for one of the most
venerable among mechanical appliances.
In the State of New York, where the |
mighty Niagara has been placed in bond |
age on the one side and water powers
on the upper Hudson are also being de- |
vcloped, electricity will fash along the
power lines practically across tho entire
state. Similar power Developments have
also been made at points III the great
| West and plants are in process Of con
| struction in other sections Of the coun-
1 try
| Work which is now h"lng completed
| near this city is good illustration
Of what IS involved when man seeks Ia
use in this way the pent up energies u
rivers and streams.
| When the waters are harnessed ana
made to supply power 30 he transmitted
Thy electricity over long distances. the
| engineers refer to IT as hydro electric.
Great Northern Power company which
in this case. is doing the work of har-
messing the waters began the construc-
ton of IT'S first plant only q little over
la year ago: hut since then It has built
a great reservoir dug canal about two
miles long ending IN n forchaN of som"
40 acres laid three great pipes. and is
erecting a power house ON the bank OF
the river.
| 70 do these things required reGl-
mont of about a thousand men organized
in companies and living In villages when
sprung up almost in q day at points
along the works. A railroad four miles
in length was built to facilitate the hand
ling Of materials t.xCaNating has been
done by great steam shoNolS Wmch WIN
every movement Of their mighty arm"
lift several tons of earth ana rock. 'oh-
crete mixers have manufactured man|
thousands OF cubic Yards of ar'lti0ial
stone as enduring as the granite of
the everlasting hills The coming WIN
tor ie not allowed to interfere with work
a.
> when the mercury WAS far below Tn" zero
mark Then the material was h"a''d
and when It had been turned into con-
= crc,e and M, in place 1t was kept warm
until long after it had hardened. Near
the rising dams stood great skeleton
,overs from whose tops stretched cables
.io,r which ran the buckets carrying
material to the places where is was
needed.
All parts of the country were
drawn upon for material TO be used
e. in the work. The redwood forests OF
r California contributed from th'lr
Y supply OF timber; earnest manutact-
+ urcrs made the structural steel for the
g mower house and supplied tn" great
g water wheels and generators: from
r the bed Of Lake Superior were taken
I the pebbles and sand to hccam" parts
e of concrete and in the planning of
u tho plant not only American engineers
but experts in far off Switzerland
% were called upon to aid in th" prcpara-
: tton Of plans for the work.
: The works which are now being
+ completed are located on tn" ST Louis
l river flowing into tn" 50. Louis hay
" which forms the harhor of this CITY
g The engineers found Il point where
inc river bfpkf through . Nih'' us
; BY closing the openings in this nat
= ural harbor an artificial lax" was
r made covering about $50 acres. The
lake is mile and half in length
across the valley and a half mile wide
II is n picturesque sheet of water il
tho midst of which, whore stood two
rounded hills IN the valley, now appea1
a couple of islets.
IL To keep this body Of water il
m check required the erection of Is dams
IS of varying sizes. There is a main dam
is for instance, which is located aCros
M the channel where the river made II
RS way through the ridge of slate. Her
- there was an old timber dam whicl
r the engineers summarily remove
with the aid OF some large charge
n of dynamite. The concrete barrier
ST which has taken the place Of this tim
III her structure, 10 Lib feet long. o
rs over a nth OF a mile. $40 feet of 1t
length being devoted to tho spillwa
over which will flow the surplus waite
Of the river. The average height o
this spllway section Is 40 feet o
r; greater than that of a three stor
err dwelling. In the construction of thi
one dam 10000 cubic yards of concret
I'd were used Had this concrete bee
erected In the form of shaft 20 fef
ct square, II would have risen to n heigi
of about $40 feet, or nearly half &
d. high again as Bunker Hill monumcn
Near the main dam is one whic
vs. Is built in the form of an arch, whic
sweeps in general curve into Il
US waters OF the ARTIFICIAL lake and d.
rives It's strength from it's form, iu
ny as do tho arches which sustain II
weights of massive bridges and tow
no ering buildings, The purpose of Il
service reservoir Is to conserve Il
oS flow Of the water in order to meet II
variable demands for power witho'
III unnecessary losses OF the precio,
fluid over the spillway. a large sto
"s Their up stream, although II is not nc
essary with the present plant.
Rn Near the east end of the arti1ci
lake are the head gates through viii
me the water will be allowed to flow in
the canal, which, with It's breadth
36 feet at the bottom and depth
" 10 feet, is larger than many that in t
old days hoated the boats carryii
go, articles of commerce from city to cit
ing The early canal builders were oblig
ell to work by hand Earth excavati'
err here has been made with the aid
ly. the enormous steam shovels, liftii