The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-29
MAKING RIVERS WORK
 FOR DISTANT CITIES
Electricity Giving the Water Wheel Among the Most Venerable of Mechanical Appliances, Enlarged Useness-Hcw Minnesota Water Ways Will Be Hamessed That They May Run Trolley
 Cars Light Streets and Keep Machinery Moving in Duluth

as do the arches which sustain the weights of massive bridges and tower- ing buildings. The purpose of the ser- vice reservoir is to conser:e the flow of the water In order to meet the veri- able demands for power without un- necessary losses of the precious fluid over the spillway. A large storage reservoir will be constructed farther upstream, although 1t is not necessary with the present plant
 Near the east end of the artificial lake are the head gates through which the water will be allowed to flow into the canal, which, with It's breadth of 36 feet at the bottom and depth of 15 feet, is larger than many that in the old days fioated the boats carrying articles of commerce from city to city. The early oanal builders were obliged to work by hand. Earth excavation here has been made with the aid of the enormous steam shovels. lifting tons of material at every stroke. For over two-thirds of a mile,- however, 1t has been necessary to blast a way through rock, this section being rectangular in shape, 30 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
 From the forebay in which the canal terminates and which still further pro- vides for sudden fluctuations in the demands at the power station, the water is drawn into the pipe line. The en- glneers refer to these great redwood tubes as pipes, but to the uninitiated they Hook more like tunnels. Another precaution Is taken to see that the sup ply of water to the power house is promptly increased or diminished as the .arying demands of the business require. High above the pipes, on massive steel supports, at the top of the river bank, will stand a great tank, 30 feet in diameter, and as the water flows in or out of this tank 1t will serve to take care of sudden changes in pres sure when the load upon the water wheels is diminished or increased. An interesting detail of construction at this point is found in the arrangement by which the water in the standpipe and tank will be kept from freezing. This will be accomplished by bringing hot air from the heating plant in the power house, 500 feet away. and allow ing 1t to rise between the standpipe and it's tagging. or covering.
 The redwood pipes end here above the power house, where they are joined to pipes of steel. These plunge down the declevity to enter the basement of the concrete structure in which are the water wheels, the generators and other necessary machinery. The 13,o00 horse power wheels are In capacity the larg- est power units ever built for high heads, and are as large as any built un- der any circumstances. The vertical shafts, by which the wheels are con- nscted to the generators on the floor above are designed for speed of 375 revolutions a minute. As each genera tor is of 10000 horse power capacity, 30,000 horse power represents the or- dinary production of the present sta- tion; but with the water available fise other pipes may be laid to supply water to five other wheels and thus give the station a total of 80,000 horse power. In other words. this power station on the bank of the St. Louis River, with it's present machinery. will supply three times the horse power which suffices to run all the great mills in the manufac- turing city of owell; and Lawrence. near at hand, has likewise grown wealthy from about the same amount of power t The electricity generated on the St. Louis River will be flashed to this city fourteen miles away over lines Of wire supported on tall steel towers. In the city there will be sub-station where the voltage will be stepped down" for distribution through the cities of Du- luth and Superior, which is across the bay and which will probably be reached by submarine cables. In the sub-sta- ton will be placed the machinery which will operate thes trolley cars in the two cities. Not only can such plant as this provide cheap power for the indus tries, big and little of a city of 75,0OO inhabitants, but the electricity can be carried to the great iron mines on the Missabe range, seventy miles north. and to the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, 120 miles away.
 The work which has been done so far is only the beginning of the general scheme which includes development to be made later further down the St. Louis River and also a plan by means of which a portion of the St. Louis River water would be carried over fall of 140 feet directly into the centre of Duluth. If all these plans are car ried out there will ultimately be de- veloped .000 horse power.
 What is being done in this section of the country Is an evidence of the enorm- ous possibilities which are hidden in regions where numerous water courses finding their way over sharply de- scending ground are awaiting the com ing of the engineers with their armies of workmen to put the streams in bond age and make them do the work of pro- ducing power to be used throughout large sections of the country round- about.