The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-05-01

capable of producing from 100 to oO.-
900 or more horsepower-af few others,
like Niagara, the Victoria falls in
South Africa and innumerable falls
of the Mississippi, the Colorado and
the Missouri, with powers in this d.
rection that seem unlimited.
If every part of the mighty torrent
of Niagara was harnessed it would
easily generate sufficient electrical
power to do all the work of this coun.
try. But Niagara is no greater than
Victoria falls, in the heart OF Africa
some say not so great in its n
measured possibilities.
The value Of a stream for power
purposes depends upon the amount OF
water flowing and also upon its head
that ia, the height OF its fall, wheth.
er in q sudden cataract, or in rushing
down q s%lope-and so the small DUN
tain stream which tumbles noisily
down steep slopes and gullies is often
worth more than the broad, sluggish
river that flows through low, level
stretches of country. One cubic foot
of water a second may equal in energy
the total stored energy Of many tons
of coal.
The use of wind power for mechani-
cal purposes is older than that of any
other. But a windmill for electrical
generation ia one of the most recent
of accomplishments. The first wind
mill electric plant ever installed In
this or any other country was built
privately by DR.. Charles F. Brush,
the inventor of the arc lamp, in 1889,
at his home in Cleveland for the pur.
pose OF lighting his house and labora.
tory.
In Europe commercial windmill
electrical plants have been built. One
such plant, established by Wittkell,
in %Schleswig, lights the town, and an
other windmill plant at Hamburg has
been successfully used In running a
factory. A windmill electric plant at
Boyle Hall, Ardsley, in England, has
a capacity for running ITO lights in
winter.
Electric power from sunlight ap.
pears more wonderful than Harvesting
the stream or wind. Solar engines
for operating pumps have been in use
in different parts of the earth for sew
eral years now, and their value in
warm climates, where the number of
days OF clear sunshine averages high,
must steadily increase.
One OF the most successful OF these
Angeles to irrigate fruit land. An
automatic stand carrying great retiec.
tors follows the course of the san as
regularly as the best telescope ever
made, and the suns rays are thus re-
Elected on a central point where the
boiler Of a small engine ia located.
Within an hour after sunrise the
heat of the sun rises the temperature
of the water to the boiling point and
thus creates steam, and the pumping
machinery begins its days work and
keeps it up until shutdown.
The power Of the sur for heating
has only been family appreciated by
scientists in the past, but the predic-
ton is made now that If all the coal
| should give out we would soon be able
to run much of our machinery from
the power Of the sun. With 500 mir
rors properly arranged to focus the
rays upon one point, . temperature of
more than 1000 degrees has been OBJ
tanned. This almost equals one-ffth
the highest temperature recorded by
the electric furnace, which is consid-
cred today the most powerful heating
apparatus ever discovered. AS there
is no limit % the number of mirrors
that may be employed, and as she in
~tensity of the heat increases ia pro
portion to the number of rays reelected
by the mirrors, it is conceiv able thai
IA temperature may be obtained il
time that will surpass anything eve'
dreamed Of.