The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-05-27

simple, The engineer takes the gculngi
cal survey map, with It's lines showing
where the liOO-ioo, leytl lies along th'
mountain sides, That irregular oours'
j. made the route Of the flume. ooea
sionally fayine or culveri Will have 4
be bndsed over. a. one place for ll0l
feet a mountain will be- pierced by a tiin
mel. The hume will generally lie against
/ the rock Of the mountain side. while ~
other wall will be- built up In cement \
/ surprisingly small ilume will DO the bust
ness Of such an enterprise: il j. far diff
ierent from a ship canal AZ Puyallup
/ Wash, for example, a tlume only eight
feet wide and eight feet high-Often only
part full-hut pouring down an elevation
Of practically the same height rs that
proposed here, produces $1,000 horse
power, an astonishingly large conlfibu-
lion TO the entire local needs of Seattle
IL takes iair-sized city 10 use this amount
Of power Minneapolis, with its great
milling interests, originally founded on
the falls Of Saint Anthony 10 get cheap
power, consumes only about 10000 horse
power. including It's electric cars II
$4,000 horsepower should be- developed
at Zoar il would have 10 90 very far aiield
90 find customers. Niagara, great A. is
its volume OF water. drops for power pur-
poses, only 40 feet.
The company which has this project
under way, Chace a Hartman, is the
same that made the Vernon development.
The promoters maintain that Il is only
link in longer chain. and that before
New England 5 water power has been
gearcd up 10 the modern uses OF cleo
tncity, they will have spent 25,O1,OOO,
in this and a number Of other projects
under way. Observers in this region
note that the same quiet gathering IN Of
water rights which has preceded this
plan now seems in progress between here
and Shclburnc Falls, eight miles below,
All the water which goes into the flume
at Davis Bridge Will emerge from the
works at Zoar, and will be available for
performing a like task AT Shelburne Falls.
The rapidity OF this river : fall is Of many
incidental advantages IL leaves all the
head as met. On the Merrimac, for
example. when the water Is high above
the dam, il is usually high below, thereby
diminishing the head available for power
purposes. But in the Deerficld, the drop
ably so here, that the flow-away would
be immediate, not only for all the water
that came through the hume. but for
whatever had collected in the twenty
six miles of the journey between the in
take at Davis Bridge and the outfall here.
The first patron in sight for so extern
sive a power development would obviously
be the Fitchburg division OF the Boston ~
Maine railroad Ii already has planned
to electrify the Hoosac Tunnel. Whether
it will eventually use for that purpose
this water-made electricity, or steam
produced power of its own, is not yet
clear. A railroad must be very sure of
its source of supply Ii cannot stop run
ming trains in dry weather. Its power
engineers have accordingly leaned strong
" toward the coal idea. But in any event,
the amount of power needed in Hoosac
Tunnel alone would be a very small part
Of that which will be produced here. The
of the Northwest are using cleo
tricity for all purposes on mountain grades.
Mr. Hartman instituted studies in that
line in the Sierra Nevadas, and Mr.. Hill
IS now doing the same thing over the
Great Northern. Electricity in mountain
possesses some distinct advan- |
tages. The amount of power actually |
needed can be applied by electricity where |
il is wanted, while steam locomotives |
must be constantly moved back and
'orth, as they are, over these tracks to !
serve as helpers on the up-grades.
The relation of the New Haven Rail- |
'oad to the entire development remains
% be determined. Many observers here
that the enterprise would be
without its cooperation. 1t
las long owned the power from Monroe
Bridge to the Hoosac Tunnel, and also
he land bordering on the river for most
If the way from the tunnel to Zoar That
he interests behind the power plant are
he same as those Of the New Haven Rail-
Dad system is asserted by some of the
Observers. Vice President Byrnes s re-
'ent account of the purpose OF that road
o sell electricity along its lines for the
rarious local services may be recalled in
with what is going on here.
What will become of the scenic beauty
# the Deerfeld Valley, OF which the
7itchburg Railroad folders have SO long
1t is the Deerfield and the
Iousatonic rivers which made that great
all route possible The valleys of these
wo streams come to within four miles of
ach other at the place through which
he Hoosac Tunnel has been pierced.
he railroad makes its way to this bore
through these valleys, and so has relative
Y easy grades After this water-power
evelopment is made the Deerfeld River
etween the tunnel and Zoar will have
MY so much water as it collects in this
ast twenty-six miles of its journey In
he dry season that will not be large.
eople riding along its course in Pull ,
lans and automobiles will see the rocky f
ed over which the stream formerly flow
d. At high water seasons 1t will still
AIRY a moderate amount. At low water
aasons it now reaches nearly negli-
ible quantity. The fall is so rapid that
othing can stay in the stream long.
The acquisition Of water rights is one
f the difficulties of an enterprise of this
ind. One man may hold up a long line.
has been suggested that the law of /
minent domain should be applied to such |
oldings. This is a new question in the
lodern world. In the old days, with a
ill at waterfall in the river, no large !
o-ordinating of interests was necessary.
tut today, with electrical transmission, !
-hich finds a market for huge product,
nd with the great economies obtained s
ON one long Drop the ability to con-