The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-07-08
Idaho Country Life
SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF FARM
LABOR

Securing adequate hired help for
the farm is no longer a serious prob
lem for Mr.. H. M. Miner, at Chozy, N.
Y, now that his new hired man, Elec-
tricity, milks the cows prepares the
feed for the stock, pumps the water,
separates and churns the cream and
does most of the other chores about
the farm.
Hearts Delight" is the name Of
this magnificent country estate owned
by Mr.. Miner in Clinton county This
estate covers an area of $3.50 acres,
surrounding the old Miner homestead
of $50 acres. Twelve hundred acres
are under cultivation and like num-
Der are used for pasturage. The re-
mainder is pretty woodland, clothing
hill and dale, fell and void, in the
majestic foliage of the northland.
There are many things of interest
about this wonderful country. home.
from the elk, deer and buffalo in the
pretty little park, to the fine herds Of
pure bred, short horn Durham and
Guernsey cattle, the Dorset sheep and
the registered Percheron and Belgian
horses. The bird fancier could prof
itably spend his time looking over the
different breeds of choice fowls or
the squad industry and the sports
man would be more than interested in
the we'll equipped fish hatchery where
trout are propagated. But for me,
with an engineering bent of mind,
nothing was worth noticing until I
had inspected whence came this won
derful electrical power which found
on every hand SO busy with the farm
work.
Nearly three years ago it was when
Mr.. Miner decided to provide his farm
with electricity for light and power,
and so successful was this initial in
stallation that the plant has been
added to frim time to time, resulting
in the most complete and novel appli-
cation of electricity on the farm to be
found in the world.
For hundreds of years two streams
had noisily traversed the Miner farm,
the smaller known as Tracy Brook,
the larger called the Chazy river and
all this while these streams had been
doing little else than make a merry
noise over the rocks and pebbles. In
vestigation proved that these streams
offered cheap and reliable sources of
power, and the engineers decided that
It was time they went to work II they
were to continue living" with Mr..
Miner. Three small concrete dams
were thrown across the Tracy brook,
giving reservoir area of ITO acres.
A concrete penstock A inches in d.
ameter and $40 feet long carries the
water from the lower dam to tiny
power house, under 10 foot head,
where it dashes against the blades of
two powerful reaction turbine water
wheels. On each water wheel shaft
is fastened the revolving armature of
an electric dynamo, one of 40 horse
power and one of IT horse power,
generating direct current at a pres
sure of 220 volts. This electrical en-
ergy is transmitted over a pole line
IN miles to small distributing sta
ton located in the main group of
farm buildings.
Such was the initial equipment, but
the new hired man" did his work so
thoroughly and so well-never COM
planning about early rising, never OBJ
jecting to scrubbing the milk cans or
turning the hateful grindstone, and
never getting mad and quitting the
very morning that five acres of hay
were down and ready for the barn
that it was decided to erect new and
larger power plant on the Chazy river
about a mile below the Tracy brook
power house and extend the electrifi-
cation to every portion of the farm
work. A concrete dam was built to
hold the water storage and second
dam was constructed below the first
to give the water wheels the benefit
Of thirty feet fall, for it is the weight
Of water in falling which constitutes
Its power. This water is carried to
the Little Chazy power house through
. concrete penstock 4Sx60 inches and
$50 feet in length, where it pours in
to a concrete flume. Through steel
pipes the pent-up water rush out with
the force of nearly three hundred
horses, madly whirling turbines and
generators until the potential energy
II the water is changed into 200 cleo
.rical horse power, alternating cur
'ent, at pressure of $500 volts.
This electrical power is carried over