Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1910-05-27

rights nave been bought all the way from
Shelburne Falls to Somerset. with the
understanding that the Wilmington and
Hoosac Tunnel railroad might be wiped
out plans have been discussed for a new
outlet from Wilmington through a troll
ley line. The special correspondent Of
the Boston Transcript, writing from Zoar,
Mass, where the power plant will be To-
Gated, tells the following interesting story:
= The scattered villages Of the Deerheld
valley are all agog over the mysterously
whispered plans OF a great water power
development scheduled to eliminate at
this point. This town will be remember
ed by patrons of the Fitchburg railroad as
the second station on the Boston side of
the Hoosac tunnel, the first one bearing
the name of the tunnel itself where a
narrow gauge line starts for Readsboro
across the Vermont line, originally built
for the conveyance Of wood pulp, but now
known as one OF the most picturesque
in the Colorado sense-of New England
railroad lines. The second station east
of the tunnel is this one. unknown to
fame except for its peculiar name, but
destined If the present plans materialize,
to become one of the great power produC-
ing points of New England
The popularity Of the project here,
which takes it out of the ordinary, is the
height Of the head. \ drop of not far
from 500 feet is expected. This would be
common enough in the Sierra Nevadas,
where small bodies Of water, but falling
from very great elevations, have revolu
tionized the industrial life of the Pacific
coast. In California. power plants with
heads running as high as 1900 feet are In
successful operation. Projects along the
same line have been developed in India,
in Switzerland, and in Spain, but in New
England most Of the water power de-
velopments are from % to so feet. The
only one approNimating 500 feet is a small
one in Vermont, used for street railroad
transportation. which is really a monu-
ment to the wealth and ingenuity Of its
original promoter.
Where is that Valley In Vermont7
What surprises the visitor who hears
the story in this region is where the en-
gineers could ind a valley in Vermont Of
in which water may be impounded, that
lies fourteen hundred feet above the leve
of the sea. The railroad station here al
Zoar is go feet above the sea level. The
ordinary conception of a valley in New
England is not something possessing an
elevation OF 400 feet But the Geolog-
ical Survey maps published by the United
States government, with their carefully
marked profile lines, show the
actual existence of such levels in the
Wilmington valley, Just across the Yer
mont line. Few people realize how high
this corner Of New England is, including
as 1t does, the northwestern part Of Mass.
achusetts and southern Vermont. The
people Of this town tell about a swamp
TO the north OF Rowe Swamp" IL is bS
comparison with the surrounding alti.
tudes, and yet the Pelham brook flows a.
an elevation in excess OF 1900 feet. anC
most Of the so-called swamp is stll higher
than that.
At Davis Bridge a high dam will be bull
to hold back the flood waters OF tn,
Deerheld, creating in the canon OF tn,
river an artificial lake eight miles long
This will blot out highways and farm
houses much as our metropolitan waite
supply system did at West Boylston, ex
cept that the Deerfeld, where IL run!
through the town Of Wilmington, happen!
TO be much in the Wilderness Littl,
property Will be disturbed by the creation
Of the artificial lake. II is believed tina
a fifty days water supply can thus b,
lmpounded here above the high leve
outlet. This will be a very large facto
| in the success Of the enterprise, ever
though in the last two years a much long
er period than that has in the autumn
| elapsed without rainfall. In 1905 or 100
50-day reservoir would have given on
| long before the water came; but the rec
ords Of rainfall for % years of this regiol
make such a provision seem reasona bl
adequate, and of course a supplemental
coal-burning plant will be necessary.
From the artificial lake above Davi
| Bridge the water will be brought in
| flume along the contour lines to Zoar
| This flume will lie at an elevation prob
| ably of 400 feet above sea level. Thl
| will make an S00-foot drop, minus III
slight descent necessary to keep the waite
| moving in it. These contour fumes ar
very familiar in the irrigation work OF tn
West, as well as in the electrifcaton tx
| periments everywhere. Three studio
have been made of this territory, wit
| levels of 1900, 1900 and 400 feet abov
sea level respectively. The choice for tn
engineers was 10 decide between the ad
vantage of head and storage. The highe
| the fiume the greater the head at Zoar
| the lower the flume the longer the res
| ervoirs waters would last in time o
| drought. II would be expensive to con
| struct two fumes. one for high water an,
the other for low. Moreover, the lowe
half of a reservoir, with the lessenin
| area at the bottom, is rapidly depleted
The idea Of a contour fume is yer,
| simple. The engineer takes the geolog
| zeal survey map, with its lines showing
where the 1400-foot level lies along tn
mountain sides. That irregular course 1
made the route Of the fiume Occasionally
| a raVine or culvert will have to be bridge
over. At one place for 100 feet a noun
| tain will be pierced by a tunnel. TIL
| fume will generally lie against the rocl
| of the mountain side while its othe
wall will be built up in cement. A sur
| prisingly small flume will do the bushes
! of SIpb QpfpTnFiga. if ia far dfhfaran
| from ship canal. At Puyallup, Wash
| for example, a fiume only eight feet wild
| and eight feet high-often only part full
| but pouring down an elevate Of prac
| tically the same height as that PROPOSE
| here, produces %, 900 horsepower, an as
| tonishingly large contribution to the entir
local needs Of Seattle. It takes a fair
| sized city to use this amount of power
Minneapolis, with its great milling inter
ests, originally founded on the falls o
| Saint Anthony to get cheap power, con
sumes only about 100000 horse power in
| Guiding its electric cars. II %, 900 horse
power should be developed here in Zoa
| it would have to go very far afield to fin
customers. Niagara, great as is its vol
ume of water, drops for power purpose
only 40 feet.
Investors Cautious of River Power.
River power developments are Away
/ open to suspicion from the investor
| point of view. One Of them has said tina
| he always doubles the estimate of cos
| and cuts in two the estimate OF yield a
! a preliminary on any real examination @
/ a project The diagrams of variation 4
\ river flow which the United States Geo
| logical Survey prints from time to time
tell a very impressive story of ficklenes:
The river, which is often doing an i'm