The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-01-20
Illustrations the Consumers Power Concrete Dam and

How the scene at Rapidan Mills
has been changed in the short space
of a year is one of the romantic
stories that is told in the illustra-
tons that adorn this page. 1t is a
wonderful transformation, and all to
the good. 1t all has happened as If
the magic wand had been brought
into play. The water that has pas
sed so serenely between the high
banks Of the Blue Earth will now be
made to perform duty that it prop
erly owes to mankind. 1t will fur
nish power-and ii will do so with
cut making much OF q fuss either,
thanks to the dam and all that goes
with II that has been constructed by
Consumers Power company, II. NJ.
'.ylleaEy & Co., engineers and mana.
gcrS OF Chicago.
Fine Piece of Work.
The dam is a fine piece Of work,
and 1t has been built III Il remark
ably short space Of time. Hundreds
Of thousands of dollars are invested
iii this great enterprise which means
Il great deal TO the industrial growth
OF Mankato. The people of this
city have been greatly interested i'll
the promotion and carrying out of
this huge project and they appreci-
ate fully what it all means to this
community. The Consumers Power
company has achieved results and,
It is entitled TO large measure of
credit. Its advent in this city has
been beneficial to the commercial
and industrial interests, and its
broad, business-like and liberal pol.
icy has been felt in many lines of
municipal endeavor. 1t is an enter
prising company and should be wei
ccmed to any community that is per-
mcated with the spirit OF enterprise
and progress.
X. +. Brown, superintendent of
the companys interests in Mankato,
has exhibited untiring zeal and ell
ergy during the construction of the
dam and all that pertains thereto.
He has been ION the job all the
tine.
Aside from the amount of money
that has been invested in the dam,
thousands OF dollars were paid for
land adjacent to the Blue Earth
river. These negotiations We're car
ried ON in highly satisfactory man
ner 10 all parties concerned, which
speaks well for those interested
Chicago, January 1.-THE second
annual convention Of the officers and
employees Of II. NJ. Byllesby & Co.,
engineers and managers Of public
utility plants, opened mere today, at
the Auditorium Annex Hotel, with
an attendance of $50 delegates For
ty cities in twelve western and
southern states were represented
Following an address of welcome
by President Byllesby the conven-
ton, with f. II. Tidnam of Okla
homa City presiding as chairman,
settled down to a four-days consider
alton OF program composed of pro-
fessional and technical papers.
Address BY President ByIIesby.
Mr. Byllesby said in part:
Il hope | shall be pardoned if |
refer to the marvellous development
in the maryelously short time occu-
pied of all the enterprises coming
under the general term public ser.
vice corporations"
The men who had the courage
and the faith to invest their own
fortunes, great or small, and by
sacrifices of every description to in
duce the investing of additional CAPT
tai in the betterment of this bust
ness at time when it was looked
on as experimental and chimerlcal
and unprottable-I think these men
deserve fair hearing at the hands
Of the public and that alongside of
their derelictions should be placed
the overwhelming number of bene.
Tits they have conferred upon the
community at large. Because some
OF the pioneers and prominent work
crs of the public service business, us
the result of years Of toll and con
scientiCus industry, along with Ger
tam human error and mistakes
have amassed independent fortunes,
We should not close our eyes to the
fact that the great numerical ma
jority died heart broken and in pen
ury.
Controversies and Their Handling.
1T would appear that the world
has advanced to a point where con-
troversies should be handled in an