The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-09-10
GIANT CATARACTS
Victoria Falls the Greatest Of the
Mighty Torrents
NIAGARA RANKS ONLY THIRD.

The Falls Of the Ieuassu River Hold
Second Place, and These Three Are
In a Class by ThsmssIvss--Thsir
Electric Power Possibilities.
At one time waterfalls in large riv-
ers were interesting only because Of
their scenic beauty. and their very ex-
istence was deplored because they OBJ
structed navigation. But man has
found a way to harness these mighty
power producers and today they are Of
the greatest value to the commercial
world because the millions Of water
horse power can be changed into cleo
tricity and transmitted for hundreds
Of miles to be used as a reliable sub
stitute for our vanishing coal supply.
When 1t is remembered that two
cubic feet of water, weighing 125
pounds. by falling distance Of only
six feet will produce one horse power
of energy, 1t is easy to comprehend
that millions and millions of horse
power are wasted every minute by the
torrents OF water tumbling over Mag
ara, the Victoria falls and the Iguassu
river and many lesser falls throughout
the world. This falling water is guided
by steel and concrete penstocks to
powerful water turbines which whirl
great electric generators. The current
produced in this way is easily trans
mitted for hundreds Of miles over small
copper wires to the cities and towns
where 1t is used to haul the railroad
trains to drive the great manufacture
ing plants and to give US light and
heat.
Loyal as we all are to our country,
we must admit that even the mighty
torrent Of Niagara ranks only third in
size when compared to the waterfalls
of the world. The largest of the earth's
waterfalls. the Victoria falls Of the
Zambesi river in Rhodesia, are 1856
feet high and more than a mile wide.
and were discovered by Livingstone in
1855. The water power Of these falls
IL estimated to be fully 100000
horse power. two and one-half times
that of Iguassu and FIVE times that OF
Niagara.
South America possesses a waterfall
which exceeds Niagara both in width
and in height and is actually the Sec
ond largest waterfall in the world.
This little known waterfall is that OF
the Iguassu river. tributary Of the Pa
rama, and. like Niagara. is situated at
the boundary Of two states, each OF
which owns half OF II. The total water
power or the Iguassu fall. which is 21S
feet high and nearly two miles wide,
Is estimated as about 100000 horse
power This is approximately equal to
the aggregate water power Of all Scan
dinavia. which is rich In waterfalls, or
about ten times the total water power
Of Germany.
There Is no other waterfall In the
world which is at all comparable In
greatness with the Zambesi. Iguassu
or the Niagara. Asia, notwithstand'
ing its colossal mountain ranges. is
comparatively poor in large waterfalls,
which are found most abundantly in
Africa and North America. The lar
gest African streams especially are In
terrupted by many falls of considerable
height. The Kongo has several high
Falls which owing to the great volume
OF the river, about sixteen times that
OF the Nile. may be counted among
the most important sources Of water
power on earth. The Stanley falls. In
the middle reach of the river, consist
of seven successive falls. OF a total
height Of 164 feet and width Of near
ly 1000 feet and offer an exceedingly
rich source Of power which probably
VIII soon be exploited.
Still more important is the total wa
ter power which the Kongo develops in
the non-navigable section extending
from its mouth to Stanley pool Here
the river, confined In a channel only q
few hundred yards wide and with a
depth OF water Of nearly 800 feet.
flows with velocity of forty-eight feet
a second, so that at every point Of the
stream $4,000 to 10000 cubic meters or
about 1000. 200 cubic feet Of water are
hurled along with irresistible force.
while thirty-two rapids and waterfalls
lower the level OF the stream by $50
feet in a stretch OF ITO miles.
The lower Nile, In Egypt, possesses
a series Of rapids, the celebrated cata-
racts Of the Nile. but no waterfall In
the strict sense OF the word. True.
waterfalls occur on the upper Nile,
the most beautiful of them at the
point where the stream issues from
Lake Victoria Nyanza. This Ripon
fall is only a few yards In height. but
the volume of water is so great that
It presents a magnificent spectacle.
Comparatively few persons know
which is the highest waterfall In Eu-
rope. The most volumlnous OF Euro
pean waterfalls. strictly so called, are
the Rhine falls. at Schaffhausen. but
the highest are the Rjaken falls Of the
Mann-Elf river. In the Norwegian
province OF Telemarken. The princi-
pal fall is 500 feet high. and the total
height OF the two chief falls with the
Intervening rapids amounts to 1887
feet. while the average flow Of water
is fifty cubic meters. or l.760 cubic
feet a second. The Rjaken falls. with
their total energy Of 10000 horse
power. have been converted to Indus