Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-08-15
GIANT CATARACTS
Victoria Falls the Greatest of tho
Mighty Torrents
NIAGARA RANKS ONLY THIRD.

Second Place, and These Three Are
In a Class by Themselves-Their
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 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 it is remembered that two
cubic feet Of water, weighing 12J
pounds by falling distance of only
six feet will produce one horse power
of energy it 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
4
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 it 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
IS estimated to be fully 35,0OO,OO0
horse power. two and onehalf 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 it. The total water
power of the Iguassu fall which is 213
feet high and nearly two miles wide,
! l.
| power This is approximately equal to
the aggregate water power Of all Sean
! 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 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 total
height of 1854 feet and width of near
ly 1000 feet and offer an exceedingly
rich source of power which probably
will 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
few hundred yards wide and with
depth of water of nearly 300 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 100000 cubic feet of water are
hurled along with irresistible force,
while thirty-two rapids and waterfalls
lower the level of the stream by 500
feet in stretch of 10 miles.
The lower Nile, in Egypt, possesses
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 few yards in height, bur
the volume Of water is so great hat
1t presents Il magnificent spectacle
Comparatively few persons know
which is the highest waterfall in Flu
rope. The most voluminous Of Euro
pean waterfalls. strictly So called, are
the Rhine falls, at Schatfhausen. 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