Morgan County republican., 1912-07-11

t,e greatest value to the commercial
world because the millions Of water
horse power can be changed into elec-
tricity and transmitted for hundreds Of
miles to be used as reliable substitute
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 it Is easy to comprehend
that millions and millions of horse
power are wasted every minute by the
torrents of water tumbling over
Niagara, the Vi, toaia Fails and the
Iguass1 River s,d many lesser falls
throup uphout the world. This falling
water is guided by steel and concrete
p.nstock to powerful water turbines
which whirl great electric generators.
The current produced in this way is
easily transmitted 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 manufacturing plants and to
give US light and heat.
WclOxIA FALLS THE GREATEST
Loyal as we are to our country, we
must admit that even the mighty tor.
rent 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
Mile wide, and were discovered by
Livingstone in 1852. The water
power OF these fa' S IS estim tied to be
fully thirty-five million horse power,
two and one-half times that Of lguassu
and FIVE times that Of Niagara. BY
way Of comparison it should be noted
the aggregate water power of the
whole OF Europe cannot greatly exceed
thirty-five million,horse power. The
demands which are made at present
on these falls are modest.
The Victoria Fall Power Company
asks for only 10000 horsepower,
less than one two.hundredth par, Of
the whole.
South America Possesses a wates-
fall which exceeds Niagara both in
width and heigth and is actually G,e
second largest waterfall in the world =.
This little known waterfall is that Of
the Iguassu River, tributary OF the
Parana, 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, J., estimated as abou, ID
million horsepower. This is approx.
'i"a,ely equal to the apgerate waite,
power oi all Scandin Won, w,ich is
rich, in waterfalls, or ao,ut ten time.
the total water power in Germany.
Africa RICH IN POWER SITES
| There is no other waterfall in tn,
world which is at all comparable i,
greatness with the Zambesi, Iguass,
or Niagara. Asia, notwi,hstandin,
it's colossal mountain ranges, is com
par'ively poor in large waterfalls
which are found most abundan.ly il
Africa and North America. The lar
gest African streams especially are in
,erruptcd by many falls of consider
abe height The Congo has severs
high falls which owing to the gres
volume of the river, abcu, sixtee
times that OF the Nile, may be coun,
ed among the mos, important source
oi water power on earth. The San
ley Falls in the middle reach OF IN
river consists Of seven successive fa,
OF total height of 184 feet and
;. width OF nearly four thousand fe,