The Detroit times., 1914-05-18


secutive records OF discharge.
Niagara Falls dry, its rushing wa
tiers swallowed up In the rapacious
nav OF modern in
Enemies OF dustry, is one OF
NIAGARA. the serious pos
sihilities OF the fu-
ture, according 10 some men who
believe that the coming generation
will value electric power more than
the great natural beauty or the fails.
A determined movement TO destroy
this scenic wonder OF the world for
the benefit OF water power develop
ment has been started by various
electro-chemical interests, whose lead
ers are frank In stating that they
care nothing for the beauty OF Nj
agaEa, wheR- the problem is TO meet
the constantly increasing demand for
cheaper electricity.
At the present time the amount or
water taken from the falls for power
purposes is controlled by the war de-
partment through its corps OF en-
gineers, under an international agree
ment between the United States and
Canada. From time TO time efforts
have been made TO get both countries
TO increase the amount or water thus
used but on each occasion the repre-
sentatives OF the United States have
failed TO see why one OF the few world
wonders should be interfered with.
f. +. Roeber, president OF the Amer
lean Electro Chemical society, and
who is acting as official spokesman
in the movement for a wider com
mercial utilization OF Niagara, de.
clares that the water now laundering
over the falls represents, according TO
his view, the equivalent or one mil
lion tons OF coal a week. or In year s
time one-tenth OF the entire coal con-
sumption in the entire United States.
This. says Mr.. Roeber, is not con-
servation of beauty, but waste. Grim
inal waste.
Mr.. Roeber delves deeper and says
that this country is In dire need or
cheaper nitrogen for fertilizing the
land In order 10 increase the crop
WELD, and that this would be possible
IL all the waters OF Niagara Falls were
turned into power He cites that fail
ure OF process for making nitrogen
, which was tried at Niagara Falls 10
years ago.
THE deciding element which
caused failure at Niagara Falls, and
success In Norway" says Mr.. Roeber,
SIS the cost OF electric power, which
is three TO five times lower in Nor
way than at Niagara Falls" Not
withstanding this objection of Mr..
Roeber, nitrogen is not being made
at Niagara Falls. In explaining the
attitude OF his society, Mr.. Roeber
said:
The magnificent group Of indus
tries at Niagara Falls which are the
pride OF every American electrochem-
ist and should be the pride OF the
whole American nation suffers sert-
ously from the power famine due to
the cessation Of power development
by international agreement between
the United States and Canada. This
agreement is based on the alleged
will OF the people Of both countries
TO have the falls preserved as a
scenic spectacle on the principle OF
conservation or natural beauty for
the people.
Our ancestors who knew nothing
OF the principle Of conservation of en-
ergy. OF transformation OF different
forms of energy into each other.
looked simply at the material side
OF the falls and saw beauty and had
right TO see beauty And IL We
force ourselves into such one-sided
attitude OF mind, we can still see
beauty. But If we stand as modern
men at the falls with free attitude
OF mind, we don't see simply water,
we see power We see the possibili-
ties of using this power for electric
power transmission for lighting, trac-
ton and industrial purposes on a
wider area We see the even greater
possibility OF storing this power In
electrochemical products and utiliz-
ing them all over the land in all
walks OF life.
If we look at the falls with this
attitude of mind, which is the natural
one for us, every cubic foot Of water
that goes laundering over the falls
unutilized appeals to us as waste and
nothing but waste II we could look
at Niagara Falls with the eyes OF our
ancestors il would be different, but
In full possession of our extended
senses which an engineering age has
BlNeu us, lHt ldlH VI
much OF them as is not utilized
must simply impress us as q waste OF
immense proportions. And Just the
element of bigness which was an ele-
ment OF beauty TO our ancestors has
necessarily become TO us the reverse,
emphasizing only more emphatically
the criminal negligence OF letting
waste on such tremendous scale go
on. Undeveloped, Niagara Falls re.
mains spectacular even TO the mod.
ern man, but It Is no longer beauti-
full.
THE perverse mind OF Nero could
enjoy the spectacle OF Rome burning
A savage tribe could naively enjoy
a con1agration that would consume
for spectacular purposes a million
tons OF coal a week. We let the
equivalent waste go on in water pow
er and hear II called saving beauty
for the people.
when that time has come, the