The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-09-05
MAY MAKE NIAGARA
YIELD MORE POWER
Continued from Frs, Page.

re ~ nOW DeUt upon ullllHIiS lui'iici
the forces OF the Niagara River, still
he Is no less interested In carrying out
an inherited project which contem-
plates a ship canal around the falls,
thus providing n new n~avigational
route between Lake Ontario and Lake
Erie.
II say an inherited project, because
his great-grandfather. Gen. Peter b.
Porter. was the first man to intro
duce In Congress a bill for a like ar
tificial waterway. This was as far
back as 1910. That ancestor was fully
! alive to the commercial gains that
would follow the establishment OF such
a route. Gen. Porter was intimately
identified with the first days OF the
Erie Canal. but passed on to his de-
s~cendants the abiding notion that a
canal at Niagara Falls was an eco
nomic necessity.
"As conditions exist to-day, the
shortest water route between Lake
ontario and Lake Erie is that Of the
] Welland Canal, ~travers!ng Canadian
territory. The volume of traffic by
that waterway Is immense, and the
number OF American vessels seeking
passage that way Is great. Had We
a canal around Niagara Falls We
should he able to send our craft either
through neutral waters or largely
within u own territorial limits.
Peter \. Porter's scheme embraces
a canal starting Just west of Lasalle
and by a wide detour passing around
TO the north of the city of Niagara
! INallq apI rn4nfptpa th, ,f..,r a.. ..
point between the falls and the whirl-
pool. There he would place "A lift lock
OF ample capacity. Remember, that
n of the immediate effects of the
power dam in hacking up the water
would he to smooth out the rapids
below the falls through the deepening
Of the channel. and this would make
the river therefore better suited TO
general navigation.
AT h dam I have planned four
suitable locks on the American side,
inc this would make II Thoroughly
feasible to use the river for a com
merc!al highway in a measure that is
now quite out of the question. In
deed. | might well say that the power
lam and the canal should properly be
the two parts OF II harmonious
project
THE need Of such a canal as Mr..
Porter proposes must be apparent. II
Is ~self-evident that with 1000. 600
horsepower of electrical energy avail
Die a great many more industries
would GROVE To the nelghborhood and
even If but half Of This power were
utilized on the American side, twice
that now generated by the local Ca
nadlsn n American plants, lust think
OF the factories that would spring up
there in consequence.
"A large part Of the products turned
out would preferably seek water car
rage, and so too would much of tho
ra" materials. Therefore. "A canal on
'"e -Niherlcan side lodging the falls
would be needed To balance the project
IN IT'S manifold workings. To-day the
only canal We have on our side Of tho
Niagara River is an eighteen foo,
channel from Lake Erie to TonawanJ1
starting at Buffalo, and this is msrolv
a feeder to the Erie Canal which
makes an outlet possible into Lake.
ontario Only after a good long iourr,v
We must not fail to keep in mind
the tact that We have in Canada ,
very formidable competitor. The
people of the Dominion ar, ,bnr-
oughly intent upon wrestling from MS
as much Of u commercial siInrsm-
acy as possible and the Government
there has ambitious plans both uudor
way II contemplated. In his work
American Inland Waterways Her
bert Quick, dealing with the grand
strategy of trade, quotes the Speaker
of the Canadian House. vino declared
that Montreal and Quebec. Halifax
and st. John, and perhaps some ouie,
harbor that is as yet only dreamed of
will he the busiest ports of the North
American continent. OF this great
highway Canada holds the door Ana
Mr., Quick sounds his warning in This
fashion:
Little old New York may well sit
ny and observe these words and the
situation To which they apply. She
has he'd her trade by means of the
Erie Canal and her railways. Can
she continue to hold it with congested
railways and the 1900 ton barges of
the new Erie Canal against the actlial
'''i ''''' i''A 'Ililllltl ana me pro-
spective passage OF twenty-one ar
more feet to Montreal?
Plainly, then, We must not only
make better use of the latent energy
in the Niagara River, but I'm order
that our manufacturers may work IN
the best advantage and our CONNER
cial supremacy survive the shin
canal urged so long by the Porter
family should be made an accom-
plished fact.
Il have used as "A basis for my
power figures a turbine efficiency OF
so per cent, but mechanical engl-
reers declare 80 per cent. is within
reach, while the technical optimist
believes still better results IAN be Sc
cured in the "A future. With these
differences of opinion | am not con-
cerned. At h rated capacity | have
used for my calculations the power
dam would provide impulse for wheels
developing 1000, 600 horsepower, and
with this immense fund of energy to
draw upon industrial marve!s can he
accomplished,
"A dam across the Niagara River
might have seemed ItOp!an n decade
ago; CONSTITUTIONAL achievements In
the last few years have shown the
rearing of such a barrier there to be
thoroughly feasible"