Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-06-25
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY
THOUSAND HORSE POWER
iNITS FALLING WATERS.
HAS OVER 800 FEET FALL
FROM SOURCE TO MOUTH
The chippewa River Drains Over Ten
Thousand Square Miles of Terri
tory and Has interesting
History

In the previous articles about the
water powers of Wisconsin, the I'M
nortance of the great drainage streams
of the state, and of the industries es'
tablished along them and based upon
powers developed at the point OF use'
has been set forth.
AS these articles are being written
largely for readers in the Chippewa
Valley, it is assumed that the details
of the Developments on the Fox, WIS
consin and St. Croix rivers will hardly
prove as interesting as will lnforma
ton concerning the Chippewa River
itself
Practically all the power on the
Fox River has been developed and put
at work in the business of paper-mak-
ing. A great deal of the power on the
st. Croix has been harnessed Tor the
production of electricity, which is con-
viewed by wire to the Twin Cities.
The Wisconsin furnishes locations
for a considerable number OF develop
ments, part of which are made appl-
cable to industries close to the power
sites, while in other cases they are
employed to produce electric current
which is used for street railway opera
ton and various other Industrial appH-
cations. A very great deal of power
nm the Wisconsin yet remains to be
| developed. which will find it's market
In the industrial cities Of the southern
| part of the state.
The Chippewa, apart from certain
Developments for the operation OF pa
per mills, has not received the atten-
ton which it deserves, but is fairly on
the way to it.
1t may be worth stating here that
the power of the Chippewa river, up
wards of 10000 horse power in all,
Is CAPABLE of being turned into electric
energy and being transmitted to every
village and hamlet in the Chippewaa
Valley. there to turn wheels Of indus
try that will make Of Northwestern
Wisconsin an industrially active area
that will rival the manufacturing sec
tons of Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and Connecticut. The energy of the
Chippewa River, If converted into cleo
tricity, would represent an amount of
power which would annually require
the burning of 2,F77, 600 tons Of coal.
In round figures, the use Of all the
water-p0wer on the Chippewa River
would displace the necessity Of pur-
chasing and consuming $5,OOO,OOO
worth of coal a year.
hn until this
power is developed, and longer still
until there are industries in the Chip
pewa Valley capable Of absorbing and
using all of it; but that is the practi-
cal possibility that is before the Chip
pewa Valley, traversed as it is by the
main lines Of many railroads, capable
Of producing endless millions In value
of manufactured products and sending
: them out on the railroads to the great
5 consuming markets Of the East, West,
and Southwest.
The Chippewa is q very great river,
+ as inland waterways go. It extends
southwesterly across the state from
the northern border, joining Michigan,
to the Mississippi at the foot Of Lake
Pepin. It's course Is 267 miles long. The
e high ridge Of land that marks the divi-
sion between the drainage running in
10 Lake Superior IN the northern part
of the State and the slopes toward
t Lake Michigan and the Mississippi
River marks the beginning of the
creeks and streams whose waters find
their way through the Chippewa River
system to the Father of the Waters.
It drains nearly 10000 square miles OF
territory Of Wisconsin.
5 At some place or other in its course
It receives the water of many cOntri-
butary rivers of great Importance.
The Flambeau and the Menomonie, or
Red Cedar, rivers are the largest #
these, each of them draining nearly
! 1000 miles of area. The Eau Claire
drains nearly a thousand square miles,
the Jump river carries off the waters
of 100 miles, and the Yellow River
those of nearly 500 square miles Minor
I streams like O'NeilIs Creek, Duncan
Creek, Paint Creek, the Court Oreille
and the Eau Sale each drain very large
areas.
: For the purpose of understanding
: what this drainage means let it be re-
C membered that the average rainfall
+ in Wisconsin every year IS about 3212
inches. This means that on every acre
of land there falls in rain, or its equiv
/ alent in snow, 1860 cubic feet OF
water in the year This great guam
u tity, repeated once for each of the GAG
t acres of every square mile, and multi
/ piled again by the 10000 square miles
which are drained by the Chippewa
t River and it's tributaries, must find
: its way to the Mississippi River, less
q whatever Of it is evaporated before il
, Peaches the river mouth or remains az