Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-06-18
WATER POWERS Of
THE BADGER STATE
WOULD TAKE 100000 TONS OF
COAL EACH YEAR TO DO
THEIR WORK.
BASIS OF GREAT INDUSTRIES
Greatest Proportion of Wisconsin
Water Power In Rivers of the
Western Part of the State.

Were there coal deposits in Wis
ocnsin, and were they worked as sys'
tematically as the coal measures are
worked where they actually exist, the
people of this state would take a par
donable pride in the simple presence
Of so important natural resource.
To carry the supposftiOn a bit far
Their, were these hypothetical coal
mines capable of developing, say
25,OO0,000 tons in the year, the value
Of the resource would be still more
apparent, and the public appreciation
Of it's existence CORRESPONDENCE great
err
Were it further possible to contem'
plate a condition under which the min
ing of so great an amount of coal in
this state every year would be unac'
companied by exhaustion of the total
amount of coal in the ground, Wiscon'
sin would then set very great value
upon her coal supply. That value
would not be so much as was the
known worth of her timber resources;
nor again would it be so great as that
of her present agricultural glories
But it would be at the same time
class of wealth, the value of which
would take eight figures to express.
It is the equivalent of just such
coal supply that Wisconsin possesses il
the energy of her falling waters, de
veloped and undeveloped. Few, ever
of those who talk most glowingly oil
the water powers of Wisconsin, take
the trouble to interpret their values
in terms of the quantities of coal which
they will eventually be made to re
place.
To produce a single horsepower
from steam, for an hour, calls for the
burning, on the average Of four pounds
of fuel. To keep up the production
of the single horsepower for a full
day Of "a hours, would call for the
burning Of So pounds Of coal. To keeI
the work up for the 365 days of the
year would, consequently, use up g.
soft coal pile of about seventeen and
half tons.
There are no accurate measurements
Of the powers of all the rivers in this
state. Roughly, their energy is esti
mated to aggregate 100000 horse
power. That is to say, if suitable
dams and power stations were to be
erected at every favorable spot, or
every Wisconsin creek and river whose
waters tumble from the highlands OF
It's source to it's junction with another
and larger stream or to an outlet In
the Great Lakes or the Mississippi
the sum total Of all the developments
would be equal to million and hall
horse power produced by steam. TIC
make the steam necessary to produce
SO much power by the use of steam
boilers would require 100000 times
seventeen and half tons of coal, OF
25,500,000 tons in the year.
To build and set up the furnaces and
boilers necessary to burn all this coal
and make as much power as is contain
ed in the falling waters of the Wiscon
sin rivers would cost fifteen millions
of dollars, at the very modest cost Of
$40. per horse power.
These figures give one a general idea
of the immensely of the power contain
ed in the rivers of Wisconsin, although
the mere fact that SO much power is
present doesn't set 1t all at work. That
takes large investments of money as
we'll as the presence of the undevelop-
ed powers.
Wisconsin has a peculiar layout as
water power state. In practically
every other section of the United
States there is just about so much
slope to each of the rivers draining
the particular territories. Except In
the mountainous regions the slopes
are not abrupt, but regular and gradual
from the highlands to the creeks and
rivers and along them again to the
lakes and the sea.
This is only partly true in Wiscon-
sin. For instance, there is a high
ridge along the northern part OF the
state, only 80 miles from Lake SUI
perior, that limits the drainage into
Lake Superior to the narrow 30-mila
belt between the height Of land and
the lake. This ridge is from 500 ia