Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-06
THE SECRET z
Is After You. =
Its Leader Holds :
The GREAT SECRET I.
CD Watch
. this Space
-

. colonial time of the early days of
the Commonwealth have become the
great manufacturing and commercial
centers of today. The factories of
Lawrence, Lowell, Holyoke, and many
81 al1er cities still utilize water power
as their principal source of energy,
although in some mills the power OBJ
to ined from the rivers is supplemented
kby steam. s.f-
In our days it is no longer necessary
to use the power at the place where
i: is generated By electric trans
mission the power developed on Con-
necticut River near Brattleboro, VT,
and on eDeerf1eld River in Ma ssacl1u-
sets and Vermont Is now utilized to
supplement the steam and water pow
er in many cities and towns of Mas
sachusetts, and many small hydro
electric plants supply nearby cities
and towns with power. Another inn
rortant change in the use of power Is
seen in the electric light and the cleo
trio railroad, which have revolution
IZcd lighting and transportation in the
cities and towns.
The interest of the people in the
power resources of the state and COM
munity, great and intimate as 1t was
IN colonial times, is still greater and
more intimate today, a fact that is
recognized in the large measure of
cfsed by the Commonwealth and by
municipalities. AS Director George
Otis Smith, of the United States Geo
logical Survey, Department of the In
terror, has stated, THE most notable
sign of the times is the general ac-
ceptance of the principle of public
cCntrol.'
Still another phase of the public
utilization of water resources that is
OF Immediate interest to all the people
IS the use of rivers as sources of pub
lie water, supplies for cities and towns
and the necessity for conserving -
supply and protecting the quality in
order that the individual may at all
times have sufficient potable water
The construction of a water supply
,sy stem for the metropolitan district
including Boston and the nearb-by ci-
ties is reckoned among the engineer
ing tgiumphs of modern times, and the
protection afforded to the municipal
water supply by the Massac husetts
Board of Health has served as a mod
ell for other states.
Z. In accordance with the tendency of
the times many uses of water are now
declared to be public uses and placed
Under public control. In January. 1916,
the United States Supreme Court rem
dered a decision which defined pub
lie use. in the following words:
But to gather the streams from
waste and to draw from them energy,
labor without brains, and so 10 save
spared is to supply what. next to in
te1Iect. is the very foundation of all
our achievements and all our welfare.
If that purpose is not public we should
he at loss to say what is"
The public interest in this great ma
tural resource is therefore increasing
and as these changes take place a
knowledge of the quantity of water in
the streams and of the variations in
flow from season to season and year
to year becomes necessary To meet
this need and to provide a basis for
future studies of the water resources
Of the state, the United States Gee
logical Survey has issued as Water
Supply Paper AIS a report that in
cludes all available records of flow
OF streams in Massa chusetts- The
report includes the classic long time
records collected on the Merrimack at
Lowell and Lawrence, on the Con-
necticut at Holyoke. and on Lack Co
cfituate and Sudbury River by the
Metropolitan Water and Sewerage
Eoard, as well as records covering
shorter periods. In general the re-
port represents the results of studies
made under cooperative agreements
between the Director of the United
States Geological Survey and the Coy
ernor of the Commonwealth of Massa-
greenents authorized by
Federal and State legislation. AS
sistance in obtaining stream flow rec