The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-11-30

the long heavy shafting reaching
thru two or three stories of an
ordinary building never vibrates,
but runs with hum that seems as
steady as the rays of the sun. It
generates 1850 horse power, or
the normal strength Of string of
horses working two abreast on a
road twelve miles long. Or, putting it
in the form of the horse power form
erly used to operate threshers and
other machinery, it would equal the
normal strength of ring of horses,
working two abreast on a track four
miles across and twelve miles
around.
| This generator is so finely built
and so finely adjusted, that If it
were disconnected from all resist
ence and the water shut off when it
was running at normal speed, it
would continue to spin for about ten
hours before it came to a standstill.
The foundations were 30 care
fully laid and the bottom plate in
the mechanism so finely leveled,
that corps of mechanics and en-
gineers worked week at the level
ing alone. They used instruments
that recorded variation of one
ten-thOusandth of an inch, and the
effect Of the temperature on the in
struments at morning, noon and
evening was averaged by testing one
set of measurements against an
other at all the different times of
the day from sunrise till sunset.
Once when mechanic was holding
an instrument on the polished steel
plate at the pencil mark, and an en-
gineer took his position to peep into
the instrument to judge of the fine
ness Of the situation, the mechanic
had purposely laid piece of a
cigarette paper under the instru-
ment, and when the engineer gazed
at the bead he looked around in
alarm to see what had gone wrong.
While he was looking, the mechanic
blew his breath to carry the paper
from under the instrument, rested it
again and when the engineer looked
at the bead again, the look of alarm
disappeared and then the mechanic
contided to him what he had done.
The penstock and tunnel connect
ing this water wheel with the silent
waters above the dam are about
1900 feet long and have a perpendi-
cular height of 220 feet. At the
outlet where the water leaves the
wheel, the shape of the water course
is scientifically the most perfect
that could be made, to lead the
water away without resistance that
might back it up against the blades
and thus reduce the net amount of
power. The engineers have found
that when water is poured on a fiat
surface it splashes or rebounds
somewhat. When they pour it on
the side Of an inverted funnel, it
rushes away with but little resist
ence and without any bouncing back
without any of the whirl that ir-
rigators generally have at the lower
end of fume or headgate. So, in
building the part of the watercourse
that receives and drains it away
from the lower side of the wheel,
they build it the shape of cone or
inverted funnel, smooth, slick, and
indestructable, and the water pours
thru the wheel on the surface that
shoots it away from the wheel with
out any rebound. The. tunnel that
leads the water down thru the cliff
to the penstock is plastered with
cement and finished off slick like
the pavement that is so slick that we
slip Aup. on it whenever it is wet.
Everything combines to make the
greatest possible pressure at the
blades of the wheel and the least
possible friction at all points above
and below it. e.s al
To be continued.
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Try This on Your Vocal Organs
n. II 4 n A