HARNESSING NIAGARA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5409, 9 November 1895, Page 2

HARNESSING NIAGARA.

PARTICULARS OF A GREAT £NT£R_Pn!SE. [cOItRSBPONIX<JT " CANTERBURY HUtES."] London, ?op.t. 7. Several of the September umsmzines contain, articles and illustrations of the great engineering feat of utilising thq vast wator-power of Niagara, now n% length fluceeisfully actiMaylU^e-d. Casiiers do-vot-'a a tmrnptiiona spK: ; al «U'u> >*r m V.<(>. nubjoct, but Ejgiioiiuijti fiuil ii^uii.v ail | the information essential to EiiporScia.l j knowledge in Mr Goo. Forbeß's pay. t in ' BlacJcwooH. From the latter I herewith attaoh extracts : — ' ] TftE POWER OF TUB &AI.LH. ••' Mr Carter, of ?« T aw York, in n.-i rrVi'Tj j at the opening of ' Niagara "J?«irk som« time ! t O(jo, said theaense *iiiei». reejaundeJ to ite magnificent motion of the falls was the sen sa of power. "BaS few. pS'HfH 1 --. bavij any adequate jctaa of what tc« exieat of that power really is:—" Nearly 6ooo cubic milea of water, pourinc down from the npper lakes with 90,000 rqmre nnJcs ot reservoir area, reach tins k'oruje <.f the Niagara river nt a point wH"re sfca exlrewe width of one mile is hy islands niduocd Io two channels of only SSOOtt-. Lfure. iv l»«se than balf'a mile of rapids, tbi? Nis>g*ra river falls tilty-five fact, find then, wi\h a depth of sboat twenty foot k% the oresb of the Horse Shoe Fails, plungea 165ffc wore into the lower river. The civlitwy S<>* has been found to be about 275,000 cubic feet per second, and in its d&ily force tqual to the latent power of all the coal micsd in th&. world each day—so toothing raora than 200,000 tone." No wonder that the idea long since occurred to more than one observer to turn this groat force to useful purpose. MB EVERSHEP's PROPOSAL. Mr Forbes tells us that probably every engineer who ever visited the spot had been struck with the vast amount of power going to waste; but ba doubts whether its use could have been a commercial Buccses before the electrical art; had been so much developed, and ib was possible to distribute power, by ite' mesas for all kinds of purposes. One cf tb.9 firsb plane proposed was that of Mr EyersHed : — " His idea was to take in the water from the river by a long canal o mile or two above the Fall?/ Along, the 1 binki of tho canal mills ' were to be. placed, requiring power. At- each mill a. .holo or shafc was to be dusr in the gconnd to a depth of about lEOEfc. The bottoms of theshaf to were to be allconnecfeod by a long tunnel passing from them under the town at a gradual slope, and emerging at a tunnel mouth below the Fallo, on a level with the lower river. At each millsite a water-wheel or turbine was to be placed at the bottom of the pit, which would rotate a vertical steel shaft; coming to the surface. At the top this shaft; would, by means of cog-wheels or belts, turn the machinery of the will. la tbis way the canal was to bring water to the pit, and, having given up its power to the water-wheels, was to flow away by the tunnel in ho the lower river." Such a tunnel has been built, but the details of Mr Evershed's plans have been consider-. ably altered. FORMATION OF COMPANIES. ' In 1889 the Niagara Falls Power Company was formed by wealthy Americans, with a capital of £2,000,000, about half of which has now been spent. The Cataract Construction Company was at the same time formed by the same people to carry out tho actual work :— " All that they had then settled was that they would make the tunnel proposed by Evershed for carrying away the used water. They had not settled whether the mills should ba brought to the power, or the power to the- mill*". They nad no estimates of the cost. If power were to be distributed to mills and factories, they had no .notion whether it would be by means of air or water under pressure in pipes, or by wira ropes, or by electricity. Nono cf the acting committee were engineers, but they had fiith in 'the evolution of ideas which would culminate in succeeß." THE TUNNEL. ' There was some delay at first owing to the opposition manifested in distinguished quarters against; what is known as the " alternating currant" of electricity, which Mr Forbes championed, bnt ultimately it waß overcame, and the work was proceeded with. Mr Foibes thus describes the tunnel:— -"The tunnel ot which I spoke is 21ft high and 19ft broad, and is horseshoe-shaped. It was expected that no lining wonld be necessary, bub at the outset the roof tagan to fall in, and it bad to be lined with four cour.ea of bricks, increasing the cost largely and diminishing the capacity from 120,000 to 100,000 horso-power. The tunnel is 7000 ft long, mostly on a slops of 7ft in lOOOffe. At the month there is a smooth surface of iron for the water to run over smoothly. The level of tho water below the Fall varies a good deal. Sometimes it is far bslow the tunnel month, at other times it ia several feet above. The plan of having a separate shaft for a mill haa been adopted in only one case, the largest poper-mill in the country, where at present 3300 horse-power is being used." THE POWBR-HOIT6K. It is intended to supply a large proportion of power from a great power-bouse where electricity is generated : — " Within this building a slob, in lha ground, communicating with the tunnel, has been ex* eavated to a depth of ISOf t. It ia 20ft wide and some 150 ft long. Parallel with this slot thore is a canal of great width, taking in water from the river. From the canal to the slot there are water passages' from which iron pipea 7£ft diameter descend to the bottom of the slot*. At -the bottom of these the water passes into tho casing of the turbines, and in passing through these develops power to the extent of 5000 horse-power for each licit, tfbr«.e of these are in place. The power is given to a vertical shaft 2£ffc ia diameter except at the three bearings, where it is lobb. This steel shaft extends right up to the surface of the ground, and is attached at the top to the revolving part of the dynamo, which generates the electric current." The company has, besides its power on the American aide, acquired a j control of the rights on tho Canadian side, rendering the undertaking international in its character, and also in the benefits to be conferred. THE WORKS AT A GLANCE. Many of the details are of course of a technical character, bat a letter written by Mr Forbes from a email tower of observation at the Falls at the end of last year giveß a succinct account of the whole ocbeme, and may be quoted :— " Casting my eyeß up > the river, over the house-tops and beyond ' the town, I see anew world created. There | is a wide canal leading water from the river into that gigantic tower-house where three turbines are set up to drive three [ dynamos of 5000 horae-power each. There. i ia the bridge to carry cables across to the [ transformer house. Inside the towerI honse the water is carried down pipeß 7£ft diameter into the turbines, and. thence it passes through a7ooofb tunnel under the town, emerging below the Falls, the tunnel being capable of derelopinF 100,000 horsej power. Far as the eye can reach extend the ■ company's lands, with here and there a | huge faotory .either now using the water power, or waiting for the eleotrio supply. I One of them uses . 3300 horse-power, 1 another 300, a third one 1500, and that unfinished one requires 1000. You can see, far away, the model village for work- ! ing men, and improved sewage works with [drainage, pumps for water supply, electric i light, and well-paved streets.' There again ia the dook where ships from all parts of the Great Lakes can unload, and there a ; huge expanse of reclaimed land; while ■ the whole ia swept by the company's railI way, seven milei long, connecting every i faotory with the great trunk lines." , Since theae worda were written the machinery has been Bet to work. The directors have no present desire to send l the ourrenfc to great distances. They | think it will pay better to create a smokeless manufacturing town in the neighbourI hood. If required, Mr Forbes adds, the power could be tent much more than a hundred miles, and still be more economical' than steam, even though coal ia obVap tbsre. Th« work is a great

triumph of science, and it will doubtleß« intprrst; the world at large to know that Mr For bee, has "in hand the preparation of plana of schemes nearly an important."