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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE INDUSTRIES OF NIAGAKA FALLS 



By RAYMOND H. ARNOT 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



-\TTOTWITHSTANDING the fact that the Niagara Falls region 

 -LN is chiefly celebrated by reason of its natural wonders, intel- 

 ligent people are gradually coming to understand that here are to 

 be found engineering works in the form of electrical-power develop- 

 ment plants which are unrivaled anywhere in the world, and electro- 

 chemical industries which are likely to grow of greater importance with 

 increasing knowledge of the electrochemical art. 



When ground was broken in 1890 for the installation of the first 

 great power plant at Niagara Falls, the engineers in charge of the 

 project regarded the development of even fifteen thousand horse-power 

 of electrical current with grave concern because at that time economical 

 transmission of electricity over long distances was deemed hardly prac- 

 ticable and because the possibilities in the field of electrochemistry had 

 been to only a slight extent foreseen. Except in the minds of a few, 

 therefore, the utilization of any large amount of water from the 

 Niagara Eiver for the generation of power was held to be an under- 

 taking of doubtful wisdom at best. 



However, within a comparatively short time after the determina- 



Ontario Power Company, Niagara Falls, Ontario. 



