WATER POWEliS <)\ MKKSKV RIVER, N. S. — VOHSTON. G59 



Mcrscii If i/tlraiihc Cnni jxaiij. 



Tlio Mersey llydniiilic ('uinpaiiy is a roiiipaiiv iiicnrjinr- 

 atcil ill rile year l".M»i'. ami tnriiieil for the jmrposc of inipi'oviiio- 

 the \vater-])o\vci's on the Mersey rixcr. It is iiiveii jiower in its 

 act to ae(|iiire la. ids aroinul the lakes, to hnild dams, etc, and 

 to st()re water in the lakes on the Mersey river for the purpose 

 of nsi'ng it or selling it for power purposes, or for other uses. 

 The company has, since incorjioration, exjiended in the vicinity 

 of $i'(l,()(M) ill aecpiiring flowage lands, Imilding dams, etc., hut 

 for some reason unknown to the writer, the (hims for flowage 

 are in an incom]>k^te state, and accordingly, it is nnahle at 

 pn^sent to give anything like the increase of ])o\ver that might 

 1)0 got. A small exjiemliture of not over $5,()0it wonld snthce 

 to do all the necessary work to enable it to store 

 water ()V(>r an exti'enudy large area, and when I say 

 that the completion of one dam will store watcM' in 

 tlu'ee lakes aggregating -I'l stpiare miles in ai'ea and 

 a depth of six fcH't, it will readily be seen what large 

 increases of power may he got from storage, l^esides, water 

 can readily he stored in other lakes if it is Avanted. The effort 

 nnide so far hy the Mersey Ilydranlic ('om])any to inci'ease 

 the power on the river from storage, has not been an u'ncpnUified 

 success, and the writer cannot explain why this is so. I think, 

 however, it nnist he admitted that the jiossiliilities of iiiqirove- 

 ment are there, and some change in the nnmagement ( r imlicy 

 of the company mav he arrived at that will lieneht ami give 

 satisfaction to all the ojiei-ators on the river. T have heard it 

 advocated that the government should take control of the situa- 

 tion, hut that, to my mind, would nr)t he the solution of the 

 ditiicnlty. The great object, first of all. is to get more mills 

 in ojieration, and when once you have nuu-e owners of factories 

 looking for the maximum continuous power to o])erate their 

 mills, then you will have a hoard of control that will either 

 dictate to the Mersey Hydraulic Com])any or merji'e itself into 



