258 Musings by Catnp-Fire and Wayside 



It is perfectly surprising to walk through those 

 enormous mills, thunderous with the blows of the 

 stamps, and perhaps not see a human being; and 

 to see those separators — which are Fourdrinier 

 paper-machines slightly adapted to a new use — 

 working away, six lines of them occupying acres of 

 space, with nobody to regulate them. Yes, step- 

 ping around a corner one will see a man quietly 

 walking about with an oiler in his hand. 



A large amount of power is required to do all 

 this heavy work. If it were derived from steam 

 the Treadwell mine would be less of a financial 

 success. But one can see a surplus of unused 

 energy leaping down the mountain-side in a water- 

 fall — not a small one. 



Pressure of one hundred and seventy pounds to 

 the square inch is delivered to the turbines, which 

 furnish the force to drive the drills, lift the stamps, 

 and illuminate the whole work with electric light. 

 By the way, I see that the new water-motor put in 

 at Snoqualmie Falls is pronounced a success. As I 

 explained, the motor is a pair of interlocked turn- 

 stiles inclosed in a box. Each one of the pair 

 weighs twelve tons. ■ They are so closely fitted to 

 each other and to the inclosing steel box that 

 almost no water is allowed to pass without sur- 

 rendering its energy. I had my doubts about the 

 practicability of the invention. I could not see 

 why the pressure would not be as great against the 

 advancing as against the receding blade; and I 



