When the Chippawa to Queenston canal is completed, 

 which is expected to be some time in 1921, and the power 

 plant near the latter town is brought into operation, with 

 its normal capacity of generating 300,000 h.p. of hydro- 

 electric energy, the grand total will be about 750,000 h.p., 

 or an increase of two-thirds over the present supply. The 

 ultimate capacity of the Queenston plant is expected to 

 be about 650,000 h.p. The total available potential h.p. 

 on the Canadian side of the Niagara is conservatively 

 estimated at 1,500,000 h.p., thus allowing room for con- 

 siderable further development even after the Chippawa- 

 Queenston plant is developing its maximum. 



At Decew falls, on the Niagara escarpment, is a plant 

 of nearly 60,000 h.p. capacity, distributing electric energy 

 to Hamilton, Brantford and other towns in the western 

 part of the province. The development of hydro-electric 

 power on the Niagara river proper was started in a small 

 way in 1895. 



Lakes Ontario and Superior Tributaries 



On the Trent, which is the most important river 

 emptying into Lake Ontario, there is, according to the 

 latest figures available, 45,000 h.p. being developed be- 

 tween Balsam Lake, the highest point on the system, and 

 the town of Trenton, its outlet. 



In the upper part of the Ottawa Valley there are a 

 number of hydro-electric plants of more or less importance 

 in operation, the most important of which supplies power 

 to Cobalt and the mines in that part of the province. On 

 the Ottawa river proper, the most important development 

 is at the Chaudiere Falls, where 36,000 hydro-electric 

 h.p. are developed and distributed in the City of Ottawa 

 for power, electric light and street railway purposes. 



On the tributaries of the province running into Lake 

 Superior, there are being developed, according to the latest 

 available figures, about 25,000 h.p., the larger part of 

 which is utilized by the twin cities of Port Arthur and 

 Fort William for various purposes, while the balance is 

 distributed to the plant of the Algoma Steel Company, 

 the mines in the Michipicoten district, and other industrial 

 concerns. 



When the plant now in the course of construction on 

 the Nipigon river by the Provincial Hydro-Electric Com- 

 mission is completed, providing as it does for a present 

 supply of 25,000 h.p. and an ultimate of 75,000 h.p., the 

 developed power on the tributaries of Lake Superior will 

 at least be doubled in capacity. The Nipigon is the largest 

 of the rivers emptying into Lake Superior, and being forty 

 miles long, with a drop in that distance of 255 feet, and 

 Lake Nipigon with its 1,500 square miles as a source of 

 supply, obviously constitutes a valuable asset of hydro- 

 electric energy. 



Hydro-Electric Commission Operations 



The most important individual developer and dis- 

 tributor of hydro-electric energy in Ontario is the Provin- 

 cial Hydro-Electric Commission. This Commission came 

 into existence in June, 1906. The members are appointed 

 by the Provincial Government, but it works in connection 

 with the various municipalities to whom electric energy 

 is supplied. The bonds which the Commission from time 

 to time issue for the purpose of financing its various 

 enterprises are guaranteed by the municipalities concerned 

 and endorsed by the Government. 



The Commission began the construction of transmis- 

 sion lines in 1909, several hundred miles of which were 

 completed by the end of the following year. The original 

 supply of power was obtained from the Ontario Power 

 Company, one of the Niagara concerns, with whom a 

 thirty year contract was made. 



By August, 1914, the Commission was developing 

 and distributing 49,000 h.p. From that time onward, 

 owing to the demand for power from industries engaged 

 in the manufacture of munitions and other war material, 

 there was a steady and marked increase in the develop- 

 ment of power, the total reaching 151,000 h.p. by Novem- 

 ber, 1918. 



Twelve Distinct Systems 



To-day, the Hydro-Electric Commission has twelve 

 distinct systems developing power at various points in the 

 province, from the Niagara river on the south to Thunder 

 Bay on the north and from the Ottawa river in the east 

 to the Detroit rivar in the west, while the total amount 

 of power being distributed is 292,290 h.p., serving a popu- 

 lation of 1,419,220 out of a total of 2,550,453. 



The number of municipalities being served at the 

 end of 1919 were 181, of which 121 were within the terri- 

 tory of the Niagara system. Earnings, as per the con- 

 solidated operating account, were nearly $8,000,000, and 

 the surplus, less depreciation charges, nearly $500,000. 

 With the completion of the Chippawa-Queenston system, 

 the Commission will have invested in its various enter- 

 prises a total of about $100,000,000. 



The present capacity of the twelve systems being 

 operated by the Hydro-Electric Power Commission is 

 400,000 h.p., with an ultimate of 1,950,000, or almost 

 double the amount of hydro-electric energy now under 

 development in the province by public and private enter- 

 prises. 



Power for Domestic Purposes 



Hydro-electric energy for domestic heating purposes 

 is only used in a supplementary way, and for two par- 

 ticular reasons, the first being inadequacy of supply, 

 owing to the demand for power and lighting purposes, 

 and the second, that coal as a source of heat will always 

 be cheaper. 



When the fact is taken into account that even if all 

 the electric energy now being developed in the Dominion 

 could be utilized for heating purposes in the Province 

 of Ontario alone it would only provide the fuel equivalent 

 for one half of its population, it naturally follows that 

 before the homes of the provinces can reach the same 

 measure of independence in respect to foreign coal impor- 

 tation as is now enjoyed by its factories in respect to their 

 power requirements, it must turn its attention to the 

 development of Canadian coal resources in other provinces 

 of the Dominion. 



Canadian Silver Fox Industry 



The first silver-black fox exhibition to be 

 held in Canada was successfully conducted in 

 Montreal during November, under the auspices 

 of the Dominion Government Commission of 

 Conservation. More than five hundred entries 

 represented every section of Canada and many 

 parts of the United States. Thousands of 

 visitors, who daily viewed the valuable animals, 

 included connoisseurs from many lands, among 

 them a professor of entomology from the Im- 

 perial University of Sappora, Japan, in which 

 country the fox breeding industry is arriving at 

 an important status, having been built up upon 

 imported Canadian stock. 



With but two exceptions, the prize winners, 

 in every grade, came from the ranches of Prince 

 Edward Island, that home of the fox-breeding 

 industry which in every exhibition and sale 

 continues to maintain its place as first in the 

 domestic fur world. During the course of the 

 exhibition a sale of two animals, donated by 

 Prince Edward Island breeders, secured $1,400 

 for the McGill University Centenary campaign, 

 then in progress. 



Many bids were made for prize animals but 

 owners would not sell. 



12, 



