ii 4 THE HOUSE AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 



just sufficient. There was no definite cataract in the river to supply a head or fall of water, so it was 

 necessary to adopt what is known as the low-pressure system, i.e., the turbine installed had to be of a 

 design that would work with a low head and a comparatively large quantity of water. In cases of this 

 sort the turbine is made something like the screw propeller of a ship, boxed in a special casing, through 

 which the water flows evenly. In cases where there is a high fall and the high-pressure system is 

 adopted, only a small quantity is required, and the turbine takes a form more or less like the old 

 mill-wheel, with jets of water impinging upon its blades. 



The fall available at Ardkinglas is twenty-two feet, and this was obtained by damming the stream 

 at a convenient spot and building the power-house five hundred feet further down the stream, the water 

 from above the dam being conveyed to the turbine in a twenty-four-inch riveted steel pipe. This pipe 

 is laid in the bank of the river, and is entirely covered and out of sight ; even the discharge pipe which 

 conveys the water back to the river-bed after it has given up its power to the turbine is covered with 

 boulders and water-worn stones. The illustration shows the dam, and it will be seen at once how 



142. THE DAM AND SALMON LADDKR. 



different it is in appearance from the usual structure that passes by that name. A long, sloping back 

 has been given to the dam wall, which has been filled in with boulders in such a way as to make it appear 

 part of the river-bed. The salmon ladder on the left consists of five or six basins in concrete and boulder, 

 which make a series of cascades perfectly natural in appearance and eminently suited to the purpose 

 for which they are designed. The photograph was taken when there was comparatively little water in 

 the river, and in such conditions salmon could without much difficulty get up the waterfall itself. The 

 value of the ladder arises when the river is in flood. The most ardent follower of the cult of the beautiful 

 can find nothing to complain of in the way a practical need has been met. 



We pass to the power-house shown in the first illustration. Sir Robert Lorimer has designed 

 and placed it as though it were a mediaeval fort or watch-tower guarding the entrance to the upper 

 glen. It is built in cement of smooth boulders from the river, is of two storeys, and its reinforced 

 concrete roof is flat and out of sight. 



The third illustration shows the interior of the power-house. The white glazed brick walls and wide 

 marble flags which form the flooring make the turbine and dynamo appear very compact in their position 



