XVI 



THE ROMANCE OF THE BARRAGE 



FOR many centuries water-power has been 

 neglected, and it is only since coal rose so 

 considerably in price, that the various 

 nations of the world are turning more and 

 more to what is often called, fantastically 

 perhaps, " White coal ". 



There are, however, other uses for water- 

 power besides the generation of electricity. 

 Long before electricity had taken the firm 

 hold it has of modern enterprise, the bar- 

 rage was serving splendidly in various parts 

 of the world, and particularly in Egypt. 



Herodotus, some five centuries before 

 Christ, wrote these words " Egypt is a gift 

 of the Nile ". It would seem that Herodotus 

 lived in an age when something of the 

 present system of barrages must have been 

 in existence, perhaps on a greater scale, 



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