AIR AND WATER AS SERVANTS OF MAN 125 



column of water in the pipe is several times 33 feet the force 

 exerted on the blades of the turbine is as many times 1 5 pounds 

 to the square inch. This force is resolved into two factors, one 

 of which pushes the wheel around. Such a turbine wheel set 

 at the bottom of a waterfall with water filling the pipe as it 

 flows into its upper end at the top of the falls may develop a 

 tremendous horse-power. So they are using a part of the water 

 at Niagara Falls to develop power for manufacturing plants. 

 Every stream with a rapid current may be dammed, and the fall- 

 ing water be used in a similar way (Fig. 50, p. 126). In Switzer- 

 land the railroads are to be run entirely by electricity developed by 

 power plants that are to be operated by such means. The work 

 of installing the necessary turbines and power stations is proceed- 

 ing rapidly, and some sections of the lines are now operated by 

 electric locomotives. The Lake Ritom power-house receives the 

 water from a source far above the station. It is led in through 

 cement conduits and has a head of 2,580 feet, so giving a pressure 

 at the turbines of 1,150 pounds per square inch. Six turbines 

 are installed that yield 70,000 horse-power. 



Some of our own transcontinental lines are using electric 

 locomotives in the mountain sections, the power being furnished 

 by hydroelectric plants, and are finding that they can haul the 

 trains more rapidly and more economically. About 20 per cent 

 of the freight-hauling capacity of our railroads is now used in 

 distributing the fuel needed to supply their engines, while another 

 10 per cent is used in hauling the coal in the engine tenders. 

 Electrification would save this wastage. 



The utilization of our water power white coal, it has been 

 aptly termed will relieve greatly the demand made now on our 

 fuel supply. It is estimated by the United States Department 

 of the Interior that we have in this country an available water 

 supply of 60,000,000 horse-power, and that of this we are now 

 using some 10,000,000 horse-power, thus saving annually about 

 33,000,000 tons of coal. Some of the states are very fortunate 

 in possessing many streams with precipitous descents notably 



