WATER POWER AND ELECTRICITY. 



THREE GREAT FORCES. 



THERE is a great work to be done in the depart- 

 ment of water power and electricity during the 

 next few years, and the scene of its most active devel- 

 opment will be in the far West. Study the topog- 

 raphy of the western half of the continent, with its 

 mountains, valleys and streams, and it will be instantly 

 observed that, in comparison with all other sections? 

 this must be pre-eminently the field for expansion of 

 cheap power harnessed to electricity and applied to 

 the manifold uses of industrial and domestic life. 



Irrigation, water-power, electricity a trinity of 

 forces with potentialities of growth whose further 

 boundaries the wisest cannot locate, but whose tre- 

 mendous possibilities are vaguely apprehended by all 

 who appreciate the variety and extent of western 

 resources. It is believed that 1894 will see substantial 

 progress toward results in this field. THE AGE can 

 do much to point out the location, character and ex- 

 tent of water-power in the West, to indicate how they 

 can be utilized with the aid of modern appliances, 

 and to show the relation which exists between the 

 three great industrial factors, which nature and in- 

 rentive genius have placed in juxtaposition. 



WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 



A very vivid illustration of the possibilities of this 

 development is furnished in the following description, 

 from a reliable source, of what has been done at 

 Great Falls, Mont. : 



"At Black Eagle falls, three miles above the town, an 

 immense dam has been thrown across the Missouri, 

 and hydraulic works and power houses erected. Not 

 only are the street cars propelled and lighted by 

 electricity from the power-houses, but they are heated 

 as well by electric radiators placed in each car. 

 Elevators, printing-presses, cranes, and all kinds of 

 machinery are operated by the ubiquitous force. 

 There are automatic excavators, electric pumps, and 

 electric rock-crushers. A not uncommon sight on the 

 streets is a mortar-mixer attached to an electric wire 

 leading down from a pole. The restaurants cook by 

 electricity, the butcher employs it to chop his sausages 

 and hamburgher, and the grocer to grind his coffee, 

 and so likewise does the tailor to heat his goose. The 

 subtle fluid is a welcome blessing in every home; the 

 housewives run their sewing machines and heat their 

 flat-irons by electricity; they bake their cakes in 

 wooden electric cake-ovens that can be set away on 

 shelf like pasteboard boxes. They have electric 

 boilers and broilers and tea-kettles. What a singular 

 anomaly, when one pauses to think of it that of broil- 



ing steaks and heating flat-irons through the instru- 

 mentality of a waterfall!" 



COOKING BY ELECTRICITY. 



The feature of this, possessing the first interest to 

 the average household, is that which relates to the 

 furnishing of heat for domestic purposes. Everybody 

 is familiar now with electricity as applied to light and 

 power, but there is still reserved the sensation of eat- 

 ing a breakfast cooked by electricity in a room heated 

 by electricity. A recent demonstration in New Eng- 

 land is described as follows: 



"Think of an oven for this purpose so constructed 

 that, without fire or flame, by the turning of a regu- 

 lating switch, any desired degree of heat can be ob- 

 tained! Through a glass window in the door of the 

 electric oven, which is illuminated by an incandescent 

 lamp, the contents of the baking chamber can be clearly 

 seen. An attached thermometer gives the exact de- 

 gree of heat in the oven. Meantime the heat which is 

 generated close to the inner walls of the baking cham- 

 bers, is so insulated that the nickel-plated exterior of 

 the oven is not raised to a temperature sufficient to 

 burn the hand. With interest and profit can the en- 

 tire process of baking be watched and studied. Such 

 apparatus as this bids fair to make the study of cook- 

 ery a fascination and a delight. 



"The epicures who have delighted in the expiations 

 of Mr. Edward Atkinson over the merits of his "Alad- 

 din oven," and who have enjoyed even more, the prod- 

 ucts of the oven itself, will take a double measure of 

 joy when they know that the lamp used therein to 

 maintain a prolonged, mild heat, can have substituted 

 for it the economical, odorless electric generator, oper- 

 ated as easily and reliably as the familiar incandescent 

 lamp." 



UTAH IS ALIVE TO IT. 



Utah is abundantly blessed with water-power facili- 

 ties and the recent formation at Ogden of the Pioneer 

 Electric Power Company has created a widespread 

 interest. The company has a capital of $1,000,000. 

 Its objects, as set forth, are, the acquiring, storage and 

 utilization of the waters of Ogden river for the pur- 

 pose of deriving power therefrom, and the acquire- 

 ment of land and the use of water for irrigation; the 

 use of the power for manufacturing for railways, 

 heating, lighting, and other uses, either by electric 

 transmission or otherwise, the acquirement of fran- 

 chises in cities and towns to operate railway lines, 

 water and power plants, heating, lighting, etc.; the 

 business of operating said plants and the sale of power 

 to other corporations or individuals and the use of the 

 water for irrigation, domestic and other uses. 



41 



