X 



NIAGARA IN HARNESS 



"TTJTARNESSING NIAGARA'' the phrase has 

 been a commonplace for a generation; but 



* until very recently indeed it was nothing more 

 than a phrase. Almost since the time when the Falls 

 were first viewed by a white man the idea of utilizing 

 their powers has been dreamed of. But until our own 

 day until the last decade science had not shown 

 a way in which the great current could be economically 

 shackled. A few puny mill-wheels have indeed re- 

 volved for thirty years or so, but these were of no 

 greater significance than the thousands of others driven 

 by mountain streams or by the currents of ordinary 

 rivers. But about a decade ago the engineering skill of 

 the world was placed in commission, and to-day Niagara 

 is fairly in harness. 



If you have ever seen Niagara and who has not seen 

 it? you must have been struck with the metamor- 

 phosis that comes over the stream about half a mile 

 above the falls. Above this point the river flows with 

 a smooth sluggish current. Only fifteen feet have the 

 waters sunk in their placid flowing since they left Lake 

 Erie. But now in the course of half a mile they are 

 pitched down more than two hundred feet. If you 

 follow the stream toward this decline you shall see it 



