NIAGARA IN HARNESS 



computation it would appear that when the power- 

 houses now rapidly approaching completion are in full 

 operation, the total withdrawal of water from the 

 stream will represent a very appreciable fraction of its 

 entire bulk one-twenty-fifth at the very least, per- 

 haps as much as one-tenth. Such a diminution as this 

 will by no means ruin the Falls, yet it would seem as if it 

 must sensibly affect them, particularly at some places 

 near Goat Island, where the water flows at present in 

 a very shallow stream. Be that as it may, however, 

 the power-houses are there, and it is probable that their 

 number will be added to as years go on. Whether com- 

 mercialism or aestheticism will win in the end, it re- 

 mains for the legislators of the future to decide. 



Meanwhile, it is gratifying to reflect that for the 

 present the Falls retain their pristine beauty, even 

 though part of the water that is their normal due is 

 turned aside and made to do service for man in an- 

 other way. There is only one reason why the Falls have 

 escaped desecration so long as they have; that reason 

 being the very practical one that until quite recently 

 man has not known how to utilize their powers to ad- 

 vantage. The effort was indeed made, a full genera- 

 tion ago, through the construction of the canal leading 

 from the upper river to the bluffs overlooking the gorge 

 below the cataract. Here a few mill-wheels were set 

 whirling, and a tiny fraction of the potential energy of 

 the water was utilized. There was no mechanical 

 difficulty involved in the utilization of this power. 

 Mill-wheels are a familiar old-time device, and even the 

 turbine wheel is modern only in a relative sense of the 

 VOL. VL 13 [ 193 ] 



