ueur 



Industrial Niagara 



direction great masses of iron and steel obedient to the turn of a 1894 

 switch, made a combination of impressive effects not quickly " 

 forgotten. 



It may be mentioned that, to withstand the very considerable 

 hydraulic pressure at the lower part of the penstocks, these tubes 

 are built of thicker and thicker plates from the top downward. 



There has been very little criticism of the mechanical details 

 of construction so far referred to; on the contrary, very little can 

 be said except in praise of the fertility of resource and high gen- 

 eral competence of the engineers who have had this work in hand. 

 With regard, however, to the particular design of the generators 

 from an electrical rather than a mechanical standpoint much and 

 lavish criticism, if not condemnation, has appeared in various 

 quarters. Whether the grounds for this criticism are well founded 

 or not it would be presumptuous at this time to attempt to declare, 

 but we may say that where, as in this case, one man has had 

 practically the entire control of the design of the electrical 

 apparatus, we may usually look for, rather than be surprised at, 

 a great amount of setting up of individual opinion against the 

 views which he may embody in practice, often a good deal irre- 

 spective of the probably cogent reasons which may have induced 

 him to adopt the course in question. 



Without attempting to decide between the various views which 

 are plentifully to hand in criticism of certain electrical details in 

 the design and proposed method of utilizing the current of the 

 generators, we may glance at what has been decided on, and 

 review the more important points raised in connection therewith. 



In the first place, the use of an alternating as opposed to a 

 direct current was decided on, as was to have been expected. 

 The development within the last year or two of alternating- 

 current motors has rendered possible the distribution of electricity 

 for power (as opposed to lighting) purposes over distances before 

 almost out of the question. It has been for a number of years 

 past possible to transmit large quantities of electrical energy for 



955 



