Niagara Falls 



1895 HERSCHEL, CLEMENS. Niagara mill sites, water connections and 



Herschel turbines. (Cass., July, 1895. 8:227-250.) 



This is another article in Cassier's " Niagara Power Number." 



One of the present series of articles must evidently treat of the 

 power producing plant, and its installation, — two essential ele- 

 ments in the series of mechanisms that convert the flow of the 

 Niagara river over the Falls, into other forms of energy, — finally 

 represented by a revolving shaft in the factory, by the speeding 

 car in the street, or by other of its manifold forms of utility. 

 It is this part of the description of the manner of utilizing Niagara 

 Falls that is to fall to the lot of the present article. 



The standard American method of utilizing a large amount of 

 water-power, has hitherto been, to distribute the water to the 

 several consumers, or mill-owners, by means of a system of head- 

 races, so-called, with facilities for its discharge at a lower level, 

 to be utilized as the owner or lessee saw fit, and generally on his 

 own premises. This led to long head-canals, and to insignificant 

 tail-races, whereas, as we shall presently see, the Niagara plant 

 consists of a common tail-race, a mile and a half long, with com- 

 paratively insignificant head-races. The old-time water-power 

 company sold or leased the right to draw a definite quantity of 

 water, at defined times, with the privilege of discharging it at a 

 lower level, and the mill-owner did the rest; whereas, at Niagara 

 Falls, the right is leased to discharge a definite quantity of water 

 into the tail-race tunnel, with the privilege of drawing this quan- 

 tity from the head-canal, or from the river. But over and above 

 this the product, — power, — may be contracted for at Niagara 

 Falls, delivered on the shaft. 



To create a large group of mill-sites of the older sort, there 

 was necessary, in the first instance, a large continuous body of 

 land, properly located for the purpose. If this could not be 

 bought up secretly, and in large blocks, the whole water-power 

 enterprise would fail to come to fruition. In Europe, however, 

 several such enterprises came into being in spite of the inability 

 of the projectors to primarily buy tracts of land such as have 

 been described. This was done by establishing central power 



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