UTILIZATION OF WATER POWER AT NIAGARA FALLS. I 7 



Canadian capitalists organized the Canadian Niagara Power Co., 

 with the late Albert H. Shaw as President, and on April 7th, 1892 

 entered into an agreement with the Park Commissioners whereby 

 upon the payment of certain rentals such company was authorized 

 to develop one hundred twenty- five thousand horse power within 

 the park lands in their first power house. This agreement 

 was confirmed by the Ontario Legislature April 8th, 1892 and a 

 charter issued to the company. But in 1892 electrical generation 

 on a large scale was comparatively new and long distance trans- 

 mission was in its infancy. As a number of the same men were 

 interested in both The Niagara Falls Power Co. and the Canadian 

 Niagara Power Co. they desired to obtain the benefit of the expe- 

 rience to be gained from the. American plant before building the 

 costly structure required for their development. Accordingly a 

 new agreement was made with the Park Commissioners July 15th, 

 1899, and an extension of time secured for the beginning of power 

 development. The plan for utilizing the power is similar in gen- 

 eral principles to that of The Niagara Falls Power Co. The power 

 house will be situated at the foot of the slope forming the former 

 river bank and just below the old Carmalite Monastery and south 

 of the Falls View Station. To the power house thus beautifully 

 situated water will be conducted from the rapids by asymmetric 

 cally shaped canal spanned by a stone bridge of 5 — 50 foot arches. 

 The discharge water from the turbines will be conducted to the 

 lower river by a tunnel having the same horse-shoe form as the 

 American tunnel, but four feet greater depth. The most inter- 

 esting feature of the plant is the size of the units. The original 

 plans contemplated the use of 5000 H. P. machines, but it was 

 found that both the turbine designers and the electrical manufact- 

 urers were willing to undertake the building of units of double that 

 size, although nothing of the kind had ever been done successfully. 

 The advantages of the plan are evident as a reduction of nearly 

 50% is made in the length of the wheelpit, canal, and power house 

 per given amount of power development. The result of the de- 

 signers skill will be machines of monstrous size. Imagine if yoir 

 can, a single machine capable of generating 1V3 times the entire: 

 amount of electricity employed for all purposes at the late lamen- 

 ted Pan-American Exposition. A penstock 10' 2" diameter con- 

 ducts the water to a wheel case 13 feet diameter and 14 feet high, 

 discharging water through two Jonval type turbine wheels with 

 draft tubes, the total head being 136 feet. This monster when 

 fully loaded will use four times the quantity of water in a given 



