[57] 
The Water Power of Texas. 
11 
Its flow is reasonably uniform and it has a fall of forty-three feet in its 
length of two miles. From the surface of Lake Comal (formed by the 
gravel dam) to the surface of Landaus mill pond, there is a fall of two 
feet; at Landaus mill a fall of twenty-two feet, developing 630-horse 
powers; from Landa’ s tail race to the surface of Clemens lake, a fall of 
three feet; a fall of eight feet at the Clemens dam, developing 275-horse 
powers, and from this dam to the Guadalupe there is a further fall of 
nearly ten feet. The flow was measured independently in 1882 by two 
civil engineers, by use of floats, and each found a discharge of 375 sec- 
ond-feet. From then until 1899 there was a gradual decrease of flow. 
Early in 1900, like all the sister springs of the Edwards Plateau, the 
how increased to its former strength of twenty years ago. 
The writer visited the Comal on December 25, 1900 (when it was cer- 
tain that the power plants would be idle), in order to get a measurement 
of the how that would be uninfluenced by the variations of the power 
required for different purposes. The sections selected were on the Land a 
race about hfty yards below the gravel dam, and on the Comal Springs 
creek 275 yards below the dam. The joint discharge was found to be 
374 second-feet, the full capacity of the springs. The how was again 
measured on December 26th, at the same section, while all mills were 
running, and a discharge of 373.6 second-feet was found. The level of 
the water in the race at the section selected was not affected by shutting 
off the power. About one mile below the junction of the Comal and 
Guadalupe there is an excellent location for a dam for power purposes. 
The how below the junction, with a dam twenty-two feet high, is suffi- 
cient to develop (with the usual efficiency) 750-horse powers. 
The Landa estate operates two separate plants, both taking their water 
from the same forebay. The first plant operates, the roller hour mills, 
the elevator, an ice factory, electric light plant, a waterworks pump, and 
it is intended to add a pump for irrigation purposes. The power is gen- 
erated by a 26-inch duplex horizontal Leffel turbine, with a head of 
twenty-two feet. The water is discharged into a race, 24 feet by 30 feet, 
cut through the west bank of the Dry Comal. The hour mill has a capac- 
ity of 3000 barrels per week, the elevator a storage capacity of 100,000 
bushels, and the ice factory twelve tons per day. The electric light plant 
furnishes light to the town and for the Landa works. It consists of two 
motors, of sixty kilowatts and thirty kilowatts, respectively. The power 
is transmitted from the turbine by manilla ropes. The elevator is oper- 
ated by a rope one and one-fourth inches in diameter; the ice factory by 
rope of the same size. The second plant consists of a horizontal Victor 
turbine, 30-inch, diameter. On the horizontal shaft of the turbine is 
mounted a pulley that transmits the power by manilla ropes one and 
three-fourths inches in diameter to the shaft of the big oil mill, which 
possesses a capacity of eighty-five tons of seed per day. The oil mill 
