Essex County herald. [volume], May 19, 1921, Image 6

About Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964

Image provided by: University of Vermont

                
I
THE TRIALS OF
Robert (i.$kerr(dl'
Ma
J f T
A HOUSEWIFE
,W .
How They Have Been Endured and How Overcome by
Lydia E. Pinkham's Vepta&Is Compound
Experience of a Providence Woman
x " -. V Ji n -
1 X
l :
1
HAT the Niagara river Is not yet
furnishing suflieient electrical ener
gy to meet existing requirements
is evidenced by the Queenston-
. Chippawa development now being
pushed to completion on the Ca
nadian side of the international
stream. As recently described in
the Scientific American, the plan
is to generate at the start 210,000
horsepower and, later on, 472,500
horsepower. Recognizing the prospective greater
demands for electricty in the course of the next
few years, the projects discussed in the current
issue are of timely interest. In the order of their
preference, they are first, a dam a few miles be
low the Fulls wJiich will make use of the full flow
of the river, and, second, an installation at Goat
Island which, of necessity, would have to absorb
waters that might diminish the hupresssiveness of
the present Falls.
So says the editor of the Scientific American In
an editorial note on an article in the Scientific
American with the title "Making the Most of Ni
agara." Kobert G. Skerrett furnishes both the
text and the diagrams herewith reproduced.
As everybody knows, Niagara Falls Is a natural
wonder of beauty and power over which the 'na
ture lovers and the commercial interests have
been fighting for years. The article follows:
The Niagara river will inevitably be utilized
more extensively than now for the development
of hydro-electric energy. The rush of those de
scending waters must be put to greater practical
service wherever feasible without seriously Impair
ing the scenic beauty of the Falls. Upon both
of the governments concerned the people are mak
ing Insistent demands for bigger blocks of power,
and the authorities are listening sympathetically
because of the logical promise of vast savings
through the corresponding non-use of coal. No
fewer than ten projects for water rights on the
Niagara river have been filed with the United
States federal power commission, and among them
are two that are sufficiently matured to warrant
discussion.
J'.oth of these contemplated hyro-electric propo
sitions may well be considered as a single co
ordinated system, for they have been conceived
and espoused by the same men, 1. e., T. Kennard
Thomson, C. E., of New York City, and Perer A.
Porter, of Niagara Falls. The dual project em
braces first, the boring of tunnels through the
massive foundation of Goat Island so that water
may be led through them to large turbo-generators
located near the river level on the down
stream end of the Island, and, next, the rearing
of a dam squnrely athwart the river at a point
4 2-3 miles below the Falls, thus submerging the
present Kapids. The Goat Island tunnels would
lie wholly on American territory, hut the dam
would stretch from shore to shore In the Gorge
and be international in character. However, the
citizens of this country would benefit by both of
these engineering undertakings.
According to the existing treaty arrangement
between the neighboring countries, it is not now
permissible to divert for power purposes above
Niagara Falls more than 50,000 cubic feet of wa
ter n second ; and for certain reasons the Ameri
can allotment of this is 20,000 cubic feet. It has
been proposed that the combined total be raised
to 80,000 cubic feet, and that each of the nations
share equally. In other words. Canada would
have 4,000 cubic feet more than Is the case today
while our volume of water would be doubled. If
the suggestion be adopted,' the problem will re
solve itself into governmental selection of such
of the proposed installations as would be apt
least to mar the great natural spectacle, while
giving the largest yields in energy and involving
the fewest engineering difficulties of a debatable
sort. The Goat Island scheme meets these desid
erata in many particulars, and makes instant ap
peal to us, inasmuch as It would be located on
our side of the river.
Goat Island would not have endured for ages
In the erosive sweep of the Niagara, but for the
fact that it Is an integral part of the massive
ledge there underlying the river, and this has a
very important bearing upon power development
, nt that point. From the crest to the base of the
Horseshoe falls is a drop of about 105 feet, but
the p'an Is to Increase this head to substantially
200 feet by lengthening Goat Island. From east
to west, along Its major axis, the Island is today
2.fioo feet long, but there Is nothing to prevent
extending It 0()0 feet by raising above the surface
of the river the slightly submereged area at the
vJtream end.
By doing this it would then be practicable to
drive the tunnels from water level to water level
Pf a moderate angle and so Insure a difference In
irop of about 200 feet between the intake and
the discbarge ports of the conduits. At the same
time, the bores' in their entirety could be cut
through solid rock. Each aqueduct, when finished
with a concrete lining, would have an Internal
diameter of 20 feet, and the descending waters led
by It would be capable of developing 100,000 horse
power through the medium of suitable turbo-generators.
As now projected, only two tunnels would
be excavated at the outset, furnishing 200,000
horsepower, but the physical conditions will ul
timately permit a larger number.
As can be seen from one of the opening page
Illustrations, In sinking the tunnels It would be a
relatively easy matter to rear cofferdams to hold
the river at bay during construction work; and
the only subaqueous excavating of rock would be
i,OTal.,;in.MlV..T mitt! '
t-AM ' '
ISTERCAN U3. CO.
that required for clearing out the forebay. To
screen the tunnel intakes from logs, Ice, etc., there
would be built an L-shaped reinforced concrete
wall, rising from the ledge of the river bed to a
sufficient height above the surface to divert float
ing objects into the currents sweeping onward
and over the two Falls. According to the engineer
ing estimates, two tunnels can be cut awl turbo
generators placed and made ready for service
within an interval of two and a half years.
Today, In the vicinity of Niagara Falls It costs
anywhere from $70 to ?100 to generate by steam
a horsepower year. If we strike an average, and
call the outlay $80 per annum, it should be mani
fest that an economy of .$120,000,000 in coal con
sumption may be effected while adding tremen
dously to the power available for industrial and
other purposes. If It be assumed that a horse
power year In the run of steam plants calls for
the burning of 8 tons of coal, then the substitu
tion of hydroelectric energy will save each twelve
months quite 12,000,000 tons of fuel which, other
wise, would have to be mined and transported
from the nearest fields, those in Pennsylvania.
It is pertinent to emphasize here that in Buffalo,
only about 25 miles distant from Niagara Falls,
a big public service electric company develops
two-thirds of its current at present by means of
steam, and it is obliged to So this because it cun
not obtain all of Its energy from the compara
tively near-by hydroelectric plants. Think of It,
there within a stone's throw, so to speak, of the
thunderous waters of the Falls, tlds concern has
to rely upon coal to generate 80,000 out of the
100,000 horsepower needed by its customers. Thir
ty years ago, the population of Buffalo was 250,
000 and is now 505,875, an increase of 198 per
cent in three decades. The city of Niagara Falls,
when incorporated in 18'J2, had a population of
about 10,000, and In the interval it has grown 000
per cent owing principally to the influence of the
availability of hundreds of thousands of horse
power in the form of electrical energy.
Indeed, electricity is playing its part throughout
a wide zone lying around Niagara Fulls the
primary source of power. Syracuse is drawing
current from that point, 100 miles away, and the
loss in transmission is less than 10 per cent at a
voltage of 00,000. Using a potential of 110,000
volts, the Cunadians are distributing current near
ly 250 miles; and by raising this pressure to 220,
000 volts, the radius of distribution could be
lengthened to 500 miles. Under existing condi
tions, the five pioneer companies located at the
Falls are developing 050,000 horsepower; and it
is a matter of common knowledge what this has
brought about in the realm of electrochemical in
dustries. Visualize, then, what momentous evolu
tions in our productive capacity would be made
possible if a million and a half more of motive
current were at hand!
Four years ago, la the State of New York alone,
the power requirements totaled something more
than 3,000,000 horsepower, and the demand "was
then Increasing under normal circumstances at
the rate of 300,000 horsepower each twelve-month.
Therefore, if the Goat island project were pushed
to completion, and equipped to provide a maxi
mum of 1,500,000 horsepower, there would be a
market for every kilowatt-hour of Its output with
in the span of a comparatively short while. It
should be recognized, however, that this seheme
would, of necessity, divert water frbm the Falls,
and, according to the measure of this diversion,
affect the volume and possibly the scenic grandeur
of the cataracts. For this reason the proponents
of this enterprise do not urge Its adoption first,
but advocate, Instead, the construction of the dam
farther down the river.
As an engineering undertaking, the dam pro
posed at Foster's Flats, a little less than five
miles below the Falls, would be a much more am
bitious enterprise, and would permit of the devel
opment of 2,OfX),000 horsepower of electrical en
ergy. The plon Is to take advantage of the drop
of 102 feet In the river level between the foot
of the Falls and the site chosen by rearing a mass
ive structure from the base line to the crest of the
spillway. This burrler would raise the water level
within the Impounding area high enough to sub
merge the existing rapids and modify, at the same
time, the character of the Whirlpool by making
It larger and more Impressive. But the scenic
features of the Falls,
themselves, would not be
altered in any way.
At first blush, the mere
suggestion of building a
barrier athwart the Ni
agara river, with its min
imum flow of 220,000 cubic
feet of water per sec
ond, seems little short
of preposterous, knowing
that the ceaseless flood
must be allowed to pastf
steadily on while the proposed structure is in
course of erection. But nature is ready to lend
help which would make the execution of such a
project far easier than one might imagine offhand.
The walls of the gorge above Foster's Flats rise
sheer several hundred feet from the tideway, but
contiguous to the Flats the gorge is considerably
wider and on the Canadian side, especially, the
bank slopes at a comparatively easy gradient,
terminating near the river in a fairly expansive
low-lying area. At the same time, the river's path
is considerably narrower at that stretcli of its
run. Owing to this state of affairs, the Flats pre
sent a strategic base of operations from which to
start the rearing of a dam. That is to say, some
thing like 50 per cent of the contemplated struc
ture can be completed on dry land before any of
the work trespasses upon the present course of
the Niagara at that point. Let us be more spe
cific. As designed, the dam has a spread In cross sec
tion of about 650 feet at the base, and 30 feet or
more of this lower portion will reach below the
line of the riverbed and have its footing on the
underlying solid rock. With a total height of 140
feet, the dam will be of an extremely massive char
acter. The bottom section of the dam at least
that half of It that will rise from Foster's Flats
will be pierced by large temporary openings of
culverts, and channels will be dug to them on the
upstream side to serve as sluiceways for the en
tire volume of the Niagara when it become neces
sary to divert the river in order to bare the nor
mal bed for building purposes along the line of
the contemplated barrier. With this done, it will
then be a relatively easy engineering task to dam
the usual or natural water course to facilitate
excavating the rock and erecting that portion of
the dam that will terminate on the American
shore. When the dam Is finished, then the sluice
ways will be sealed and the waters Impounded
until they accumulate and carry the surface level
back from the crest of the dam to the very foot
of the Falls.
As most everyone knows, great quantities of Ice
are carried over the Falls and down the river dur
ing the winter and the breakup of that rigorous
season, and the Impact and the pressure of these
floes must be withstood by any rigid obstruction
rising in their path. Therefore, it is essential
that these stresses be minimized and that the
currents be free to carry the Ice onward with a
minimum of opposition while the bulk of the water
lx held In check. To this end, the dam will be
fashioned with long slopes on the up and he
down-stream sides.
The dam will serve the double purpose of Im
pounding the waters of the Niagara for a distance
of nearly five miles and of housing the great turbo
generators that will transform the force of those
waters Into 2,000,000 horsepower of electrical en
ergy. According to the estimates, this undertak
lng would Involve a total outlay of approximately
$100,000,000; and from start to finish would take
something like three years. On the basis of coal
consumption previously cited for the development
of a horsepower year, I. e., 8 tons, this scheme
would be tantamount to saving 10,000,000 tons of
that fuel annually. At $10 a ton this would repre
sent an economy of $100,000,000 every twelve
month. But quite apart from these considerations;
there would be that Inestimable gain In the mat
ter of electrical energy that could be utilized for
Innumerable Industrial purposes. Not only that,
motive Impulse at a moderate cost would be
available for domestic services of many sorts.
We have led the world In the varied character
and the magnitude of our electrochemical Indus
tries, and we can maintain our position In this
respect only by continuing to provide great blocks
of low-priced current to meet the Increasing de
mands for the commodities now manufactured at
or near Niagara Falls. Finally, let It be recalled
that the two projects might prove exceedingly val
uable sources of energy for that great superpower
zone which Is to embrace a far-flung section of
the states of our northeastern seaboard. Isn't It
worth our while to have at our disposal 3,500,000
horsepower without burning a single pound of
coal? Can we be Indifferent to undertaking
that will enable us to Increase vastly our produc
tiveness while cutting the fuel bill by hundreds
of millions of dollars yearly?
f lliif i ill
1 -.
Providence, R. I. "I took Lydia
E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
for a female trouble and backache.
It began just after my baby was born,
and 1 did the best I could about get
ting my work done, but I had awful
bearing-down pains so I could not
stand on my feet. I read in the papers
about Lydia E. Pinkham 's Vegetable
Compound and the good it was doing
other women, and I have got dandy
results from it and will always rec
ommend it. You can use these facta
as a testimonial if you wish." Mrs.
Herbert L. Cassen, 18 Meni Court,
Providence, R. I.
Ohio woman for three years
could hardly keep about and
do her housework she was so ill.
Made well by Lydia E. Pink
ham's Vegetable Compound :
Fayette, O. ''For about threeyears
I was very nervous and had backache,
sideache, dragging-down pains, could
not sleen atniirht. end hnd nn nnnn.
tite. At times I could hardly do my housework. I got medicine from the
doctor but it did not help me. I saw Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
advertised in a newspaper and took it with good results, and am now able to
do my housework. I recommend your medicine to my friends and you may
publish my testimonial." Mrs. Chester A. Ball, R. 15, Fayette, Ohio.
An Illinois woman relates her experience :
Bloomington, 111. "I was never very strong and female trouble kept me
so weak I had no interest in my housework. I had such a backache I could
not cook a meal or sweep a room without raging with pain. Rubbing my
back with alcohol sometimes eased the pain for a few hours, but did not stop
it. I heard of Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, and six bottles of it
have made me as strong and healthy as any woman ; and I give my thanks to
it for my health." Mrs. J.A.McQuitty, 610 W.Walnut St, Bloomington, 111.
The conditions described by Mrs. Cassen, Mrs. Ball, and Mrs. McQuitty will
appeal to many women who struggle on with their daily tasks in just such con
ditionsin fact, it is said that the tragedy in the lives of some women is almost
beyond belief. Day in and day out they slave in their homes for their families
and beside the daily routine of housework, often make clothes for them
selves and for their children, or work in their gardens, all the while suffering
from those awful bearing-down pains, backache, headaches, nervousness, the
blues, and troubles which sap the very foundation of life until there comes a
time when nature gives out and an operation seems inevitable. If such
women would only profit by the experience of these three women, and remem
ber that Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound is the natural restorative
for such conditions it may save them years of suffering and unhappines3.
There is hardly a neighborhood in any town or hamlet in the United States
wherein some woman does not reside who has been restored to health by this
famous medicine. Therefore ask your neighbor, and you will find in a great
many cases that at some time or other she, too, has been benefited by taking it,
and will recommend it to you. For more than forty years this old-fashioned root
and herb medicine hasbeen restoring suffering women to health and strength.
Lydia E. Pinkham's Private Text-Book upon Ailments Pecu
liar to Women" will be sent to you free upon request. "Write
to The Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co., Lynn, Massachusetts.
This book contains valuable information.
festera Ckiaia Wets
.Health andWealfh
and has brought contentment and happiness to thou
sands of home seekers and their families who have
settled on her FREE homesteads or bought land at
attractive prices. They have established their own
homes and secured prosperity and independence.
in me great grain-pro wing sections ui me prairie
provinces there is still to be had on easy terms
Fertile Land at $ 15 to $30 an Acre
land similar to that which through many years
has yielded from 20 to 45 bushels of wheat
to the acre oats, barley and flax also in great
abundance, while raisins horses, cattle, sheep
and hngs is equally profitable. Hundreds of farm
ers in Western Canada have raised crops in a single
season worth more than the whole cost of their
land. Healthful climate, good neighbors, churches,
schools, rural telephone, excellent markets and
shipping facilities. The climate and soil offer
Inducements for almost every branch of
agriculture. The advantages for
Dairying, Mixed Farming
and Stock Raising
make a tremendous appeal to industrious set
tlers wishing to improve their circumstances.
For Illustrated literature, maps, description of farm
opportunities in Manitoba, haskatchewan. Alberta
and untuQ oiumoia, reauceo railway rates.
ate., write
' Mai 1 Bowlby, 13 Tremont SI., Bolton, Man.
C. A. laurler, Manchester St., Manchester, H. H.
L. R. Atteiln. Blddeford. Me.
Auihorlied Assnt. Dept. of Immigration
and Colonisation, Oomlnlon of Canada
Foolish Question.
Neighbor "Were you named after
your father?" Little I'.oy "Of course,
lie was born before I was."
A man's vife would never' know he
lind n temper If he didn't lose It
occasionally.
'Overstocked.
"Why Is It that pessimists seem to
have so much trouble?"
"Opltiinists never borrow any."
More than 4',i per cent of the world's
sailing tonnage is owned by the
United States.
fff In a
now size j
packagej
10 cigarettes for 10 cts
Handy and convenient; try
them. Dealers now carry
both sizes : 10 for 10 cts ;
20 for 20 cts.
It's Toasted
aa aasaQajeJ t
1