Out of this canal, head-races fitted with sluices conduct the
water to a number of wheel-pits 160 feet deep, which have been dug
near the edge of the canal, and communicate below with the tunnel.
At the bottom of each wheel-pit a 5000 horse-power Girard double
turbine is mounted on a vertical shaft, which drives a propeller
shaft rising to the surface of the ground; a dynamo of 5000 horse-
power is fixed on the top of this shaft, and so driven by it. The
upward pressure of the water is ingeniously contrived to relieve
the foundation of the weight of the turbine shaft and dynamo.
Twenty of these turbines, which are made by the I. P. Morris
Company of Philadelphia, from the designs of Messrs. Faesch and
Piccard, will be required to utilize the full capacity of the
tunnel.
The company possesses a strip of land extending two miles along
the shore; and in excavating the tunnel a coffer-dam was made with
the extracted rock, to keep the river from flooding the works.
This dam now forms part of a system by which a tract of land has
been reclaimed from the river. Part of it has already been
acquired by the Niagara Paper Pulp Company, which is building
gigantic factories, and will employ the tailrace or tunnel of the
Cataract Construction Company. Wharfs for the use of ships and
canal boats will also be constructed on this frontage. By land and
water the raw materials of the West will be conveyed to the
industrial town which is now coming into existence; grain from the
prairies of Illinois and Dakota; timber from the forests of
Michigan and Wisconsin; coal and copper from the mines of Lake
Superior; and what not. It is expected that one industry having a
seat there will attract others. Thus, the pulp mills will bring
the makers of paper wheels and barrels; the smelting of iron will
draw foundries and engine works; the electrical refining of copper
will lead to the establishment of wire-works, cable factories,
dynamo shops, and so on. Aluminum, too, promises to create an
important industry in the future. In the meantime, the Cataract
Construction Company is about to start an electrical factory of
its own, which will give employment to a large number of men. It
has also undertaken the water supply of the adjacent city of
Niagara Falls. The Cataract Electric Company of Buffalo has
obtained the exclusive right to use the electricity transmitted to
that city, and the line will be run in a subway. This underground
line will be more expensive to make than an overhead line, but it
will not require to be renewed every eight to fifteen years, and
it will not be liable to interruption from the heavy gales that
sweep across the lakes, or the weight of frozen sleet: moreover,
it will be more easily inspected, and quite safe for the public.
We should also add that, in addition to the contemplated duplicate
tunnel of 100,000 horse-power, the Cataract Construction Company
owns a concession for utilising 250,000 horse-power from the
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