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Show nr , r , p r ? . ' e . S T f . . E IIow Niagara Would Look with the Falls "Turned Off." Twice a Day, It Is Suggested, the Cataract Could Be "Turned On" for the Benefit of Sightseers Who Would Congregate in a Large Amphitheatre or Pavilion to Be Erected at an Advantageous Point, as Shown at the Right of the Drawing. After the Exhibition the Falls Could Be "Turned Off Again and Their Full Energy Utilized for Power Purposes. Modern Efficiency Experts Suggest a Plan for "Turning on" Niagara Twice a Day for Sight-Seers and "Turning It Off" tfie Rest of the Twenty-four Flours for Power SEVERELY practical engineers have long lamented the tremendous waste involved in preserving the Bcenlc features of Niagara Falls instead of utilizing to the full the vast energy ; available for industrial purposes. It Is estimated es-timated that this loss amounts to no less than $150,000,000 a year and that as about 1,000,000 people view the Falls annually, it is costing society about $150 per visitor to maintain the Falls in their natural majesty. On the other hand, lovers of nature have viewed with consternation the repeated re-peated efforts of modern engineers to desecrate the Falls and have condemned the various franchises which have been awarded to power companies at different times. These corporate vandals, it is claimed, have already been given too much leeway and strong efforts have been made through legislation and international interna-tional treaty to put a. stop once and for all to the further despoliation of nature's ' most majestic masterpiece. A novel suggestion has recently been made, however, which if carried into effect, ef-fect, may secure for industrial purposes every ounce of power represented in the great Falls, and. at the same time, preserve pre-serve their natural beauty intact. This suggestion is made by a writer in the representative engineering journal jour-nal "Engineering and Contracting," who Proposes that the great volume of water be "turned on" to the full for the benefit bene-fit of sight-seers for a brief period or periods every day, and be diverted into the thirsty throats of the power plants the remainder of the time. In other w-ords. instead of maintaining maintain-ing Niagara as a continuous performance, an at present, this writer suggests con-Verting con-Verting it into a two-or-three-pei'Eorni-aneesa-day proposition. "In round numbers," he declares. "3,000.000 horse-power of energy fiow-s to waste at Niagara. At least it would be called waste were it not for the fact that about 1,000,000 people view it annually. an-nually. This great natural moving picture pic-ture costs society the value of three annual an-nual horse-power per 'seat' at the show. If, then, we ascertain the value of a horse-power of waterpower we shall know what it costs society to furnish each visitant visi-tant one good look at Niagara Falls. "Appraisals of waterpower values have ranged from nil to more than $150 per horse-power. Without going into a careful care-ful calculation it may be conservatively estimated that Niagara Falls power is worth to society fully $50 per horse-power per annum. It follows, then, that each observer is Indebted to society for $150 every time he visits the great Falls. "Might not the million annual visitors to this greatest of cataracts secure their thrills at less than $150 per look? Could it not be arranged that for, say, one hour each day the entire volume of water he allowed to flow over the great brink, and for the remaining twenty-three hours let it run through shafts and tunnels upon turbines? This would brins the cost of a look at the Falls down to about $7 the price of three theatre tickets instead of the price of six suits of clothes. ''Hut, some one may urge, who would come hundreds of miles just for one hour's pleasure? Do this thing that you propose and the audience will stay away. Hardly, for the gorge itself is a royal vision at all times, and then if there be those who insist upon a continuous performance per-formance of the Falls themselves, why not give it to them in a grand amphitheatre amphi-theatre where a screen 100 feet long would picture the 'roaring waters' in all save the roar. "Jesting aside, it is a very high price, a price unnecessarily high, that Canada and America are paying for trips to Niagara Falls. Let us have a little real social engineering brought to bear on this esthetic-economic problem and we Diagram Showing the Relative Heig-and Heig-and the Drop of Their Water Over - Makes It Possible for Modern Hv to Develop No Less Than 7,000,0 Niagara's Torrent If Fully Karnes shall, without doubt, find a way to utilize nearly all the power now wasted at Niagara, yet not deprive mankind of its heritage of beauty and grandeur." If this plan were worked out, the Falls would be "turned on" for one hour at 10 a. m., for instance, and there would be another "performance" of an hour's duration, dura-tion, perhaps, at 2 p. m. This would make it necessary for all the visitors to be on hand at these specified hours and would undoubtedly result in more or less dangerous dan-gerous congestion at the more desirable view-points. If everyone endeavored to be at the one best spot at the same time serious accidents would inevitably result. To met this danger, it has been suggested sug-gested that a vast pavilion or amphitheatre amphi-theatre might be erected on the American Ameri-can side of the Falls at a desirable point to accommodate a vast throng of sightseers sight-seers and enable them all to get the most out of their precious hour of inspiration without sacrificing their lives or limbs. When the hour was up the power plants would be given their innings. The mechanism mech-anism of the huge turbines would be brought into play through the diversion of the giant stream at a hundred different differ-ent points before it reached the crest of the Falls. What a horrible transformation w-onld take place! Suddenly, as if by the touch of a magic wand, the vast cataract would be converted into an insignificant, trickle and in place of the majestic torrent with its ear-splitting roar, the lingering sightseers sight-seers would behold a bald rocky height as silent as a secluded mountain top: Tiie offended eyes of the beholders Cspvrigin, 1316, by the Star Coed - - , ? - ' ."m. r s i ' i, .,.. - , ' ' S s - I ' ' . r ' " , - I ' : . . " ...... i .si--"-'..-;. --v-, , ...r ;;;-. Xk- - ';.';:- ' ; - ,. , . . , . 1 ."- 'A n . ;; -. t . j it. . F - ' . , , 5 .". . ... ' , t'"-,.-'.i!i ."i.-.& : . . - : ' v. - ... . -.-'- , . .-v ' I'" I A?WE SEA ABOVE SKA ATOrE 5EA. ' I E7L iEV'EL NIAGARA 601 Feot 581 Feet. 581 Feet ,,J?1li'st, I I I "! ST LEVCL.573 I P..t.. v-i.-i'4 ABOVE SEA i lake mm ir I T UAKE TOv-tx i IEVE-24:7 lF-" SUPERIOR j;iii:;;;lMICHISAN;;i:i:::fHURON BiliiA BEEP fWjSiiB DEEP :i:p:::J DEEP iN;l;::;ii;;;ll;ii!!;l:;! "' . I LAVJiFTICE i iiiiii: w mmmms i y iiliiiiliINi ihiiiilliiiJ :s:R:'RiVR:T::-::;----r "vt """""(";"? .'it """r?T"T "si"- L - . . 1 "fm hts of the Great Lakes the Niagara Falls That Iro-EIeelrical Engineers 00 Horse Power from sed. would eagerly turn to the huge moving pictures of the Falls, which, it is suggested, would be exhibited ex-hibited in the ravilion as soon as the cataract was turned off. With the roar of the torrent itself still ringing in their ears the spectators lr ' V Tl s . . - I i 1 i - ' .A ' v " s t - Y i i 4 ... ,.i : y ; 4 . ! Pi' J r : rr' Nl " -ill -jTr One of the Huge Turbines by Means of Which Niagara's Power Is Converted Into Electricity for Lighting, Heating and Power Plants. would be asked to turn their heads awp.y from the barren rocks to gaze upon the screen portraying, graphically but, silently, si-lently, the glory which had departed. This plan is quite feasible. Niagara can be chained. Part of its mighty flow has already been diverted into private power plants and is now providine light, heat and power for consumers within a radius of some thirty miles. These diversions have re.-ultcd in a more or less serious dc-ireciation of the volume of water now tumbling over tho brink and have been bitterly condemned by those who believe it is far more important im-portant to mnJntih the grandeur of Niagara Ni-agara i:ni:Siiired than to earn dividends for private corporations. The new plan, however, need not necessarily nec-essarily a:d to the damage which has been dune to Xi:i-ara. On the re,;-,; rary, if provision -A cre matle for the temporary use of all of Niagara's power, it would end onrc and for all the repenteil applications appli-cations from private romppnSf? for the rih.i to divert part of the t'ow- permanently. permanent-ly. In other words, if pri'eate comnanies were ailcwel to use 0n 0( Niagara's rower for twenty-four hours a day, during any. Croat Britaia 'Usbts Resirvcd the other two hours the Falls might be allowed al-lowed to pursue their natural course In all their original splendor. In that way the flow would not be diminished piecemeal piece-meal by successive franchises as it has been during tiie past thirty years. The war over Niagara between the engineers, en-gineers, on the one hand, and lovers of nature on tho other, has been a long and bitter one. The power possibilities of Niagara Fails have beep, recognized for more than two hundred years. A primitive sawmill was operated by waterpower derived from the Falls as far bark as 1704. A hundred years later a grist mill and blacksmith Fbop were erected and similarly oper. atPd. It was not until the late eighties, how-ever, how-ever, v.heti hydro-electrical power development de-velopment became an important engineering engi-neering factor, that the capitalists began to cast hungry glances toward Niagara. To forestall their plans to some extent, public spirited citizens pernred the passage pas-sage of a law by the New York Legislature Legisla-ture wherby the State aceuired 107 acres on the American side of the Falls to be set aside as a State reservation. The Falls in All Their Natural Glory. What a Transformation Would Take Place When They Were "Turned Off!" Suddenly. As if by the Touch of a Magic Wand, the Vast Cataract Would l!e Con-verted Into Insignificant Insignifi-cant Trickles and in IMace of the Majestic Ma-jestic Torrent with Its Ear-Splitting Roar, the Lingering Sight-Seers Would Behold the Scene Shown in the Drawing on the Left. Similar efforts resulted in Ontario purchasing pur-chasing 154 acres on the Canadian side, which were established as Victoria Tark. . Within a year, however, both New York and Ontario undid much of their good work by granting franchises to various power companies, allowing them to divert part of the flow. A New York corporation corpora-tion was given the right to divert enough water from tho Falls to develop 120,000 horse-power. This corporation invested a lot of money In tho project, and It took ten years before its plant was completed. The work involved building a tunnel 7,4X1 feet long, twenty-one feet high and eighteen feet in width. It was lined with more than Ifi.onn.ono bricks. It was driven through solid rock, of which 300,000 tons had to be removed. In the meantime, no less than nine other corporations had been granted similar simi-lar rights, four American corporations and six Canadian. It was anxiously pointed out. by those who considered the preservation of the scenic features of the Falls of paramount importance that if all theso companies were to develop their plants to the. ca- pacify specifier! n their franchises nearly 40 per cent of the effective flow of Niagara Niag-ara Falls would be diverted enough to reduce the American Falls to a bare cliff. To prevent this national calamity, Con-jrress Con-jrress was appealed to and a law was passed, known as the IJurt.on net. which limited the extent to wbirh private companies com-panies should he permitted to use the Falls, and prescribed tho maximum amount of power which mibt be Imported Import-ed from Canada, pending the exer-mlnn of a treaty between this country and Canada covering the situation. TMis treaty was passed in 1010 and is still in effect. To put the new plan into execution would no doubt involve International negotiation. ne-gotiation. It might be necessary to pass Federal laws to govern the situation. If, however, practically nil of Niagara's vast power could be made available, as suggested, sug-gested, without seriously menacing the natural wonders or the calnrart, perhaps such changes in the existing arrangements arrange-ments might readily enough be acceded acced-ed to. |
