WEALTH FROM WATER POWER

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2971, 8 January 1917, Page 10

WEALTH FROM WATER POWER

Describing tho great scheme for utilising tho falls of tho Winnipeg River, "Engineering" says Manitoba is to be congratulated on possessing a fine- property, presumably of easy development, and one'.that will stimulate tho prosecution of all industries that require cheap power. A contemplated expenditure of 25,000,000 dollars does not frighten a progressive colony. The compilers of this comprehensive survey have considered possible competition with other sources of power, and made careful comparison between the cost of hydro-electric power in "Winnipeg nnd that/of fuel poiver from othor sources, as steam, Diesel oil machines, and producer gas. . In comparison with fuel power, the electric appears cheap, but is still far dearer than in Norway, where electric energy is supplied at a total cost of .4 to 8 dollars per horsepower year, but is about tho same rate as at Niagara Falls. (.The price would probably prove prohibitive for the production of fertilisers, of which Manitoba may stand in need in a few years, but could probably bo successfully employed in tho manufacture of nitric acid, if the cost of transportation permitted such a, chemical process to be prosecuted. Finally, it is immaterial how cheaply electric energy can bo produced if there be no market for.it. In the last ten years tho population of Winnipeg lias more than doubled, there are no signs of a' pause- in progressive development, and, like other districts in Canada, that of AVinnipeg has shown great appreciation .of distributed mechanical power. In this respect the position of tho Dominion is a proud one. While tho ratio' of power developed per squaro mile does not comparo Tnth. % Sivitzer]and, Norway, Italy, or Sweden, and other, countries smaller in area or more advanced in settlement, in tho ratio of, power developed to population only Norway occupies a more prominent position. Tho development per capita for the two countries, Norway and Canada, is respectively 487 and 210-h.p. per 1000 population. The distribution throughout tho Dominion is naturally not uniform, and in Manitoba the ratio falls to 111 per 1000 population. This smaller average admits of easy explanation. Nevertheless, within the fast eight years tho load expressed in kilowatt-hours has advanced from 8,000,000 to 136,000,000, and it is a fair lnferenco that in a few decades the entire output from the river can be absorbed by tho city alone. That this view is based on a firm foundation is demonstrated by tho number of factories that have sprung up, the greab railway centro that has developed, and the' practically unlimited market for manufactured products that has so rapidly established itself in tliecentre of ''cho Continent,