WATER POWER T. STEAM.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2030, 26 August 1880, Page 4

WATER POWER T. STEAM.

(TTrom the “ Inventor’s Record.”] The Americans are at last awaxening to the value of the enormous water power to waste at- their doors in the gigantic waterfalls with which their country abounds. Wo extract the following description of a now water-power online which is about to be applied to th« fells of Genesee. The derrick, which is a mioiai ure model of the one to be erected at the lower falls, stands in a room with the miniature machinery and aeromotor. Wa'er passes through small pipes and tubes into a flume at the upper part of (h« derrick, and has precisely the same effec v , only in a smaller degree, as would the force of the falling waters of the Genesee • xert in a proportionately gigantic iume. In the two perfectly-gated compartments of the flume there eire two metal siphons. By the time the gate has permitted oufllcient flow of water to submerge the top of the siphon on either aide the flow is stopped, and as soon as the water reaches the siphon’s top the entire quantity within the reservoir discharges b self through the pipo of the siphon into another hydraulic process below. The two flume gates and siphons act alternately, and the d ouhl e action progresses like clockwork. The water through the siphon pipe goes down into an air receptacle, the fall being five feet in the model, but twonty times as great ia the motor itself, as designed to be erected, and as the five-foot fall constitutes the amount of hydraulic pressure contained in the model, the proportionate force of the motor may be faintly imagined while noting the work of the a mall affair. Passing into the two air receptacles or cylinders (which lie in the water trough representing the river bed), the water cargos down and compresses the air, which hn« already been admitted ahead of it, into the cylinders. The water forces the volume of air forward into a drum, through another automatic closing valve. From the drum the air goes into the final air reservoir, where it remains compressed for use, and from whence it may be drawn off or distributed through the pipes to any desired point, for various uses. Even with this miniature model the air generated is very powerful, and will lift a heavy man right off the floor. The original design of the inventor was to utilise the cataract of Niagara for running the machinery at Buffalo; but the falls and the city were too widely removed for this to bo practicable at an expense of less than 2,000,000 dollars, so that Rochester was chosen as the ground for the test, and lower falls of the G?ne»oe as the water power. The derriok for the water will be erected on the east side of the falls, where there is a natural core in the rocks for the works below. The frame of the derriok will be 125 feet high, rising slightly above the edge of the falls and about 25 ft from it. The dam already placed across part of the falls directs the water to a 16-foot bulkhead, and is bolted to the oolid rook with 5000 pounds of bolts. The water going through the bulkhead enters the flume and the reservoir and siphons in the derriok. The siphons will be nearly 100 feet long, and the air receptacles or cylinders in the river bad (four in number) will each be 500 feet long, and 6 feet in diameter. The company intend to erect a suspension bridge running from the west side of the falls to the derriok. The dam was built last fall when the water was low, and work upon the rest of the machinery vill be commenced as the weather permits. To state it briefly, the objects to which the company propose to devote this enormous and power are these : To supply the city of Rochester and vicinity with a motor' (in lieu of steam) for mechanical and manufacturing purposes—a motor capable of working every and all portions of the machinery in the city, with force enough reserved to oupply compressed air and run all our street oars, unaided by any other propelling power. Also “to supply the city with a light (in lieu of gas) cheaper, brighter, softer, and safer than the Edison horseshoe light.” In this connection mention may be made of the fact Shat the company already produces a light which meets the description given—and where it costs a dollar to generate gas, this light can be granted for a cent. In conclusion it may be added that the Motor Company has already made partial arrangements with the street railway company so that at the works of the former, at the lower falls, the air cylinders to be put upon each car can be filled, in a few with enough compressed air to run them sixteen miles. The tracks of the Rochester City and Brighton Railroad Company are already laid to the site of the company’s works, so that the cars can be supplied without any additional, expense in this respect. The new power can be supplied at leas than one-tenth the present cost of horse-power, and yet allow a very liberal margin of profit to the motor shareholders.