An Ambitious Scheme.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 August 1910, Page 4

An Ambitious Scheme.

« ELECTRIC POWER FROM NIAGARA. If it ho assumed that from a single centre in Great Britain all the °H c, '£.y liceclotl by the innumerable manufactures and .industries of this country could he supplied, what is in pmcops of accomplishment iji the. Province of Ontario may lie understood. Ontario >is a rogioji deiiioio 111 in coal, and he-ice severely handicapped as a niaiiufacturing country. This disadvantage, it will shortly-overcome by recourse to electrical power generated by the waters of Niagara. It was" estimated some years ago by Mr G. T. I'oilby U':at the total niooint or power generated bv steam Great Britain "•as aj>pro\'imately 5,000,000 li.p. Now the power generated by the fall of water betweeii J;ake krie and Ontario is approximately 0,000,000 h.p., or more than sufficient, if all applied to that'purpose, t) convert Oiita.rio into an im~ mejise industrial region. In Iα hnvc recourse to fie Kalis of Niagara for this purl>ose l ! lie Piovijjco of Ontario, far from makin."; a reckless cxnorimojit, v:as but jji'dfLling by cxperienco allrealv g:iii|O'] on the American side of the river. It is now not far short of twenty year;; ago that electrical wes -developed at Niagara Falls Power Coinpa y. Tht p.-.vo: , den'ro'.l from the first station was '50,000 li.p., but this wa.i a.ftorwards largely increased, and oll'ior plants were constructed by othei C!'ii!p:i;;ios on the Canadian !1S well .'is on the Ainrricn.n side of the. Falis. 'Hie cojisequcjit rapid DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY

ol the communities the neiglibourihood of the cncouraged the Canadians to attempt the distribution of tlio power over a large part of the province, with the object of making it share in the benefit of the cheap - jiowcr, which one of the Canadian compa]|ies l:ad already undertaken in regard to Hamilton " d Toronto. A single e\ani])!e will show how important the new method of transportation will he to the farmer. In Ontario in the past .hundreds of tc-|]S of grapes have been thrown away or have boon sold for half a ccj)t per lb; owing to want o. transportation facilities, at times when tiie crop 'has been very heavy. Milk and farm produce could not be sold at all owing t-o want, of facilities foi their conveyance, when in tlio cities i,!:cTo was a great demand for these commodities. It is hoped, apparently with goo;! reason, that the producer and the consumer will now he brought into much closer re!nii:>i]S, and that the low to every °ll e concerned occasioned bv the lack <,f transportation facilities will no loiiger be experienced. it is propose:! ultimately to ex-, the supply cf electrical powei t.) individual farms so that the farmer may plant his fields, pump his water, and do his general farm work bv energy derived from the central station, the object in this case being the !:iitjii!ii;:ii|g, as far as possible, of manual labour on the i";!rni in lccaliJie.s whore such labour is s:\-ir-o and its cost prohibitive. F'l r'-rawing i'p their scheme the Com'ni.-'siioi) advised 11 •at the municipalities should jjnt, in fairness to the Canadian companies which had already MADK THRU? INVESTMENT,

erect a 'in:!n i: 1 power plant at Niagara i'Y.ils, but should purchase jvnvor from t!io coinp:ii|ics already ill existence there, n't they would furnish it at a reasonable price. Calculations wore ina:!e and complete plans drawn up for the erection °' a rnui|i;-ijwl power station, in order that a i) estimate of the cost be arrived at. . .hen that estimate had been "iade the powo; companies re.lii'ed their price to a roasojii-hle figure, thoro!),v enabling the uiiiiiicipalitei.s to buy t-'ieii pcwei , from tiio cxistiii.c; ]>lants. The m:in:;-i;>;litie.s were autliorised to '"■f.'listrn-.'t ;in c-lei-trical hi.u;lnvay i'oi the ]jiirjy.se of transmitting the'•iirreut through the Province. Thuf, tiiey will ijiiy tl:e po'.vcr from the privnte t'oiup-uies and deliver it >.vithii| i\:r li.iiiM.lan'cs of the tniini.•ipal!t::\s, c-\A\ mi<i]i; i].>:•!ity piirchasjn.<j; ;ik niiH'!i as it wants a.|d mtilisinH it in iis awn way. It is to lie «ioto:l. h:;wevei'. that the miinic-.i-palities were ai'vised, for reasons in t!se Ctininn'ssionor's re[>ort, i|ot themselves to underta)ce Lhe woriv of electric and beaciiis jin-*-l tramways, bat to leave this to private companies, the niiin-i----i]).-ilities liein.e: able to co<itrol the

rates charged !>y the private companies timnigh their position «is owners of the electric transmission lines.

X:> great engineering difficgnltie.s were encountered, in the farryiiig out of the plans. Ti:e most £;>nui:';t!»_le difli-iilty aiiticipate I was tliat aris-i'.g from (.he heavy sleet storms

•.vi:i:,!i are of iYcouer, t occur re- not , al<>no; the shores <>!' the lakes in \\-i?|!er, ai|d w>! ii -h iii'Tcn.se tlic size I'm the electrical overhead wires by coijt'ii'j; them with a t'ri'-k and ihcavy ;iccrot:i(:!t ef it p, thereby addinii 'rroatly to their weight and to tlic danger of their falling to the •totin' 1. .\:'of|unto means were, however, taken to against this risk, wlwoh it .is essential to avoid in view of the fact that the WORKING rRKSKITKR is to he 10!),000 volts or more. Great care was taken in the mechanical part of the e'ectrical consrutctirin, ai)d it is believe;! that wher> the lines arc put into operation there will be i|t) difficulty due to stoppage, esne-iallv as in most instances duplicate lines will be employed. The h\ss of p;jwer on the lines will be very small, ti'at at Toronto being between five, and ten P ol ' f ' c »t according to the power used. All she linP« are suspended from steol towers placed at'a convenient distance from each other a-pd. capable of supporting "n.v probable weight and strain.

Tlio cost of carrying out tin's groat undertaking was "met by ,in appropriation voted by the Provincial Legislature, which issued bonds for tliis purpose The charges to be made by the municipalities for the power to be delivered over the lines are such as to provide for a I'leavy sinking fund. Ample allowance is made for the payment of interest and for depreciation, and nil the charges are to be defrayed and the accompanying diagram shows the proposed situation of the lines of transmission throughout the Koitf-iern part of the Province. It is expected that these will he greatly extended and increased in number in the near future.—London Times .