Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 May 1882 — CURBING NIAGARA. [ARTICLE]

CURBING NIAGARA.

The Falls to be Made to Sapply America * with Electricity. ... On the evening of April 27th, your correspondent inspected articles of agreement, which have just arrived by mail and were drawn up between the Prospect Park Association, of Niagara Falls, Niagara county, New York, of the first part, apd Leonard Henkle, inventor, of Rochester. New York, of the second part, stipulating that for a consideration of $1,000,000, the party of the first part agreed to execute to the party of the second part a deed to Prospect Park, its nine acres of land, and three acres outside in the village of Niagara Falls. * That this important contract might be more thoroughly understood, vour correspondent interviewed Coll Henkle, the local inventor, this evening. “I have about consummated,” said be, “the biggest electric light project ever dreamed of. When the New York Graphic a few days since quoted a gentleman as saying he believed all New York would yet be lighted and heated by electricity brought through cables from power that generated it at the greatest cataract in the world, it only hinted at half what I, through a large company of capitalists, propose in that very direction. This million dollar contract I hold in my hand is only the beginning of the great things that this project will yet develop. I have canvassed among leading capialists of New York, Boston find other large cities, and found them ready to agree. After taking mere hints of the nature of my new electric light invention they said that just as soon as I eould secure right and title to the water power of N iagara for anything co equal they stood ready to combine and push the inventions to a practical test, if it took thereby millions of fiolars to do it. I would be foolish to describe to you in any Way the exact nature of these inventions, until my ; iroject is more practically perfected, as I hope to see it in a very few weeks —certainly before autumn. But twill say this, that this laifd contract contemplates the execution of a deed in ]’ee simple controlling the water power of the entire American fall at Niagara, some 2,000,000 horse power altogether. When I first approached one of the prominent officials connected with an existing electric light company and broached this subject to him le “poo-poohed” it and said: “Oh, yes; poor fool, you never can get control of Niagara, or the right to its gigantic water power- Why the govQ ernment itself has been trying to buy he American side for a public park >ut couldn’t do it. We admit your scheme might work if you could only get sufficient power to work it, but Niagara isn’t to be so easily had.” “That electrician,” continued Henkle, “has already turned out to be a false prophet. You see, too, here I hold a title incontrovertible. The purchase of Prospect Park for a million would almost pay, even if Niagara could not be utilized with it. In 1871 the receipts of the Park association were over $12,000. Last year they amounted to upward of $33,000. You see we want that part, and I start for New York just before midnight to see the )romising capitalists there to-morrow and next day. The capital stock of the company, when organized will be $20,000,000. Enormous buildings and ponderous machinery will be constructed on the brink of the American fall, and to these buildings will come an immense race-way coming from rapids, a short distance above the falls. We have water sufficient for two milion horse power upon the money conditions named and the further condition, that the water be returned to the river within a given distance. I decline to describe our process of generating electircity by this unlimited hydraulic force, but can simply say we will conduct • that electricity through properly insulated cables under ground to sixty-five American cities and towns between Boston and Chicago.. Just as good and forcible an electric current can be conducted 600 miles by my process, and can be utilized within an area of one mile. We also contemplate domestic light, attachments to the main cables, and will just as surely be able to transmit limited electric power for operating machinery, and for heating purposes ultimately. There will be about ten thousand miles of the cable altogether, with corresponding machinery for Industrial ourposes. This contract, looking toward the perfection of my project was, as you see, executed yesterday. Do you wonder I said it was a big scheme? Do you see the agreement as to how the $1,000,000 consideration is to be paid ? United States Government 3 per cents have been pledged to forward this undertaking. That’s why they are named in the consideration. v Col. Hinkle, at this point, left to get ready for the ’New York train, and bade the correspondent a hearty “Good night.” He is a highly skilled mechanic, has patented several .valuable inventione. and been working with the electric light almost as long as Edison.— Globe-Democrat.

The tugboat owners of Chicag have organized for mutual protection. Count Franz de Champigny, author, and member of the Freach academy, died in Paris. In the Third avenue street-car stables, New York, they have a curious machine which cleans horses by steam, the operation being more quickly and also more thoroughly done. A party of bridge builders took possession or the town of Greenfield, Mass., Saturday night, assaulting citizens, breaking into stores, etc. John Fly nn, a railway fireman, was fatally stabbed.