Hydraulic Pressure as a Counterbalance.
For ages one of the observations of every day has been that a column of water exerts pressure in proportion to its height. Usually this pressure is thought of as being exerted downward, but if a pipe, filled with water at great pressure, be curved upward at its base, then the contained liquid presses upward. Mark the gain of thus varying a little from the ordinary view point of a case. In 1883 Mr. J. F. Holloway, of California, set up a turbine with its stream admitted from below and moving upward through the vanes of the machine. He thus obliged the water pressure to aid in supporting the wheel, materially diminishing its friction through thus counterbalancing its weight. This plan has been adopted at Niagara Falls for the gigantic turbines there erected, among the most powerful in the world.