The first town worthy of the name here on the American side of the Falls was named Manchester by Judge Porter when he settled here in 1806, 102 years ago, believing that the site could eventually be occupied by the "Manchester of America." Judge Porter's many inducements to promoters were not accepted until about the middle of last century (1853) when the present canal was begun. For many years even this improvement lay unused; it was not until 1878 that the present company was organised and any real advance was made. Of the recent wonderful development along power lines at Niagara we treat in another chapter under the title of "Harnessing Niagara Falls." But the supreme interest in these lines of activity must not let us lose sight of the important element of local environment.
It is of almost national interest that Niagara is so centrally located, that within seven hundred miles of this great cataract live two-thirds of the population of the United States and Canada. This of itself, were there no Niagara Falls, would guarantee the growth of the town of Niagara Falls. Add to this strategic location the exceptional advantages to be found here by industrial plants looking for a home, and also the evident fact that Niagara Falls is a delightful spot in which to reside, it is clear that if a great and beautiful city does not develop here in the next century human prophecy will have missed its guess and tons of advertising will have been wasted. Twenty-five million dollars are, it is said, invested in capital now in the present town, and the value of imports and exports in 1906 was over two millions and over twelve millions, respectively. Fourteen railways here find terminals and the town has over one hundred mails daily. With splendid educational advantages, with twenty miles and more of pavement already laid, with a beautiful and efficiently conducted public library, with a city water pumping plant capable of handling twenty million gallons daily, and nearly forty miles of drains, with a citizenship active, patriotic, and capable, is it any wonder that Niagara Falls' real estate agents and suburban resident promoters are thriving like the old cabmen and side-show operators thrived in the "good old days" of private ownership along the Niagara's bank?
There is no discounting the advances this interesting little city has made in the past ten years and more, and there is very little possibility, on the face of things of a tremendously accelerated growth in the coming century. Big problems are here being worked out; big schemes are afoot, big things will happen—an advance will come because of the plain merit of the bare facts of the case without unnecessary inducement or overcapitalisation of the advertising agencies. The world needs power to do its work, and until we sit down calmly and figure out a way for the ocean tides to do our work, as ought in all conscience to be the case to-day, Niagara Falls will hold out extraordinary inducement to all industrial promoters which cannot be rivalled in many ways at any other point. If only the ends of industry can be achieved without destroying this great continental scenic wonder! There are those who are unwilling to take a single rainbow from that ocean of rainbows amidst the Falls to drive another wheel. But there is surely a sane middle ground to be found here, and it is certain that brave, thinking men are on the sure track to find it.
Similar in geographic position, quite as much could be said for Niagara Falls, Ont., as has been said of her twin city on the American shore. In point of beauty nothing can excel the magnificent Queen Victoria Park, opened in 1888, which lies opposite the New York State Reservation; the view of the two falls from it, or from the airy piazzas of the superb Clifton Hotel which flanks it, is unmatched. At present writing the guardians of the New York State Reservation, and other sensitive persons, are justly exercised over a genuine "Yankee trick," more or less connived in, they darkly hint, by the authorities, who have permitted a series of hideous signboards to be erected on the Canadian shore to serve the purpose of bringing out more vividly by contrast the unrivalled beauties of Queen Victoria Park.
Chapter V
[Harnessing Niagara Falls]
Lord Kelvin, when visiting Niagara Falls, was not moved by that which appeals to the ordinary tourist, the roaring of the cataract, the waters in their mad rush from the Falls to the whirlpool and thence to Lake Ontario, nor the mists rising night and day from the waters churned into foam. For him, Niagara was a monster piece of machinery, accomplishing nothing but the pounding out of its own life on the rocks which formed its bed. In his mind's eye there appeared vast factories, deriving their power from the Falls, furnishing hundreds of men employment and distributing millions of dollars' worth of products to be placed nearer the hands of the poorer classes because of having been created by the cheap power furnished here by nature.
Various estimates have been made regarding the volume of water flowing over the Falls; but the calculations by United States engineers extending over a number of years places the amount at about 224,000 gallons a foot per second. These are the figures taken as the basis of many calculations; upon this basis the Falls would furnish 3,800,000 horse-power exclusive of the rapids. If the fall of about fifty feet which is produced by the rapids in their descent from the Dufferin Islands be added to this amount, the sum total of power would be greatly increased. To make some use of this almost inconceivable amount of power which has been wasting itself for ages has been the problem which has caused much investigation and to-day it seems to be nearing a practical solution.
Niagara Falls were first used as a source of power in 1725, when a primitive saw-mill was built just opposite Goat Island to saw lumber for the construction of Fort Niagara. For years men have made many attempts to use some of the power to be had here for the taking, and in a very small way have been successful. A number of establishments for several decades have been making use of power developed by the Falls by means of the Hydraulic Canal on the American side. This canal was begun in 1853 and passes through the city of Niagara Falls, terminating on the cliff half a mile below the cataract; here are to be found a number of mills, which however utilise only a small fraction of the fall available, probably because at the time of their construction, the high grade water-wheels of to-day were not in existence. Some of the waste water from the tail races of these mills is now being collected into large iron-tubes and is used again by mills situated at the base of the cliff.