Several men were busy sawing the trunk of a pine tree into long, clean planks. The children watched the circular saw with wonder as its sharp teeth ate into the sweet-smelling wood. Its shrill music delighted them.
“Yes, sir,” the foreman replied to a question of Mr. Duwell’s, “most sawmills are run by steam power. Very few old-fashioned water wheels are left in this part of the country. Let me show you our wheel.”
“This is the sluice-way,” he explained, pointing to a long narrow canal full of flowing water. “The sluice-way leads the water from the pond to the top of the wheel.”
Going down a flight of steps on the outside of the building, they stood right beside the old moss-covered wheel. It was a huge wooden framework with shelves or buckets all around the wide rim to catch the water.
The water poured out of the sluice-way over the wheel, turning it slowly and steadily. As the wheel turned, the water kept falling with noisy splashes into the stream below.
“What makes it go round?” asked Wallace eagerly.
“The force and weight of the water pouring over it,” replied the foreman. “That is what we call water power.”
“Think of it, children!” said Mr. Duwell. “That old wheel helped to build Mr. Emerson’s house.”
“Yes,” said the foreman, “it has helped to build many houses besides Mr. Emerson’s. That old water wheel has been sawing wood just as you see it now for over a hundred years.”