At the entrance to the driveway approach to the farmhouse of Jared Van
Wagenen, Jr., at Lawyersville, Schoharie county, N. Y., stand two large,
stone gateway posts. On the capstone of one of these posts is engraved,
“Agriculture the Oldest Occupation,” and on the other, “Agriculture
the Greatest Science.” In keeping with the latter sentiment, Mr. Van
Wagenen has conducted his agricultural operations in such a manner
that he is looked upon as one of the most scientific and progressive
agriculturists in the State. He takes an active interest in such
affairs as farmers’ institutes and is considered an authority on the
science of agriculture. His farm and buildings are equipped with the
most modern conveniences and labor-saving devices.
There is a small stream which runs through the farm and flows into the
Cobleskill. This stream is so small that one may easily step across it
in the summer-time. About half a mile from the farmhouse is an old mill
dam which forms a pond with an area of more than an acre. The dam was
built long ago when small sawmills dotted that section of the State.
The timber having been practically all cut off, this mill, along with
hundreds of others, was long since abandoned. Mr. Van Wagenen conceived
the idea of harnessing its wasting energy and making it do some of his
farm work for him. The story of how he accomplished this is best given
in his own words, as follows:
“About eight years ago I began to figure on how to get this power to
the house where it could do a little work. My first thought was to
carry it there by belt cables, but figures proved that the friction
would eat up the five horsepower available. Electric power, easily
transmitted with little loss, was the only solution. I talked with many
who understood electricity and its engineering features and most of
them laughed at the idea of such a small installation. Had I wanted to
construct a million-dollar plant there would have been whole libraries
of advice; but a small plant to run entirely alone and be controlled by
a seven-hundred-foot-wire was evidently a novelty. After a good deal of
studying and feeling my way the plans were made and the work begun.
“The stream being so small, the most rigid economy of water had to be
observed, so I installed a nine-inch upright turbine in an upright
wooden case, building the case myself, where it would get the most
benefit of the fifteen-foot head. This turbine, furnishing about five
horsepower, I belted to a three-kilowatt, or four-horsepower, one
hundred and twenty-five volt direct current generator, which would
easily take care of seventy-five metal filament incandescent lamps.
I next installed a waterwheel governor to insure a steady flow of
electricity. It took about seventy-four hundred feet of weatherproof
copper wire, strung on wooden poles, which were cut on the farm, to
carry the electricity to my home and the farm buildings and to the
house of a neighbor. As it is more than half a mile from the house to
the plant it is out of the question to go there every night and morning
to stop and start the machinery. Of course it is possible to let this
plant run night and day during the wet season, but in dry times it is
best to save the water when the power is not needed. A neighbor living
about seven hundred feet from the power station kindly starts and stops
the machinery with a wire stationed at his bedroom window. This wire
controls a valve and counterweight. At five o’clock in the morning he
pulls the wire and the lights come on and at a certain hour of the
night he releases the wire and they go out. In payment for this service
I light his house and barns free of charge.
“Our maintenance charges are very small; almost negligible. I think our
waterwheel behaves better every year. Carbon brushes for the generator
last a long while and oil is a very small item. Each year I am
improving the plant, and very soon I expect to install a motor-driven
washing machine and wringer to prepare the clothes for the electric
iron and to put a vacuum cleaning outfit in the house.
“Although I consider the cost of our plant about $500, it was installed
under the most rigid economy in every respect and mainly by my own
hands. The dam was already built and needed only some trifling repairs.
The gate control is my own get-up, and, while the cost is trifling,
it took considerable study to get it to work right. I did most of the
house wiring, using concealed knob and tube for the living rooms of the
house; moulding and open wiring for the other rooms and for the barns.
This material cost me about $40. Of course, I do not in any instance
figure in my own labor, as the work was all done at odd times.”
This small power development, using the dam already built, cost Mr. Van
Wagenen about $500 as follows:
Dynamo, 3 k.w. (second-hand) $50
Waterwheel, 4 h.p. (naked wheel) 55
Governor (new) 75
Wire (7400 feet) 210
Labor (installing waterwheel) 40
Fixtures (lamps and the like) 38
One small motor, 2 h.p. (new) 50
----
Total $518
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The plant furnishes power sufficient to light the farmhouse and all
of the buildings with electricity, as well as those of the neighbor
who turns the water on and off. In the dairy a small electric motor of
about 3 horsepower, actuated by the electric current, drives the cream
separator and also furnishes power for running the grindstone, feed
cutters, hay fork and fanning mill, in addition to which the power is
also used to milk the cows and cut the ensilage and to do numerous
other bits of work about the place. Mr. Van Wagenen states that his
water power does work equivalent to that of a hired man the year round
and does away with numerous chores and laborious duties about the place.
The arrangement which Mr. Van Wagenen devised to turn on the water
at his plant and to shut it off again is unique and interesting. It
consists of a triangular frame lever about two feet wide and seven feet
high, hinged at one of the bottom corners. The other bottom corner
is connected to a sliding gate which fits over the feed pipe for the
waterwheel. At the top are fastened two wires, one of which runs to the
house of Mr. Van Wagenen’s accommodating neighbor, and the other runs
over a pulley and has a counterweight attached to it. When the water
is to be turned on, the neighbor pulls the wire and the gate is raised
by the leverage of the frame; when the water is to be shut off, he
releases the wire and the counterweight pulls the lever back, allowing
the gate to fall in place again.
[Illustration: Washing Machine, Driven by Electric Motor]