This tunnel project is a splendid illustration of human enterprise, of
which there has been an endless procession of illustrations. Think of a
few of the great things that have been accomplished. It became necessary
to cross oceans, and sailing vessels were built. The application of
steam came, and the ships folded their wings and flew faster than ever
they did before. The world demanded swift speed upon land, and railroads
were born, culminating in an Empire State Express that flies from New
York to Buffalo in a little over eight hours. Lightning leaped from the
clouds to copper wires and girdled the earth with instantaneous
intelligence, and our voices speed swifter than thought from city to
city.
The problems of the world are being solved one by one.
This is the electric age, and who can foretell what mighty things may
come in the train of the pioneer work with Niagara’s power! It is
proposed at present to produce 125,000 horse-power. The _Scientific
American_ estimates that the force in Niagara’s current amounts to
several millions of horse-power. The present tunnel can be duplicated
again and again as necessity demands. The sale of 15,000 horse-power
will carry the present investment, leaving 110,000 horse-power for clear
profit. The company has a capital of $10,000,000 to draw from, and a
number of the greatest capitalists in the country are behind the
movement. It is certain, then, that development will keep pace with the
demand, and that all the electric power needed will be forthcoming. We
have the great inexhaustible storehouse of Niagara to draw from forever,
and human enterprise can be depended upon to dig the gold that may be
had for the digging.
Buffalo, with her phenomenal facilities for tapping the mines, the
lumber forests, the grain fields and all the other rich storehouses of
the country, and with equal facilities for distributing the manufactured
product, will, of course, be the chief market for the electric power
produced at the Falls. It can be brought here without material loss in
transmission, while the transportation advantages conferred by Buffalo’s
unique location cannot be transmitted. They are immovable as the eternal
hills.
The result is not hard to trace. Buffalo is going to be the Electric
City of the world, instead of the Queen City of the lakes.
In the larger manufacturing concerns here the cost of steam power has
been brought down to about $35 per horse-power per year. The cost of
power in the smaller manufacturing concerns is much greater than this
sum.
It is estimated that the electric power from the Falls can be sold in
Buffalo, ready for instant use by touching a button, at little more than
half the present cost of steam power. Here is room for thought and
comparison on the part of those engaged in manufacturing enterprises.
Does not cheap power settle the question of a city’s manufacturing
greatness? Can there be any appeal from such settlement?
Give any city advantages in the way of cheap and abundant power not
enjoyed by any other city on the face of the earth and what is the
natural result? The eyes of manufacturers everywhere are focused upon
that city.
Give to a city unequaled transportation facilities and the cheapest
power in the world, and you have the conditions for building up the
greatest industrial center in the world.
This is Buffalo’s position.
Far-sighted men do not talk any more about the possibilities of
Buffalo’s future. They talk about certainties. They say with the New
York _Tribune_: “The past of Buffalo is secure, and her manifest destiny
is evidently to be something tremendous.”
Truly, as has been said by Samuel Wilkeson, Buffalo holds the key to the
commerce of an inland empire.