The plan to furnish Rochester, N. Y., with power for manufacturing and
for running street cars through the utilization of the falls of the
Genesee in compressing air, was described in this paper some weeks
ago. All the power of the lower falls, save what is needed to run two
wheels for factories already in operation, has been purchased by
the inventor of the system, and a promising beginning has been made.
According to the Rochester _Union_, a large gang of men are at work
building the crib just below the falls on the east side of the river
in a cove which seems to have been made by nature for this purpose.
This foundation is 100 feet long by 75 feet wide, and will have an
average depth of 13 feet. It is being constructed of solid logs of oak
timber bolted together, and the center will be filled with stone. On
the top of the crib will be erected the derrick, 125 feet high, and
the water will pour into it from the top of the falls through the
bulkheads at one end of the dam. The stand pipes will run from the
top of the derrick to the cylinders on the crib, which will be in the
neighborhood of 500 feet long. The whole machinery will be roofed in.
The difficulty in the way of getting the materials to the place,
they all having to be lowered over the falls, makes the work of
construction somewhat slow. It is expected, however, that the first
application of the system to the propulsion of street cars will be
possible in September next.
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