Improvement Era, Vol. 11

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Excerpt from Improvement Era, Vol. 11: Organ of the Seventies and the Young Mens Mutual Improvement Associations, September, 1908The water held back in the mountain valley by the mighty dam may be brought down the canal to the last rocky 'ledge and there allowed to fall back unhindered into the river bed below. The waterfall thus created will be a magnificent spectacle, beauti ful to look upon, but of no earthly use. Many a general educa tion obtained in high school or college may well be, compared to such a waterfall. It is of no special use. The impounded water, on the other hand, brought along the high lying canal and then down the mountain side through a closed tube may be made to turn great turbines which in turn may operate great electric dynamos, from which currents of electricity are sent to Operate mines, fac tories, light cities, or to give heat and light to a thousand happy homes. The water thus used, perhaps, does not afford the same grandly concentrated spectacle of the elements at liberty as does the great waterfall, but for us who live and dwell on earth, the light and power and heat add more to human happiness and human progress than the grandeur of the waterfall. Instead of using the water for generating power, it may be that you desire to use it for irrigating the fertile foothills. In that case, through a hun dred little canal gates, the water is guided to a thousand little farms, there to be used for the production of fruit, or vegetables, or grains, or lucern, or any of the good things upon which we de pend for our nourishment. It may be very difficult, in many cases ln deed impossible, to use the waterfall for the purpose of driving the dynamo and also for irrigating the fertile lands of the foot hills. It does not matter much what is done with the stored water. Power is needed, and so are the products of the farm. If one stream is used for irrigation purposes, another must be used for power purposes. The needs of the state will determine ulti mately in which manner the water shall be used predominantly.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.