usual working hours.

The Dundee Water and Land Co., about 1858, developed the power of the
Passaic River, at Passaic, New Jersey, where there is a fall of about
twenty-two feet, giving a minimum power, during the usual working hours,
of about nine hundred horse power.

The Turners Falls Co., in 1866, commenced the development of the power
of the Connecticut River at Turners Falls, Massachusetts, by building a
dam on the middle fall, which is about thirty-five feet, and furnishes
a minimum power, during the usual working hours, of about ten thousand
horse power.

I have named the above water powers as being developed in a systematic
manner from their inception, and of which I have been able to obtain
some data. In the usual process of developing a large water power, a
company is formed, who acquire the title to the property, embracing the
land necessary for the site of the town, to accommodate the population
which is sure to gather around an improved water power. The dam and
canals or races are constructed, and mill sites, with accompanying
rights to the use of the water, are granted, usually by perpetual leases
subject to annual rents. This method of developing water power is
distinctly an American idea, and the only instance where it has been
attempted abroad, that I know of, is at Bellegarde in France, where
there is a fall in the Rhone of about thirty-three feet. Within the last
few years works have been constructed for its development, furnishing a
large amount of power, but from the great outlay incurred in acquiring
the titles to the property, and other difficulties, it has not been a
financial success.