

WATER POWER AND ELECTRICITY 



YEARS ago the miners of the West overran the 

 mountains, looking everywhere for gold and sil- 

 ver; within the last few years another set of hunters 

 have been busy searching out reservoirs for storing 

 flood waters for irrigation; and recently a new set of 

 prospectors have sprung up, who are engaged in a 

 novel search. -They are exploring the wildest can- 

 ons in the heart of the Sierras and Rockies, seeking 

 out the smaller streams that have a high fall, for the 

 purpose of converting this force into electricity for 

 transmission for long distances for power, heat and 

 light. Already steps have been taken to utilize some 

 of this power for pumping by electricity for irriga- 

 tion. The severe and crucial test, of continued oper- 

 ation over a considerable length of time over long 

 distances is as yet of rare ocurrence. There are, 

 however, two plants in the United States that have 

 successfully met the conditions of long distance, 

 rough country, difficult climate, continuity of service, 

 and a pressure above that ordinarily used. The first 

 is that of Willamette Fails, Portland, Oregon. They 

 utilize the power of the falls, fifteen miles away, for 

 power, light and heat, at Portland, using Victor 

 wheels of 300 horse-power, geared to horizontal 

 shafts with which the dynamo belts are connected. 

 Two alternating current dynamos are driven by each 

 wheel. The current at the high pressure of 4,000 

 volts passes direct to the line of No. 4 B. & S. wire, 

 which is carried on ordinary double-petticoat glass 

 insulators across country. The current is received at 

 3,300 volts by transformers and reduced to 1,100 volts 

 for distribution. 



AT TELLURIDE, COLORADO, 



another plant operates the Gold King mill. Here the 

 wires are carried over mountain peaks steep and 

 rough for twenty miles, the line in some places being 

 perpendicular, in others having an angle of 45 de- 

 grees, and during the winter the snow is occasionally 

 level with the top of the poles, while in the summer 

 the lightning arresters are kept peculiarly busy, as 

 high as forty-two discharges being noted in one min- 

 ute on one occasion. The generator and motor are 

 the same as at Portland. On this line and on the one 

 in Oregon the line loss is 20 per cent. Both lines 

 have been in operation successfully for over two 

 years. Such results are valuable for showing what 

 has been accomplished with new types of machinery 

 in countries where line construction and maintenance 

 are peculiarly difficult, with practically continuous 

 service, with attendants who are not electricians, with 

 high voltage, a long distance and large power. Long 

 distance transmission of electricity has passed beyond 



the stage of experimental trial and has received the 

 stamp of commercial success. 



An interesting test was made during the late electri- 

 cal congress in Germany. . Dynamos of large ca- 

 pacity operated by turbines in the river Neckar, at 

 Lauffen, were connected by wire with motors at 

 Frankfort-on-Main, 108 miles distant; 225 to 250 

 horse-power was generated at Lauffen, and 175 to 

 200 delivered at Frankfort; that is, 70 to 75 per cent, 

 of the power was transmitted and from 25 to 30 per 

 cent, lost, this including an initial loss of 8 to 10 per 

 cent, in the generating dynamos, which might be 

 somewhat eliminated by more perfect construction. 

 The actual loss of energy during the triple process of 

 transferring a current of over 200 horse-power into a 

 current of 'small voltage but high intensity, trans- 

 mitting this 108 miles over naked copper wires hung 

 on ordinary telegraph poles by oil-trough porcelain 

 insulators, and re-transmitting it into a current of 

 ordinary pressure, at a line loss of 20 per cent, was 

 remarkable. 



Along the base of the mountains of the irrigation 

 area there are many places where the water supply, 

 that only needs to be lifted a short distance by 

 pumps, is ample for large tracts of valuable lands. 

 Back in the mountains, ten, fifteen, twenty miles 

 away are living streams, tumbling idly down the 

 rocks, that can be set to work driving the dynamos. 

 The little copper wire connects with the pumps, and 

 the water flows over the orchards. Pumping for irri- 

 gation has come to stay. The next step is to hitch on 

 to the mountain waterfalls and pump by electricity. 



WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIEST 



THE IRRIGATION AGE will gladly receive brief de- 

 scriptions of opportunities for water power existing in 

 various parts of the arid West. These natural powers 

 are among the most valuable assets of communities 

 and should be carefully studied. They are desirable 

 adjuncts of all irrigation plants and of the utmost im- 

 portance in working out ideal colony projects. 



A FEW years will bring Asotin county to the fore as 

 a profitable agricultural community, as the result of, 

 irrigation enterprises now under way. Arrangements 

 have been completed by the Oregon-Washington Ir- 

 rigation Company for constructing reservoirs in the 

 Blue mountains, where the snows of winter and flow 

 of springs will be stored up for obviating the difficul- 

 ties occasioned by lack of summer rains, and the nat- 

 urally fertile soil will be brought to a high state of 

 productiveness. 



