Arizona republican., 1896-06-24
GREAT ELECTRIC POWER Secured by New Works
 Near Mesa. The Plans of the Consolidated
 Company. VIII Result In Substantial Increase of the Valleys Water
 Supply.

One of the peculiarities of the south ern and southeastern portions of the Salt River valley is the mesa or table land formation that is encountered but a short distance from, the Salt river. In the eastern part of the valley, above Lehi, the mesa is the south boundary of the river, and it's lip in times prim- eval was undoubtedly for it's whole dis tance the south bank of the stream. Lehi and Tempe are situated in the river bottom lands, but Mesa, as might by its name be known, is To- cated high up on the limestone, yet loamy plateau. Strictly speaking, none of the mesa lands are properly in the Salt River valley, for from the very brink the slope is southward, and the canal that has been conducted along the mesa face to it's summit has an easy gradient southward and it's waters could naturally be conducted even into the Gila river.
 Several canals have surmounted this mesa, the chief being the Mesa Con- solidated, of which the main owners are the well known capitalists, Messrs. T dent and general manager of the cor poration being Dr. A. J. Chandler. It is an immense ditch, with probably the largest carrying capacity of any of the valley canals, exceeding 10000 miners inches. Its headgate, placed level with the bed of the river, is one of the finest examples in the west of engineering skill and mechanical ability, while the canal, excavated almost wholly by machine power, is a magnificent water way. -tt.
 The canal divides short distance from Mesa into three branches. It is a curiosity to note that the formation at the division gate, allows one to run east, another south and the third west. The largest is the eastern branch, which is the main irrigating canal of the system. The second is the original Mesa canal and the west ern branch has been constructed al most wholly for water power uses. It is short, only couple of miles, and ter inmates on the edge of the mesa line Its slope is such that it's capacity would even be that of the main head canal
 At the end of this short canal is To- cated the power house of the Chand- Ter system. Through iron screens, fit ted in massive masonry, the water is conducted by a 4Saineh pipe over the bluff and spanning the Utah canal, into a little brick building set on a stone foundation about third of the way up the slope. The mysteries of this building were penetrated Monday morning by Republican reporter un- der the guidance of Dr. Chandler. Within, one-half the room is filled with a great cylindrical piece of ma chinery, looking very unlike any tur- bine ever previously seen by the writ CT, but it is turbine, or rather two turbines in one, designed to develop 500 horsepower with feed of 5000 miners inches of water under a pres sure of thirty-six feet Below the water is drawn off through great iron pipes into a ditch three quarters of a mile in length, discharging into the Tempe canal, above all the Tempe canals laterals.
 The power will be utilized by means of electrical transmission Coupled to the main shaft of the great turbine will be General Electric company's alter hating current dynamo, speeded to 400 revolutions minute, the electricity to be transmitted by wire under a voltage of at least 4,000, the highest known in the southwest.
 There has been much speculation as to the uses to which this electricity will be put. It is developed near to the line of the Phoenix, Tempe & Mesa railway and could be used readily for the propulsion of cars or for lighting or power uses in the towns of Tempe and Mesa But such it would appear is not the purpose of the company for the present at least. It is we'll known that the sub-stratum of gravel all over the valley furnishes an inexhaustible supply of pure water and that only the cost of steam pumping prevents farm CTS in many localities using pumps in preference to ditches for irrigation. The question of cheap power has been solved by Dr. Chandler, for practically the only cost of the operation of the great plant lies in the interest on the investment and the employment of a single machinist. The machinery is self-oiling and self-governing and could safely be left alone in operation for days.
 The water that will drive the tur-
 pines, it should be explained, is not
 the property of the Consolidated, but of the Tempe canal, it's use secured to
 the Consolidated by a recent decision
 of court. Six thousand inches are to
 be taken from the river by the Con.
 solidated at all seasons and 5000 inch.
 es must be delivered to the Tempe
 through the rights of it's priority. The
 proposition now on foot is to utilize