The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-31

With five gigantic high tension power
plants operating within a radius OF
forty miles. and the mystic electric
wires threading the streets of the city
in all directions, Salt Lake would be
justified in discarding the ancient
pseudonym of Zion and reveling in the
practical title of the Electric City OF
the West.
AS state, Utah is abreast of the
electrical wave that has swept the
entire western country since the intro
duction of the long distance transmits
sion plant, and for the number of Dig
power producing enterprises within a
limited area she is the leader of the
world. The typographical features OF
the portion of the state in which these
power plants are situated is such as 10
produce innumerable cascades and
waterfalls, and it has long been recog-
nized as one of the MOST attractive
fields for fine installation of power fur
nishing enterprises. The Wasatcn
mountain range extends in a north ana
south direction practically through the
center of the state. In this range is
stored up the snow which provides the
water during the dry summer season
that is used for irrigating and other
purposes. The chief streams flowing
II 1
Salt lake are, commencing from the
north, the Bear river, the Ogden river,
the Weber river, the Big Cottonwood
creek, and the Provo river Besides
these there is the Jordan river through
which the waters of Utah lake are
emptied into the Great Salt lake. All
the streams from the Wasatch range
flow through narrow, rocky canyons;
with a very rapid fail, to the valley, ana
have. for a long time, been tempting 20
hydraulic engineers.
The first power company to get after
the willy and noisy unit OF graVltatlnS
water was the Big cottonwood. r. M
Jones had his engineers design SET
of harness, and in June, 1896, he sent
his first current at a pressure of 10000
volts on its way into Salt Lake, over d
distance of fifteen miles.
Following this, though planned carrier
came the undertaking of the Pioneer
Electric Power company in the Ogden
canyon, thirty-seven miles of transmits
sion into Salt Lake.
In tie same year the Utah Power
company erected water power plant
in the Big Cottonwood canyon Tor
transmitting electrical energy at a pres
sure of $4,000 volts for operating the
Salt Lake City railroad company's cars.
In the spring of 1898 the Telluride
Power company installed a plant in the
Provo canyon for transmitting electrl-
eel energy at a pressure of 10000 volts
to the mining camp at Mercur, thirty
four miles away.
In March, 1899, another water power
plant was erected on the Jordan river
at a point about twenty miles south OF
the city, and it is now delivering energy
for operating and lighting purposes TO
the mining districts of Bingham ana
Mercur, about sixteen miles distant
Capital Invested.
Business men and the mining opera
tors of Utah have realized for years
that thousands of horsepower of price
less energy We're going to waste in the
streams and waterfalls that pursue
their restless course through the can
yons. They realized the probability of
the development Of the water power
sources, and the concentration of the
Maynard units of energy, and as soon
as the possibility of electrical trans
mission was demonstrated by expert
ment to be not only practicable but
commercially practical they set-to work
in earnest TO place Utah in the fore
most rank of power transmission states.
a position that she has always held
With keen far-sightedness they invited
the most prominent and efficient en-
gineerS in the profession to set to work
constructing the harness and later on
TO turn loose the mighty new found
force into mining camps, sinelters,
towns and cities.
Besides the five long distance trans
mission plants referred TO above there
are innumerable isolated steam and
water power plants scattered through
out the length and breadth of the state,
and every town of Importance in the
state is lighted either by its local steam
plant or by current from one of the
long distance transmission lines.
A conservative estimate of the
amount of capital invested in the cleo
trical enterprises of the state is $1,000
600 This is exclusive of the bonded in
debtedness. which amounts to several
millions more.
Harvesting the Water Powers.
For untold ages the energy stored
gone rushing through the mountain
Businesses and over cascades have had
no other object in life than the adding
of their quota to the mighty ocean,
creating deafening noises and furnish
ing foor for elaborate thought to hys-
terical poets. Now instead of kicking
up their heels in idleness and wander
ing at large through gorge and Fanyon.
these fiery young colts of water power
of genius, weaned from their old ways,
broken to the harness of the workaday
world. and are now engaged in the pas
time of Transforming their coltish antics
into steady going and dependable horse
powers.
1t is estimated that a sufficient guam
tity of these water power units have
been enslayed by the different. plants
in the state TO aggregate a total of
1900 horse power. most of which has
been contracted for and is being de-
livered today to the street railway and
lighting companies and individual
power consumers in this city and Og-
den, the srnelters at Murray and the
mines at Bingham, Tintic, Park City
and Mercur. This total of 1900 horse
power is the minimum estimated out
nut, and is based on the present cleo
trical installation and the amount OF
water in the canyons during the dry
season. During the time of rains and
melting SHOWS there is enough energy
at the sites of the present plants to