Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1901-11-20
SOUTH CAROLINA. NOV. 20. 1901.
The Value and Power Of Por;man Shoals.

Sompany aL IOrGmau OnOAlb, on
Seneca river, which has taen under
way for moro than year, has at last
been completed. Mr.. g. o. Tenny,
of Spartanburg, the contractor, has
paid off and discharged his le-ge
force of hands and they have gone,
and only few men remain at the
dam putting in few finishing
touches and moving away the tools
and machinery.
Only those who have visited the
dam recently and inspected the work
there can have any idea as to its
magnitude. The dam as it now
stands is 700 feet long, a. feet high,
and is 30 feet wide at the base and
8 feet wide at the top, with the
usual complement of flood gates,
waterways, etc.
The dam was built of granite quar-
ried on the river bank and is as solid
and permanent as human skill. and
ingenuity can make it.
The work just completed by Mr..
Tenny consisted in making the dam
20 feet higher and 10 feet wider at
the base and was done at cost of
$4,000. The work was commenced
August 1st, 1900, and has been com
pleted only after fourteen months of
continuous work. The number of
hands employed had varied from 100
to 150. Ten thousand three hundred
barrels of cement were used in the
work. Mr.. Tenny has carried out
his contract satisfactorily in every
way to the company.
The dam and machinery at the
shoals now represents an investment
of, in round numbers, 100000. The
total assets of the company, rs shown
by recent statement, are $500, 900.
The amount of horsepower devel-
oped at the dam is 1900 horse power.
There are ii water wheels in four
fumes, driving four generators, and
the power is carried over IL wiers
to the sub-station in the city, where
it is transformed to proper voltage
to be used by the different indus
tries.
Those who have never stopped to
think do not realize what this COM
pany means to Anderson. The
power furnished by it is used in
many different ways. The Ander-
son Cotton Mills use 1000 horse
power, the Orr Mills 1,400 horse
power. Two hundred horse power
is used in generating the lights for
the city and driving the pumps for
the water station, and great many
smaller industries in the city use the
power. 1t drives the machinery at
the mattress factory, at one of the
planning mills, two of the printing
Offices, at the flour mill, three cleo
trio elevators, and in many other
ways it is in daily use. The com
pany now has surplus of about 400
horse. power. This will not be sold
in a lump to any one concern, but
will be kept for the use of the
smaller industries, as the manage
ment desires to encourage the estab-
lishment of the smaller industries.
This plant has since it's establish
ment been an object of especial in
terest to electrical experts through
out the country, both on account of
its size and the new methods used.
This is one of the largest water
power plants in the country and the
dam is the largest in tho South.
This company is the first in the
world to generate it's power by the
high voltage system, thus doing away
with the expensive "step-up" trans
formers and the attendant waste of
power. When this system was tried
by the company it was largely as an
experiment, and it's SUCCESS has had
an important bearing on electrical
development throughout the country.
Several of the electrical and mining
journals are TO send photographers
and special writer's to Anderson soon
to prepare descriptive articles con-
cerning the plant and its equipment.
Tho dam at Portman Shoals will
have to be seen to fully appreciate
its size. 1t is situated about half a
mile above Earle's bridge and is
built between two steep bluffs. The
dam backs the water for distance
of three miles up the river. The
dam as now completed develops all
the power that can be secured at
this point, and if tho company ever
develops any additional power for
commercial use it will have to be
done at some other point.
The equipment at the dam is a
model of completeness and efficiency.
So COmDlcto are tho dot ;lo tbot f,n.,,