The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-30
TELLS OF TACOMA'S
GREAT WATER POWER
Says That CityWiIllave Cheap.
est Service in the U. S. When
Plants Are Completed.

with the completion of the two
large water-power plants in the vicin-
ity of Tacoma that city will have the
cheapest power of any place in the
United States" said w. w. Powell, a
prominent Tacoma jobber.
Mr.. Powell, en- route West after a
trip through the East, was at the
Merchants last night and talked en-
Enthusiastically Of Tacoma's future.
when these plants are ready for
business they will provide 10000 horse
power, and that power will be sold as
low as $40 per horse power per year.
We believe it will result in develop
ing Tacoma as the greatest manufac-
turing city in the West"
The water Of the Puyallup and
White rivers IS being utilized, and one
of the plants, that tapping the Puyal-
lup river, will be completed this spring,
at cost of more than $3,000,000. Mr..
Powell, who is an enthusiastic West
erner and a great believer in Tacoma's
future, explained with considerable de-
tail the construction of the plants.
THE plant which will utilize the wa
ter of the Puyallup river has been in
course of construction for some time"
he said, .and is almost completed. Ia
from this plant early in the spring.
Taps Mountain Stream.
Fifteen hundred men are employed
in the construction. of the plant. They
have tapped the river up in the noun
tains and built flume twelve miles
long. This flume is built of wood and
runs along the ridge, having a fall of
about two feet to the mile. At the
lower end of the f1ume a cross s-fume is
built back to the river a distance of
$50 feet, and almost straight down
mountain side.
Six of these cross fumes are being
constructed, and owing to the steep
descent, each will provide 5000 horse
power, giving the plant a total of 30,-
600 horse power. A big plant is being
constructed at the lower end of the
f1ume, where the water flows back into
thirty miles away, will be provided
with electric power. The poles and
wires are up, two more months will
see the plant completed"
Mr.. Powell says the other plant, now
in the course of construction on the
White river, is being built somewhat
along the same lines as the one on the
Puyallup river, except that it is much
larger and will furnish double the
amount of water
For this plant the White river is
tapped eighteen miles back of Seattle
and a canal thirteen miles long car
ries the water to Lake Taps, only ten
miles from Tacoma. Lake Taps COW
ers 1000 acres and the water in it Is
from so to 100 feet deep. Three hun
dred feet from the lake is another river,
to which the water will be turned, thus
furnishing power almost equal to any
in the country. A mammoth power
house is being constructed here, and
when the plant is completed Tacoma
will have power for years to come
The people of Tacoma believe 1t
will be the making of the city," said
Mr.. Powell. at will be a great induce
ment for manufacturing concerns who
use large amount of power
Ocean Commerce Increases.
Mr.. Powell says the shipping indus
tries at Tacoma are increasing Won
derfully fast, and he ventured the
opinion that it would soon be one of the
greatest ports of the world.
'The increase in Oriental trade is
very noticeable said Mr.. Powell, land
not week passes but a number of the
big ocean steamers are to be seen in
the port
Lumber, coal and wheat shipped
from Tacoma form a big business alone.
Our wheat is shipped by water to Liv-
erpool, being taken around the Horn
Mr.. Powell says that one who has
never been West cannot readily imagine
what the lumber industry amounts to
in and around Tacoma.
"The st. Paul & Tacoma Lumber
company, of which c. w. Griggs, of st.
Paul, is the head, is the largest in the
world 1t employs 1900 men and turns
out 100000 feet of lumber per day, be-
sides 100000 shingles"
Mr.. Powell says Tacoma merchants
buy more goods in st. Paul than in any
other city. He praised the st. Paul
jobbing houses, declaring them equal to
any in the country