The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-11-09
POWER PLANT
IN OPERATION
ADDITION TO CITY'S RESOURCES
Description of Its Construction and
Advantages-HaS Capacity of 500
horsepower and Cost $50, 900.

About mile up the Hood Biver
valley, partially hidden by clump of
trees, is an unpretentious looking
building housing an enterprise that
Is perhaps to be more closely identi-
fled with the comfort, convenience
and prosperity of the city of Hood
River than any institution that has
ever been erected within or near its
confines. 1t is the new plant of the
Electric Light 4 Power company,
with capacity of 800 horsepower,
and is obtained from the most eco
nomical motive power known to man
water.
While it takes just as much power
to produce given quantity of cleo
trical horsepower as it does to pro
duce an equal number of steam horse
power, electric power, with the excep-
tion above noted, is the most
economical in use today. The re.
duced cost of electricity is in its con
ductivity--in the fact that it can be
conveyed so far away from its base
of supply in an almost undiminished
quantity and that it can be utilized
in so many ways. Therefore, when
you have combined water power with
electricity you have reached the acme
of economical motive power.
The erection of the plant itself was
quite All undertaking for its promot-
ers and reflects no small credit upon
them, as it also does on the manufac-
turing resources of Hood River, for
practically all the material for its use
apart from the machinery was made
in this city. The boards for the wood
stave pipe, which is five feet in diam
eter and 1000 feet in length, were
dressed and prepared in the box fac
tory of the Davidson Company, CON
sumed 100000 feet of lumber. The
pipe is banded with half-inch round
iron bands, bolted together at the
ends with an arrangement which al
lows them to be loosened or tighten
ed, according to the expansion or con
tract IN of the wood. Two carloads
of iron rods were used in the con
structlon of these bands, which we're
made by Snow q Upson, who bought
special machinery in order to com
plete the contract.
Near the power house and rising
out of the top of the pipe is a stand
pipe 43 feet high and about two feet
in diameter, with a sluice at the top,
which extends downward and empties
into a ditch constructed to carry away
the waste water. The standpipe is
necessary to relieve the strain on the
fume when the pressure is too great
Paralleling the railroad embankment
for about l400 feet the pipe runs un-
der the proposed tracks Of the new
railroad through culvert, rounds a
sharp point on the river bank and
crosses the stream over bridge of the
suspension type. Continuing 1900
feet up the valley, it reaches the dam,
which is constructed in narrow
detile in the river, with bluffs rising
200 or 300 feet on each side.
70 construct the dam required one
of the incest engineering feats of the
work, as the water here Is both deep
aud swift and the fall from this point
to the power house is 56 feet. 1t is
1876 feet across from side to side of
the river, 60 feet wide at the base and
20 feet wide on the spillway, with a
height of u feet. Constructed on
the crib plan and braCed with huge
logs it looks as though it will last for
all lime. In fact it has already been
subjected to one of the severest strains
it is likely to ever bear during the re-
cent high water, when driftwood and
logs borne down stream by the swift
current became caught above the
structure and caused vast quantity
of water to pour over the spillway.
The water gates consist of two outside
ones protected from the driftwood by
strong guards, and one inside at the
point of intake by which the pressure
of the water Can be more or less con-
trolled. There Is also waste gate
constructed on the opposite side of
the dam through which such a vol
ume of water passes as to astonish
the beholder. The construction of a
fish ladder is about completed as re.
quired by the state laws.
The span of the bridge is 1870 feet
with approaches on each side and is
amply strong to bear the weight of
the big water way.
In the power house the machinery
is Of the latest construction, consist
ing of two generators and their excit.
ers, switchboard and latest devices for
controlling the current.
Twin turbines IS inches in diameter
furnish the power for the electrical
machinery. They are of the McCor-
mick new type high speed and we're
especially manufactured for this puT-
pose. The distinctive feature about
them being that they are directly CON
nected to the same shaft that oper-
ates the generator.
The selection of the site of this
plant is a very good one as while it
is almost as low as the river bed it.
self, which is necessary in order to
obtain such fine fall of water, il is
protected from high water in the river
by the railroad embankment at this
point. The generator and dynamos
arc placed on a concrete foundation
varying fron II to II feet thick, there.
by reducing the vibration to "a mini
mum. The wpter wheel is of the Nc
Cormick patent, built by the S. Nor
gan Smith company of York, Pa, and
the generator of the Bullock manufac-
ture, of Cincinnati, Ohio. 1t is of
the latest revolving field type and was
supplied by their agents at Seattle,
the Bogart- Bates company.
The plant was put II operation for
lighting service on Nov. l, and on
Nov. II a q hour service for both
light and power will be inaugurated.
1t is now supplying power for l45C
lights, but has capacity of between
1000 and 5000 lights.
A 40 horsepower induction motor,
with accompanying electrical appa.
ratus, is being placed in the David.
son Fruit compsny's plant to operate
it's refrigerating machinery, and a mum.
Der of business places in this city
are going to put motors in to supply
mower for yariOus DurDOses