The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-11-12

GENERAL ELECTRIC AND STRA-
HORN ENTERPRISES CLASH IN
PLANS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER.

Water power and electric corpora
tions in which many millions OF
money raised in New York, Boston
and Seattle are invested, are engaged
in spectacular fight for control OF
the lower Columbia river valley in
eastern Washington. The tocsin OF
war has been sounded at Walla Walla
where Robert E. Strah0rn, the rail-
road wizard of the northwest" is
seeking an outlet for his big system
of electric lighting, power and rail-
road enterprises and where he In
tends to confer with, the combined
forces of northwestern electric cor
porations now held in trust by the
Bond and Shares company of New
York, an acknowledged holding cor
poration of the General Electric COM
pany.
Boston has for 20 years been the
financial headquarters of the banks
and trust companies which have fur
nished untold millions of capital for
the General Electric company and its
allied corporations. such as Stone
& Webster. which owns and manages
95 per cent of the Pacific northwest.
For the first time in the history of
the Pacific northwest, there. is to be
real clash of interest between the
big power companies operating In
Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
There may have been something
after all in Clifford Pinchot's sensa-
tional statement about power trusts
in the Pacific northwestern states.
Be that as it may. the whole of the
lower Columbia river valley from
Hanford to Kennewick, Richland
and Pasco, is watching the gigantic
contest for control of the richest ir-
rigatei belt of the state, where cleo
tricity, generated by water power, is
to dominate in the development OF
more than 100000 acres of irrigable
land along the Columbia.
General Electric Company Active
The General Electric company,
operating through the Bond & Shares
company. subsidiary corporation, is
asking the Walla Walla council for
franchise and is projecting electric
roads from Walla Walla to Pasco.
| Kennewick. and Richland. s. z.
Mitchell, for many years northwest
ern representative for the General
Electric company. with headquarters
in Seattle, is president of the Bono
& Shares company.
Before Mitchell had started toward
the Columbia river with his plans
for big electric interurban railroad
system he met Robert E. Strahorn at
Kennewick Strahorn, according to
G. c. Arrowsmith, his North Yaki-
ma manager, who is guest at the
Butler, in Seattle. has completed a
high power transmission line from
the Naches river, 13 miles west of
North Yakima, to Richland and Ken
newick Strahorn now has a plant
developing 5000 horsepower, which
can be trebled within six months.
Both Strahorn and Mitchell, the
latter acting for the General Electric
company, have laid plans for the de-
velopment of the tremendous water
power resources of the Columbia riv-
err Strahorn's attempt to buy the
Hanford plant, where Major H. M.
Chittenden. U. s. A., declared could
be generated 100000 electric horse
power, was frustrated by Michael
Earles. president of the Hanford IT.
rigation and Power company. But
this was not until Strahorn had fin
ishei a power transmission line Of
102 miles to the west bank of the
Columbia at Kennewick.
Seattle Concerns Factors.
i Three big Seattle water and cleo
trio power companies are factors in
the gigantic power and irrigation re-
sources OF the lower Columbia river
valley. The Burbank Water and
Power company, OF which James d.
Hoge is president, is one: the Han
ford Irrigation and Power company
OF which Michael Earles Is president,
is another, and the Lower Yakima
Valley Irrigation company Of which
M. e. Downs is president, is a third
lStrahorn's electric power and rail-
road enterprises In the valley are In.
terwoven with these.
The combined electric horsepower
! rating Of the Hanford and Burbank
lprojects Is not above $500 at thi,