The Washington herald., 1909-08-01
HARNESSES RIVER
TO PRODUCE POWER
What Big Corporation Did
On the CataWba.
THREE PLANTS NOW RUNNING
Furnishes Electric Current TO Three
or Four Cities and Many Small
TOwns-Drives n Hundred Cotton
MfIIs-AH Accomplished without
Consuming n Pound of Coal.

One Of the significant movements In the
South toward the cheapening OF power
and the consequent advantage to industry
Is the harnessing OF the rivers to dyna-
mos and generating apparatus for the
creation Of the electrical current This IS
being done IN a large way and with GER
tainty Of success in a score Of places In
the Southern States. In the years Of the
near future this score Of attemps TO use
the streams OF the South to turn the
wheels OF its industry will be multiplied
probably three or four times.
To show what the Southern Power
Company Of the Carolinas has done, and
Is doing. by way OF utilizing the waters
Of the Catawba River and its afiluents.
the following technical description of its
three-fold plant is given The Southern
Power Company was in an important
sense the pioneer IN this work. and what
It has done for the chain Of cities reached
by It's conducting wires is only repre-
sentative Of what will be done many
times elsewhere in this Southern country.
The following description OF the plant is
taken from paper recently read before
meeting Of electrical engineers in St
Louis:
Takes Five Years 90 Build.
In five years there has been built up
along the Catawba River in North and
South Carolina the greatest hydro-electric
system IN the South.
with the Rocky Creek plant just
started the Southern Power Company
mas a generating capacity in fits three
water-driven stations Of $4,000 kilowatts,
1r 1880 electric horsepower These plants
&" 'Nr South Carolina and about
ms In their greatest distance
t -o1h OF the North Carolina
tae Catawba plant. some
IS down stream Is the
F- IN, and three miles below
t-sr u, is the development just
et G1ck Creek
rw plant began 10 operate in
IN September 1905, II had
laa 0.000 horsepower, with a
ecL y OF $500 kilowatts. or
. l.- at normal rating. With
on .ul l.Ir years after starting the
r,sr bat Is. In September, 1905
r n the development at
E1le ar- was completed in March.
T giving el structlOn period Of about
rrtc-n months for this hydro-electric
..-. kilOwatts generator ca
paciry.
within a year after the development OF
Ae Great Falls site was under way, that
i. In August, 1906, clearing began at
Hocky Creek, and the completion Of this
tier plant IN April OF the present year
YES II a construction period Of about
70 and two-third years. but this reduces
r1 two years since the masonry work
as started.
First Cntnwba Plant.
Beginning with the Catawba plant in
arch. 1904. and coming to April. 1902
space Of sixty-one months. these three
vdrO-electrIc stations, with a combined
pacity Of $500 kilowatts. have gone
to commission along some thirty-two
lies of the Catawba More than this
thin the past year construction has
een started at what is known as the
nety-Nine Islands plant. near Blacks
burg. S. c., on the Broad River, where
is proposed to install six generators OF
% kilowatts each. a total OF 1900 kilo-
tits or $4,000 electric horsepower.
Tie date for the completion OF this
srth development is fixed early in 1910
I'D it will give the Southern Power Com
ny a combined capacity Of 72.6Oo kilo-
It's, or $500 electric horsepower IN
ter-driven generators. Such a record
aggregate capacity at several different
s- tons in a single system all completed
q period of six years has probably
yer been equaled anywhere else.
For the connection OF the above gen
ting stations with each other and with
chain OF cities, villages and manu-
% turing plants that stretch from Ches.
Rock Hill, and YorkvilIe, S. c.. or
south, 10 Salisbury. Statesville. anc
sensboro, n. C., on the north, nearly
miles OF tower lines and pole lines
re been built, with a much greater
9Th OF transmission circuits. The
bic circuits on steel towers connect
generating plants at Rocky Creek
Cr1at Falls. and Catawba. and run tc
lrlotte. Concord, and Salisbury.
Transmission of Current.
Originally these transmission circuits
vcre operated at 1900 volts but pro-
on was made for doubling this voltage
to $1,000 when desired. and II is under
ID that this increase has beer put
irt1 effect on the double trunk line that
clg meets the generating station and larger
ss
At the Catawba station, which was
gnated before the present ownership
an. the current Is delivered at about
volts and Is transmitted to some
Its only a few miles distant at this
re, but the generators at this station
ilr. also connected with the 1900 volt
So through three transformers Of 200
watts each, so as 70 operate In
v a allel with the other plants.
-he Great Falls and Rocky Greek
Its are equipped with 200 volt gen.
ors and with transformers that raise
pressure to 1900 volts for trans.
sion.
n the distribution OF energy from the
Gus substauons 20 the manufactgr-
H plants and lighting stations that arr
olied. a voltage e $50 is employed al
points and OF 2,3o0 at others. The
Il bulk Of rile energy Is used by cot
mills. and the voltage Of distribution
aTgely determined by that OF then
l'. ors
'uring the first year or two in which
transmission system was operated
tendency of the mills was to use $50
20 motors; but more recently the prac-
ice has been more general to adopt 1900
volt motors where the sizes made II
practicable"