The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-02-15
Strahorn's Purchase of Electric Power
Plants of Valley and His Securing of
East Side TOwnsite Indicates the
Early Building of Line Up
the Columbia River

The fact that Robert e. Strahorn,
| the North Coast magnate, has secured
control of the Wenatchee Electric and
Valley Power companies caused
great deal of surprise to the people
of this city. There is great deal
of satisfaction, too, inasmuch as the
securing of these plants and also the
| probability that the Strahorn COM
pany will take over the plant of the
Entiat Light & Power company is
further evidence that it is the in
tention of the North Coast to build
In this territory The new purchase
coupled with the fact that the North
| Coast has tied up land on the east
side of the river for townsite is
confirmation of the report during the
early part of the winter that the
North Coast will commence active
operations early this spring on the
building of the line up the east bank
of the Columbia river.
The career of Strahorn in this state
seems to indicate that he is not only
railroad builder but that he is
territory developer as well. In the
Walla Walla country, Yakima, Pasco
| and Kennewick sections, North Coast
money is pouring into development
of vast irrigation enterprises. With
| the securing of the electric power
| of this valley and the building of
the North Coast railroad indications
are very plain that it is the purpose
of Mr. Strahorn to develop the bar
rem tracts down the Columbia river.
There are hundreds of thousands of
acres that are capable of being wa
tered and would bring untold wealth
to Wenatchee.,
President Gum, of the Wenatchee
Electric company, stated this morn
| ing that he is not in a position as
yet to give out any information re-
garding the transfer of his property
J. HI. Stout, of the Entiat Light &
| Power. company, also refuses to dis
cuss the merging of his company. He
| has said, however, that negotiations
have been on for some time. The
options on these plants were given
some few weeks ago and careful ex-
animation was made of all the prop
critics involved.
When the eight electric power, ir-
| rigation and railroad companies
named in the foregoing are cemented
| into one corporation, it is believed
Strahorn will still be big factor in
the immense enterprise. The corpor-
alton will be in a position to build
vast network of electric interurban
lines extending from Wenatchee down
to Priest Rapids and from there to
Pasco, Richlani and Kennewick, with
feeders in the direction of North Yak
ina to the west and Walla Walla,
Witsburg and Dayton to the south
east.
Strahorn for a year or more has
owned vast water rights on the Up
per Cowlitz river, sufficient to devel-
op $4,000 electric horse power which
can be transmitted to Centralia and
Chehalis and distributed between
those cities and Seattle and Tacoma
along the projected Western Washing
ton section of the North Coast rail-
road. When the big merger is COM
pleted, the resulting corporation will
control more electric power resources
than any other combined group of
| hydro-electric corporations in the
state.
Locally, electric power experts AMI
railroad men familiar with Strahorn's
operations see the strong desire of the
Electric Bond & Shares company and
its corporate ally, the General Elec-
trio company, to obtain quickly a.
strongly entrenched position in this
state, in view of the action of the
government in withdrawing from 10
cation all water power sites on the
public domain in Washington.
Practically every large electric
power scheme involving the harness
ing of the waters of the rivers of the
state is either now in the hands of the
interior department and unavailable
to private enterprise, or is owned by
private corporations and individuals.
Especially drastic has been the action
of the administration in preventing
further private development of the
electric and water power resources of
the state in the valleys drained by
| the Snake, Columbia and Cowlitz riv-
ers, while dozens of. power sites on
smaller streams within a year have
been reserved gainst private entry
and development.