The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-03-13
MANY SEE DAM NOW
ABOUT COMPLETED

1t was six months last Sunday since
the first bucket of concrete had been
poured on the big project and the huge
dam of the Northwestern Electric Co,
Whereby large artificial lake will be
formed, the waters of which will gen
crate 20, 000 horsepower of e. ctrical en-.
ergy, which is now nearing completion.
Indeed, the concrete work will have
been finished before the week is over
and the water will probably be diverted
from the artificial channel tunneed
through the rock bound canyon OF the
White Salmon river the latter part
of this week. The Golfer dam will be
torn away and the stream will be al
lowed to fill up the canyon and form
the big artificial body of water.
The dam is l25 feet in height. The
pipeline leading from it down to the
forebay is l3a feet in diameter. 1t
looks like huge snake winding around
the canyons side. The wooden pipe,
constructed of slaves and bound with
steel rods, is 5000 feet long. Visitors
like to enter the pipe and walk down
its dark vista. 1t is like a journey
through a cavern.
The pipeline has not been entirely
completed, and it will PROBABLY be a
month or two before some of the ma
chinery arrives for the powerhouse,
which is built entirely of concrete,
reinforced with steel. At the forebay
the flume is divided and two pipes,
each about nine feet in diameter, feed
the water into the turbines. The
Northwestern Electric Co. is fast
stringing its high power tranmission
lines down the Columbia. They are
already in place to a point below Stew
enson. BY June the plant VIII prob.
ably be ready to develop electric en-
ergy for the city of Portland.
The company is now rapidly laying
off its men, and the camp is fast be-
coming a deserted village. The former
employees are seeking work on other
such projects in the northV et Many
cross the river to apply for work at
the Pacific Power & Light Company s
camp up the Hood river.
The visitor is impressed by the
hugeness OF the undertaking at the
Northwestern camp and the rapid
progress that has been made AL
though the work is now nearly com
pleted, the donkey engines and the
rock crushers that are still being oper-
ated are rushed at their capacity.
Superintendents, foremen and bosses
rush their work with determination.
The whole contour of the country with
in short radius Of the works has been
changed. Where a year ago the river
ran between the "Narrows" the wild
channel, where the waters roared and
dashed between walls that an athlete
can almost spring across, the canyon
side shows the touch of the hand Of
man and his giant machinery. The
construction work has been done by
Stone & Webster, whose engineer in
charge has been J. II. Manning. F..
j. Walsh has supervised the inspection
of the work for the Northwestern
Electric Co.
During the past week, while the sun
shiny days have been tempting, many
Hood River people have journeyed
across the river and up to the dam.
| II is Just about three miles to the site
of the furthest camp. and the most of
those making the visit walk. The
largest crowd of the season made the
trip Sunday. A umber, not knowing
the way, had trouble IN negotiating
some of the highways and byways on
account of the mud, and although they
presented forlorn appearance on
their return, they all declare that the
trip was the most enjoyable. Among
those visiting the dam Sunday were
MIR. and Mrs. Harry I. Dewitt, Miss
Della Northey, Miss Mae Davidson,
Miss Kitty Bragg, Miss Halvorsen,
Miss Virginia Johnson, Miss Nettie
Allen and Miss Leila Kelsay and Craw-
ford Lennon, William Baker, R. S.
Danforth, V. d. Lii, C. o. Huelat,
A. F. Howes and MIR. and Mrs. l.. A.
| Henderson.