Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-01-28

kilowatt hour, while the Montana com
pany received an average of about Z mills
a kilowatt hour.
The largest single power consuming in
dustry In the state Is metal mining and re-
duction. The plants Of the Anaconda Cop
per Mining company and other mining and
smelling companies in Butte, Anaconda,
East Helena and Great Falls consume over
100, 900 horsepower.
The next largest users are the electrified
railways, which take some $4,000 horse
power.
In addition to these, large amounts of
power are used for mining coal at the
mines at Red Lodge, Bear Creek, Roundup,
Sane Coulee and Stockett. An interesting
development in this line is the recently de-
veloped open strip mine of the Northern
Pacific railway at Coalstrip, Mont, 100
miles east of Billings. At this point there is
a single vein of coal % feet thick, which
lies about 20 or 30 feet below the surface.
This coal is being mined with enormous
electric shovels with current supplied by
the Montana, Power company, and Is used
by the Northern Pacific railway for the
operation of several hundred miles of its
Power FOR Irrigation
Power is used in considerable guam
titles for pumping water, both for irriga-
ton and for city water supply. The city
water supply for Butte is largely supplied
by pumping from the Big Hole river with
electric power, and the cities of Billings,
Livingston and Great Falls and several
smaller towns are entirely dependent upon
electric power for their water supply. Four
thousand horsepower is used in the Prickly
Pear valley for irrigation, and large am
cunts are used also In the vicinity of
Great Falls and Billings for the same pur-
pose. Electric power is used throughout
the state for the operation OF grain ele-
vators, flour mills and q considerable aUl-
cunt is taken by the sugar factories Of
billings and Chinook,
There is a practically unlimited field for
the future development of irrigation by
electrically driven pumps where gravity
bitches are either impossible or impracti-
cable. There are 225 irrigation pumps now
In use in Montana, ranging In size from 8
to 1900 horsepower and capable of irri-
eating $1,000 acres OF land. Throughout
the state are no less than $4,000 acres
of productive land capable Of irrigation by
pumping.
Quite recently a few farmers In the Gal
latin valley have availed themselves Of Mon
tana Power service to do their thresbing.
This fall the owner of q farmer three miles
north Of Belgrade hooked on to the power
line with a Is h. p. motor and did his
threshing by this method, his power be-
ing So In contrast to an expense OF $35 the
previous year, when he employed gasoline
driven motors. IS.
Fifteen years ago, the average doAastic
consumer had 10 or IL 18-candle power
lamps and very little else In the way OF
electric equipment.
Today the modern home Is equipped with
lamps running from Is to 2M-candle power
which, due to improvements In the lamps
themselves, take no more power than that
old 16-candle power.
In addition we have the electric range,
electric water heater, washing machine,
ironer, vacuum cleaner, coffee percolator,
toaster, curling iron, waffle iron, egg beat
er, radiant heater, and last but not least,
the electric refrigerator. Not only to. the
cities and towns, but to the distant farm
and ranch Is this boon being rapidly ex-
tended. Farmers wives are finding their
work much easier through the use Of cleo
tricity and hong is becoming more at
tractive to the young folks. ~,