Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-03-24
LAST WORD IN ENGINEERING
BOULDER DAM


Tt should be called Black Canyon
dam, probably, for it is situated
not at Boulder Canyon, but at Black
Canyon of the Colorado river. We
approached it from Kingman, where
we left highway &c. We came at
last to wild array Of volcanic
mountains on either side of the
road. The ancient lava is OF many
colors, lavender, green. orange,
cream, red and brown. The visitor
drives down a steep hill, winding
around and switching back, the dam
still out of view. Suddenly he ar
rives at parking place, about 100
feet wide, and looks over the wall
at the edge. What sight! A mile
almost straight to the sky, on eacn
side of the gorge. The dam itself
rises 727 feet above the floor of the
canyon, the highest dam in the
world. !.
the dam for 1882 feet, nearly one
fourth of mile. Or, they are park
cd midway. and the driver descends
to the vast, indescribable mechan-
ism below, which mechanism con-
trolls more water than goes over
IN 1881, the government placed
here 1000 men. Boulder City,
neat, clean, modern, model CITY,
was built eight miles away to house
the workmen. Endless machinery
was brought here to the dam. First
of all, two diversion tunnels, so
feet wide, were driven through each
side of the gorge. A Golfer dam was
thrown across the bed to hold water
not otherwise diverted. Immense
the river. From this all men and
material descended to the place OF
operation. Freight cars, 200 tons
in weight were dropped down as
easily as from the hands OF chill
dren Seven million tons of con-
crete and metal were used, great
er weight than that of the pyramids.
The cement would make a road. 10
feet wide, eight inches thick, from
Seattle to Miami. Here is the larg-
est power plant in the world, with
Is large turbines and Is large gen
orators.
why this outlay of $4,000, 900?
1t will serve many purposes. FIRST
it curbs the dangerous and unruly
of disaster and destruction. In
1905 the untamed river, swollen by
melting SHOWS to destructive tor
rent. broke through it's soft banks
and oyerflowed the Imperial valley.
This was garden Of unmatched
fertility. But many of it's farms
and villages were DESTROYED. The
new Salton Sea was created by this
inundation. The S. P. r. r. spent
$2,OOO,OOO, rebuilding it's tracks.
Agitation and legislation, in 1928,
made the dam possible. 1t was
completed in 1886. Again, the dam
will hold the food waters accumu-
lating in three years, storing them
in Lake Mead largest artificial lake
q
long, eight miles wide and 600 feet I
deep. 1t will irrigate thousands of
parched acres, including the Imperial |
valley, which lies 271 feet below |
the sea- A third purpose is the pro- |
duction of cheap electricity, nearly |
two million horse power. A fourth |
is the domestic supply of water, for |
already 13 cities, including Los An
geles. fifth is the recreational |!
area visited by million people, !
who by auto, boat and airplane en- |
JOY it's beauties.
Late last fall, Haldane Holm
strom, 2S, alone in his boat, passed |
100 rapids, in the dangerous and
perilous Colorado, reaching at last
the dam. No single man had ever sur
vived the effort, though many had
made the attempt. "All things are
possible to him that believeth."
From A Wilderness To An Empire
California
The size of California taxes the
Imagination. Ohio is supposed to
be a good sized state. But you could
put three Ohio's in California.
There would be room left for three
states the size of Connecticut, or 26
the size of Little Rhody.' Texas
only is larger All states west OF
the Rockies are packed with sights
worth seeing, but this one most of
all. There is greater variety OF
attractions in California than any
other state. Look at it's topo-
graphy. 1t has Whitney our high
est mountain, Shasta our noblest.
and Lassen the one active volcano.
All day we journeyed around Shas-
ia and still we could see it's snow
capped peak. The roof of the Worle
collapsed here once at whitney,
geolOgists say, leaving on the easr
side faults 1000 feet deep. Whit.
ney is 1902 feet high, and near it
is Death Valley, 276 feet below sea
level 1t is an ever varying land
scape. There is 1000 miles of sea
coast, with no end Of lovelies'
beaches.
The inhospitable desert has Civ.
en- way to vast irrigated tracts OF
fruitful orchards. On one side OF
the road you see desert sand. On
the other oranges are in bloom and
in fruit at the same time. The
mountains seem near
above you, and flame red flowers
spring up in the snow The oldest
and biggest thing alive in the world