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THE STJKDAT OREGOXIAN, PORTLAOT), v OCTOBER 22, 190o.
I POWER PLANT' AT CAZADERO WILL HARNESS CLACKAMAS I
i". f sMeJ tbiuHHi iHfmHii mrMa wfjf4
ON EITHER side, covered with mighty
kings of the forest, living and dead,
the hills reach up toward the sky.
Stretching before, you and racing to meet
you as you stand on .a jutting rock, the
mountain waters tumble ovor impeding
boulders in their haste to Join with the
larger river below. Spanning from bank
to bank, a mighty pile of logs, huge in
dimension, rears itself, a networkl about
which is to be built a barrier to check
the flood, and harness lt for the use and
benefit of man.
Two hundred men swarming like ants
over the works, and hills, in thchr offorts
to complete what has been commenced.
Skeletonized, this is what the eye sees j
upon a visit to Cazadero, on the TJppor
Clackamas, two hours' distance from
Portland, where the Oregon Water Power
& Hallway Company is constructing a
power dam and station which will rank
with any now in operation in the United
States.
This is now, when as yet the Effort of
man has but commenced to change from
the primeval woods to the exponent of
civilization. Now the wild rush of the
fretting stream wakes echoes along the
banks where, in a few months, a seven
mile lake will nestle under the firs and
give hack their shadows. Now the hills
are covered as Nature covered them;
soon the slope will bo dotted with cot
tages and from the pent-up waters will
come the light for many cities and the
force to propel countless cars, in which
will be "hauled the produce of an awak
ened country.
Harnessing Mountain Stream.
It Is a great undertaking, is this har
nessing of the mountain river, and one
that means much for the country between
it and Portland. Where the waters now
run undisturbed above the dam will be a
lake reaching back -'for seven miles
through the hills. To make this lake is
being built a dam 250 feet long, 50 feet
high and ICO feet wide at the base. Im
mense logs, some so long that they span
the stream, have been brought from the
mountain side and knit together in a
mighty crib, which, weighted and filled
with stone, will form the temporary bar
rier to stop the flood.
Leading from one end of this, a ditch,
nearly deep and wide enough to float a
ship, extends for more than a mile down
the river bank, where it will empty into
an artificial lake covering 100 acres of
land. Below this will "bo erected a power
station which, fed by the pent-up waters,
will generate 25,000 horsepower and send
the electric energy in all directions to
meet the needs of the people.
More than a year has passed since the
work was commenced, and nearly half as
long again will lapse before the finishing
touches are given to the task. When this
last time comes, more than 51,000,000 will
have been spent, and then the whole will
not have been completed.
Many difficulties and some delays have
heen and are being overcome by G. 2.
)
Brown, the engineer who is' In charge of
the work. The rugged country and neces
sarily primitive means of transportation
have hold the project back. But this has
been overcome by the construction of a
railroad lino through the wildernoss.' and
ten days more will sco the trains loaded
with cement standing close beside the
dam.
Work Is Hear Completion.
The work as it now stands looks- just
begun, though the engineers say it is all
but completed. The vast crlbwork of the
cofferdam stands like a great skeleton
across the stream, one end sagging where
the floods havo swopt away the support
ing river bank. Along the face of the
hill for a milo down the stream the big
steam shovels have torn a great canal,
28 feet wide at the bottom and 12 feet
deep, through which the diverted water
of the river will bo led into a lake cov
ering 100 acres of land. At the foot of
this lake the workmen are now building
the foundations for tho power station
where water under pressure of 125 pounds
will be run through great turbines to
turn the generators. The remaining part
of the task is easy, the men in charge
say. Nothing remains but to fill In tho
skeleton of logs with rockwork, and to
build concrete and masonry walls at
each end along the bankB, before tho dam
will bo completed. The canal Is prac
tically completed, the work on the power
station has been started, the machinery
is ordered, and all will be done and in
motion by early Spring.
Difficulties in construction have been
many and great. The entire country has
been cleared of century-old trees and lev
eled for roadbeds and canal way. Trans
portation, has been inadequate.
'Bank Washes Away.
Delays have come. More than two
weeks ago, with the first heavy rains, a
large portion of the bank upon which
the temporary dam had been rested,
suddenly gave way -before tho pressure
of the river and left the end of the crib
work hanging in midstream, 100 feet from
the bank.
This, while premature, was necessary,
so the engineers say, as it was here that
one of the mas five walls of masonry was
to have been erected, against the end of
the dam, to form a junction with the
structure like tho top of the letter "T."
It was intended to complete the ballast
ing of the cofferdam before excavating
for this wall, but nature forestalled man
and washed away the barrier. Tho dam
age done will not exceed. If it equals, tho
estimated cost of the excavation.
About the same time that the bank
washed out. a slide occurred above the
site of the power station, which filled the
excavations made for that building with
a ma S3 of earth which will take weeks
to move. This has been the most ssri
ous setback of all. as tho excavations
were completed and ready for the con
crete work of the foundations when the
avalanche came. It will delay the con
struction of the building for a time, but
not for long.' Had this not happened, tho
plant might have been in operation by
the first of the year, but now it will be
early Spring before tho first volt of elec
tricity is wrung from the waters of the
Clackamas:
The dam that is now under way is but
a temporary affair, built to allow the
time to assist In tho construction of tho
permanent dam. This will be made of
solid concrete and masonry, and will be
CO feet high, 240 feet long on the crest
and S2 feet wide at the base. It will span
the river-bed 1C00 feet befow the tem
porary dam.
Great Artificial lake.
The temporary dam will raise the
water in the river to a height of 50 feet
and will back it up into a lake seven
miles long. This water will be diverted
into an artificial lake covering 100 acres,
and this lake will have a. surplusage of
ten hours by which the plant can be run
for that length of time without feeding
from the main body of water above the
dam. By' opening tho gates and thus
drawing the water from the main reser-
early uso of the project and at tho same voir, there will be sufficient surplusage
of water above the canal-level to run
tho power station for 38 hours.
Of the entire output of the plant, the
Oregon Water Power & Railway Com-1 power has been contracted to the Port
pany will use from 1500 to 2000 horse
power in the operation ot its electric
lines. The remainder of the 25,000-horse-
J
land General Electric Company, and wiw
be brought to Portland or used wherever
it Is needed, for lighting or power.
It b announced by the management ot
the company that the new plant will be
ready to operate soon after the com
mencement of the new year.
Pickles Fetched Him.
Tatler.
A clergyman was very fond of a par
ticularly hot brand of pickles, and find
ing great difficulty In procuring the same
sort at hotels when traveling, always
carried a bottle with him. One day when
dining at a restaurant with his pickles
In front "of him a stranger-sat down at
the same table, and, with an American
accent, presently asked the minister to
pass the pickles. The minister, who en
joyed the joke, politely passed the bottle,
and in a few minutes had the satisfaction
of seeing the Yankee watering at the
eyes and gasping for breath.
"I guess," said the latter, "that you are
a parson?"
"Yes, my friend, I am'," replied the min
ister. "I suppose you preach?" .asked tho
Yankee.
"Yes, sir; I preach twice a week, usu
ally," replied the minister.
"Do you ever preach about hell fire?"
Inquired the Yankee.
"Yes, I sometimes consider it my duty
to remind my congregation of eternal
punishment," returned the minister.
"I thought so," rejoined tho Yankee,
"but you are the first of your class I ever
met who carried samples."
A recent weighing of dandelion down
has shown that 1.000.000 of the dalntv nar-
achutes are needed to make a pound.