Medford mail tribune., July 26, 1959, Image 14

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MAILTRIb6n& Medford, Or. Sunday, July 26, 1959
Plant Investments
Talent Contest
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BIG BEND DAM - The moat recent de- Above is the dam, completed last year,
velopment of the power system of the Cali- The power plant is about a mile down
fornia Oregon Power company is Big Bend - streari from the dam.
dam and power plant onthe Klamath river. -" '
OLD MEDFORD PLANT - This is an artists prvoided 120
sketch of the Old Medford plant which turbines.
servedMedfordwithelectricityinl898.lt
LEMOLO PLANT - Lemolo No. 1 plant, is one . of the
part of the North Umpqua development power plants.
of the California Oregon Power company,
Contests Planned
Residents of Medford. and
vicinity are invited to parti
cipate in two contests which
will take place at the three
day Centennial Fiesta spon
sored by Sacred Heart Cath
olic church parish Aug. 7-9.
The contests, which are
scheduled for Sunday after
noon, "Aug. 9, at the Medford
armory are for old-fashioned
dress, with divisions for both
men and women, and for old
time fiddlers. .
Costumes in the dress con
test may be modelled by
someone other than the own
ers, but must be authentic
and not copies of old garm
ents." .Winners will receive $50
in merchandise certificates. .
Anyone experienced in
playing recognized old tunes
.is eligible for the fiddler's
contest. A S25 prize will
be given. No entry fees will
be charged for either event.
Persons interested in the
contests should submit names,
addresses and telephone num
bers to Bill Dugan, 325 South
Holly st., Medford, or tele
phone' SPring -2-2849.
For Fiesta Here
. The fiesta will open at 6
p.m. Aug. 7 and close Sun
day night, Aug. 9, according
to George Holtzinger, general
chairman.
Central Point Gets
City Hall Bids
Central Point-The Central
Point city council last week
rejected the only two bids
received for construction of
a proposed new city hall at
Third and Pine st. '
Bids were received from
Jacobs Construction company
of Medford, for $27,014, and
from Southern Oregon Con
struction company of Grants
Pass, for. $26,500, according
to Lyle Paull, city adminis
trator. Paull said the council had
not yet decided whether to
call for new bids.
Rare varieties of hybrid pe
tunia seeds produced at Pa
onia, Colo., sell for as much as
$7,000 a pound wholesale.
kilowatts through ,its steam (
, . .
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, ...1 ; ,
company's newest hydro
'. '
California Man
Hurt in Accident
v' Ashland-Wallace E. Prior,
34, San Francisco, received a
nose fracture and head cuts
Friday afternoon when his
foreign car went out of con
trol near Siskiyou1 summit on
Highway 99 south. .
He was taken by. Siskiyou
Ambulance service to Ashland
General hospital where he
underwent surgery Saturday
morning. , -
State police reported that
Prior's car went out of con
trol while rounding a curve,
T - 1 1 . . .. .
sjtiaaea into tne lane of a
dump truck operated by
Homer Howard Spurlock, 39,
Camas-Valley, and hit a rock
embankment after ' striking
tne truck.
His car came to rest on the
shoulder of the highway. It
was towed from the scene.
The dump truck received
minor damage.
The U. S. Army has a crane
which can be parachuted from
the air and can life more than
its own weight-which is eight
tons.
Increase About
400 Per Cent -
(Editor's note: No single
business enterprise is as famil
iar to residents of southern
Oregon and .northern Cali
fornia as the California Ore
gon Power company. The his
tory of electric power genera
tion in this area is now about
60 years old, and much of
it is associated with Copco
and its predecessor companies.
The following Centennial fea
ture describes Copco, and, its
early and more recent his
tory.) The past 11 years have been
notable ones for the California
Oregon Power company.
Total plant investments
have increased by approxi
mately 400 per cent since
1947. The system had a hydrc-
generating capacity of 98,960
kilowatts in 1947 and a ca
pacity of 367,000 kilowatts
at the end of 1958. Revenues
from sales totaled $7,655,053
in 1947, and $22,733,827 in
1957. " . -
Average annual usage by
Copco residential customers
in the 12-month period end
ing Nov. 30, 1958, was 8,674
kilowatt hours, the highest of
any private utility in the na
tion. Although the history of the
California Oregon Power
company probably begins in
1902, when the Siskiyou pow
er and Light company was
organized in Yreka, Calif., it
has its roots in a number of
earlier, pioneer companies.
For example, the 36-kilowatt
plant, constructed in 1891 on
the Shasta river by James
Quinn provided the people of
jXreka with their first electric
lights.
Early in Cenlury
Early in this, century, the
Siskiyou Power and Light
company built a plant on a
tributary of the &lamath riv
er: Power from that plant pro
vided limited lighting service
to the towns of Ft. Jones,
Greenview, and Etna, Calif.
The Siskiyou Power and Light
company later acquired the
business of its competitors and
became the sole supplier . of
electricity to the above-men
tioned towns and to Yreka
by 1912.
Meanwhile, in Oreeon . the
Klamath Falls Light and Wa
ter '- company, with H. " V;
Gates, president and general
manager, purchased a plant
on the west side of the Link
river known as the West Side
Plant,! which had served the
people of Klamath Falls with
electricity since 1894. In 1906,
the original East Side Plant
was built to meet increasing
demands.
Also in Oregon, but across
the mountains in the Rogue
River valley, Colonel Frank
Ray and his' brother, Dr. C.
R. Ray, in 1903 formed the
Condor Electric company and
built a dam and hydroelectric
plant near Gold Hill.
This project, known as the
Gold Ray dam, supplied elec
tric power to the then thriv
ing . community of Tolo, and
later to Medford, Grants Pass,
Jacksonville and Ashland.
Mor Power Needed
In 1911, additional power
was . needed and a plant was
built at Prospect. During this
time, a plant had been in
operation in Ashland since
1889. This plant and the dis
tribution system was purchas
ed by the Siskiyou-Power and
Light' company in 1903. In
1905, it was dismantled and
an agreement entered into to
purchase power from the
Rogue River Electric com
pany, the successor to the
Condor Electric company.
While the Rogue River
Electric company and the
Klamath Falls Light and Wa
ter . company were growing,
the Siskiyou Power and Light
company had become the sole
distributors of electricity in
the towns of Dunsmuir, Weed,
Montague, and Ashland.
In 1912, the Siskiyou Pow
er and Light company under
O. G: Steele, general superin
tendent, bought control of the
Rogue River Valley and
Klamath Falls companies. The
Klamath Falls company was
then under the management
of C. S. Moore. ,. '
Companies Merg
; The three companies were
later merged and in 1912 be
came the California - Oregon
Power company with its head
quarters in San Francisco. In
1915, the City of Ashland ac
quired ownership of its dis
tribution and contracted to
purchase power from the Cali
fornia - Oregon Power com
pany.
During the next two years,
the new company purchased
the electric plants in the
towns of Mt. Shasta- and
Edgewood, Calif., and in Glen-
dale, Ore. This period - saw
the building of the Copco No,
1 plant on the Klamath river
in California, and the begin
ning of the company's trans
mission system.
MiiBMlMMWMWWMWI irraTf HMMUflMfTT Mill III IIIHI M II III Mi nn """"
GOLD RAY DAM - Gold Ray dam near Tolo north of
Medford on the Rogue river was built in 1905 by the
Condor Electric company, one of the earlier companies
In 1920, the company was
re-organized and renamed the
California Oregon Power com
pany. In 1921, the company's
operating headquarters were
moved from San Francisco to
Medford.
During 1924 and 1925 two
plants were built, a new East
Side Plant in Klamath Falls
and Copco No. 2 on the Klam
ath river three miles "below
Copco No. 1.
Acquires Common Stock
In 1926, Standard Gas and
Electric company, one of the
nation's foremost public util
ity holding companies, ac
quired ownership of The Cali
fornia Oregon Power com
pany through purchase of its
outstanding common stock.
This company owned and op
erated the Copco system for
more than 20 years.
In June, 1947, in compliance
with the provisions of the
Public Utility Act of 1935,
Standard Gas and Electric
company disposed of its inter
est in Copco to an investment
banking group which in turn
made a public offering of the
acquired shares of stock.
In the early 1930's, three
more plants were built on the
Rogue River, Prospect Nos.
2, 3, and 4. The later depres
sion years, however, marked
the end of this tmilding pro
gram until after World
War II.
Douglas County
Further north, the town of
Roseburg had had electric
power since about 1890 sup
plied by the Roseburg water
company, which had a plant
on , the South Umpqua.
, In 1903, the Roseburg Wa
ter company was acquired by
the Douglas Electric and Wa
ter company and in 1904' the
Douglas Electric and Water
company merged with a com
pany which had a power plant
and dam at Winchester on the
North Umpqua, and the Ump
qua Water and Light company
was formed.
Following several more
quick, changes of possession,
the power plants and equip
ment were sold in 1912 to
the Douglas County Light and
Water company. They, in
turn, sold it to The California
Oregon Power company in
1923. .
Wholesaled Power
With the system, came the
towns of Roseburg, Winches
ter, Canyonville, Riddle, and
Myrtle Creek. In the last
three towns, the company
only wholesaled power to the
towns' own distribution sys
tems which later were ac
quired in full by the com
pany. The advent of World War
II brought about quick . and
drastic changes. Overnight the
nation moved from a free
economy to a controlled, re
stricted and rationed one. Pro
duction of civilian peace time
goods was interrupted and the
nation placed on a war time
basis. Unemployment vanish
ed and labor shortages became
the problem. Power demands
quickened as war needs in
creased and people moved
into this area.
The company adequately
met all war time needs and
with the termination of hos:
tilities it quickly adjusted its'
operations and programming
to a peace time basis.
Plant Expansion
Immediately following the
surrender of Japan in mid
1945, Copco set in motion a
program of rehabilitation and
plant expansion. It had al
ready acquired the electric
properties of California Pub
lic Service serving the area
in and around Alturas, Calif.,
and Lakeview, Ore., in late
1944; and in June, 1945, it
acquired the electric property
of Public Utilities California
Corporation serving Crescent
City and portions of Del Norte
county in California.
In 1945, applications were
made for licenses to build the
Toketee Falls plant on the
North Umpqua river. This
plant was completed in 1949
and subsequently seven addi
tional plants were constructed
in the North Umpqua develop
ment, the last one, Lemolo
No. 2, going into service in
1956.
The post-war construction
program was temporarily con
cluded with . the addition of
a plant at Eagle Point in 1957
and the completion of Big
Bend on 'the upper Klamath
river in Oregon late in 1958:
While no additional plant
construction is anticipated in
1959, programming is so ad
vanced that any one of sev
eral, projects is capable of
early completion.
Investment in Plants '
During the period from
Jan. 1, 1946, through 1957,
Copco invested $154,500,000
ins plants' and facilities in or
der to provide full and ade
quate service and meet the
needs of its growing service
area. Number of customers
has increased from 39,599 to
89,138 on Nov. 30, 1958.
The company derives 100
per cent of its retail revenues
from sales of electricity to
72 communities and adjacent
rural areas in Klamath. Jack
son, Josephine, Lake and
Douglas counties in Oregon,
and in Siskiyou, Modoc,: Del
Norte, Trinity and Shasta
counties in California. The
economy of the territory of
about 50,000 square miles
with a population estimated
at 250,000, consists of lumber
ing, farming, the raising of
livestock and fruit arid min
ing. Since World War II days,
Copco has grown in size and
usefulness. Today it is a
strong, independent electric
company with a fine, modern
plant, a high capable organ
ization and a sound capital
structure. Not only has Copco
the capability, the resources
and the skills to supply the
needs of its growing service
area: but it is able, over its
transmission network, to de
liver large blocks of power to
distant areas to the north and
the south, " as evidenced by
sales during the. past year to
the Hanna Nickel Smeltering
company, the Reynolds Met
als company, the Portland
General Electric company, the
Eugene Water and Electric
Board and to the Pacific Gas
and Electric company.
Copco is a California cor
poration and with more than
80 per cent of its stockholders
and all of its officers, and
directors residents of the three
Pacific Coast states, it is truly
a western company owned
and operated by western
people.
Swimming, Classes
Announced by Y
Ashland-Swimming classes
for all ages will begin Mon
day, Aug. 10, sponsored by
the Ashland YMCA.
John Cook, YMCA secre
tary, will supervise the pro
gram. He is a former confer
ence swim champion at Illinois
Wesleyan university and has
had more than 20 years swim
teaching and coaching experi
ence. 1
Advance registration for the
three-week classes may be
made at the YMCA or Jackson
Hot Springs.
Classes for advanced swim
mers ofi all ages will be held
Monday, Tuesday and Wed
nesday, 8:30-9:30 a.m.; begin
ners, aged 9-10, Monday, Tues
day and Wednesday, 9:30
10:30 1 a.m.; beginners, aged
7-8, Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday, 0:30-11:15 ajn.;
beginners, aged 4-6, Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday,
ll:15-noon; competition swim
ming and diving, Thursday,
9-10:30 a.m., and adult instruc
tion for men and women,
Thursday, 10:30-noon.
Total cost for the three
week period will be $5 for
the three-days-a-week classes
and $3 for the once-a-week
classes.
C a 1 i f o r n i a has 140,000
farms and ranches, more than
any other state in the nation.
in southern Oregon and northern California which later
formed the California Oregon Power company. It was the
second plant built in the Copco system.
New Attendance Set
At Boy Scout Camp
By DICK CLARK
Scoutcraft Director, Boy
. Scout Camp
Camp McLoughlin, Lake of
the Woods - Boy Scout Camp
McLoughlin, located at Lake
of the Woods near Klamath
Falls, reached- a new attend
ance record recently. In the
period from July 12 to 19
more than 185 boys partici
pated in the varied program
offered at camp.
The program is well-balanced
and well-rounded. It in
cludes aquatics, swimming,
boating, and canoeing; scout
craft activities, axemanship,
compass work, and rope work.
The camp also offers a com
plete merit badge program in
which a boy may sepcialize in
any one of many fields, such
as camping, outdoor cooking,
forestry, and nature.
No camp would be complete
without its field , sports, ' in
cluding rifle, : archery, , and
mo-skeet ranges. The popular
ity of the rifle range is shown
by the 4,000 rounds of ammu
nition fired last week. Merit
badges are also available in
archery and marksmanship.
From Crater Council
The Scouts making up the
record camp came from the
Crater Lake Council, which
includes Jackson and Jose
phine counties in Oregon and
Siskiyou county in California.
Camp McLoughlin was
chosen by the U.S. forest serv
ice to appear in a film on the
use of national forest lands.
Forest service officials were
in camp last Saturday filming
Scouts in' action.
Hikes last week took boys
in many directions. One group
The Chapel Is Now Completed " ;
'! and Is Available to Anyone for
-Services Anytime j
; LOCATED ON THE NORTH PHOENIX ROAD,
V2 MILES EAST AND SOUTH OF THE
" ROGUE VALLEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
' Hi"cret
Memorial Park ' I
llJj J? North Phoenix Road Phoenix
Hospital "(3
llMaiESTPABK I
Bill Oriscpli, manager North Phoenix Road
W m Phone SP 3-6162 or SP 2-71 1 1 . I
went into the Harriet lake .ba
sin, another to Ichabod springs'
on Brown mountain,- and the
traditional Mt. McLoughlin
climb found more than 80
boys on their way to the top.
On these trips the boys cook
all their own meals from de
hydrated trail packs.
The week's activities cul
minated in the Saturday night
TWO WEEKS ONLY
$ fit I
LARRY HAL LARIMORE
Preaches
SUNDAY
2:30 & 7:30
ONLY
4 YEARS OLD
NATION'S
YOUNGEST
. PREACHER
Everybody in the Whole World Is Welcome
Set for Fair
-'
A talent contest for all per
formers in this area will be
featured at the Kiwanis Cen
tennial fair August 20-23, ac
cording to Dick Lamont, Tal
ent committee chairman.
The contest will be held at
the armory, with the winner
competing at the state fair
talent contest in Salem.
Last year's winners, The
Shadows, also won in the
state contest and have made
many professional appear
ances since that time, Lamont
said.
Entries must be postmarked
by midnight, Aug. 10. Appli
cation blanks are available
at the Lamont residence,
1221 Court st.
The petroleum industry in
vested almost vfive . and a
half billion dollars in drilling
more than 113,000 wells dur
ing 1955 and 1956. More than
one and a half billion went
into more than. 42,000 dry
holes. "'
court of honor at a giant
campfire where the boys re
ceived the badges which they
had earned during their week
at camp.
On Sunday, the camp was
inspected for 'national stand
ards by two men from Region
XI with headquarters in Port
land. They were Ross Fan
ning, member of the regional
executive committee, and
Howard Brawn, deputy re
gional " executive. The camp
received a high rating.
PT EVERY NIGHT
BEGINNING
SUNDAY
JULY 26th
At 2:30 & 7:30
BIG
1 4
. f
Interdenominational
CORNER Of .
McANDREWS & SAGE
MEDFORD ;
LARIMORE
Evangelistic Party
SATURDAY NITE
ALL MUSIC
TENT
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