The Seattle Star Newspaper, March 16, 1923, Page 28

Jhe Power of 27,000 Horse Electric Steeds That Leap Mountain Ranges to Serve Wenatchee’s Homes, Farms and Orchards, 120 Miles Away. 6 tp Puget Sound Power and Light Company is carrying forward one of the most important and significant devel- opments yet undertaken in its score and more of years’ service to the people of Washington. This is the building of a power line cost- ing well in excess of $1,000,000, from the White River hydro-electric plant, located between Seattle and Tacoma, 120 miles across two rugged mountain ranges, that the people of the Wenatchee Valley may have ample electricity for power, light and heat; that the farms and orchards of that rich district may have needful current for their homes and farm machinery, and that water may be pumped from the Columbia River to higher and higher levels for the larger production of the world-famed Wenatchee apple. A long-standing short- age of power retarding the progress of this important section of the state, will be thus relieved. It was only about eight months ago that the necessities of the situation called for this new construction—the first time a commercial power line has been stretched ae across the Cascades and the still higher Wenatchee Mountains. The sturdiest type of installation was required to withstand the storms and snows of winter in altitudes reaching almost 6,000 feet. Construction involved a high order of engineering skill. One hundred huge steel towers (the steel made and fabricated by a Washington company) were rushed to position and in- stalled on the higher levels of the 100-foot cleared right-of-way before winter broke. Crews got out of the mountains just 24 hours ahead of the first big snow. Build- ing on the lower levels is progressing apace. By July 1 Wenatchee will be re- ceiving power from Western Washington over three copper cables capable of trans- mitting 27,000 horsepower. The growing country along the transmission line be- tween Puget Sound and the Columbia River, too, will benefit. In the construction, 360 miles of heavy copper wire will be used, totalling almost 1,000,000 pounds; up to 500 men are em- ployed at one time, This Wenatchee power extension reflects just one phase of the Puget Sound Power. and Light Company’s desire and capacity, to meet not only the present but the future needs of the people of this rapidly devel- oping state. In one form or another this company’s activities bring it in daily touch with three-quarters of a million people, in 247 cities, towns and communities from the Canadian border on the north, to the northern part of Oregon, and eastward from Puget Sound to the Columbia River. Elctricity to the amount of 121,000 horse- power is produced now in ten hydro-elec- tric units. In addition are steam plants with a capacity exceeding 45,000 horse- power. The Puget Sound Power and Light Com- pany has high ideals of public stewardship, and strives to keep its facilities constantly in advance of the needs of the wide and growing territory it serves in so many ways. This company is owned by an army of more than 10,000 stockholders, many of whom, your friends and neighbors, live in the communities reached by the company’s activities. The returns which these stock- holders receive as well as the large sums spent for labor and materials, go back to the enrichment of Washington and the advancement of its prosperity. * PUGET SOUND deel? CENTRALIA CHEHALIS ‘CI VANCOUVER. “se {ste (Coprsight 1923, PS. P&L, Cad