( t OMAHA ILLUSTRATED 151312. AllKUSt ( i , 1SD. ! )
A Typical Western
Water Power Plant
HELENA , Mont. , July M. Several yearn
ago Dr. Miller and other Omaha geutlu-
meii were odvocatlng with a great deal ol
earnestness the building of n canal and
v.ulur power plant out west of the city for
the purprno of generating electricity to bo
convoyed to .Oinalin nnd elsewhere for man
ufacturing purposes. I remember having a
personal Interest In the proposition be
cause of the great public and private bene
fit which would necessarily bo derived from
such a project , If carried to completion.
Financial and other conditions were too
unfavorable at the time to permit the sue-
cofctt of the undertaking and It was allowed
to drop out of public notice.
Quite recently , however , there have boon
allusions to a revival if the project , or ,
more correctly speaking , to a new scheme ,
which , If reports are to bo believed , brings
with It sumo promise of realization.
Under Instructions from President Nash I
have been looking over the several plants
%
belonging to the American Smelting and
Itoflnlng company and In the couisc of my
Investigations have como In contact with
two electric power nystomH which have
seemed D attractive n to suggest tliU
communication , with the hope that the In
formation presented may stimulate local in
terest in the Omaha project.
At Salt Lake City , or near there , nro the
plantH belonging to the smoking company ,
two of which arc already partially supplied
and doubtless will eventually be entirely
operated with power from the electric sy -
tem. Hid away in one of the canyons about
twelve miles from Salt Lake , through which
a respectable river limbos down to the lake ,
Is a water power plant of gcodly proportions ,
where electricity for motive power and
street lighting purposes is generated. I
am not able to say Jiow extensively this
plant In drawn upon at prcHont for power ,
but I know that so far as the smelters nro
concerned the results already obtained ate
so satisfactory ns to make the exclusive tibo
of electricity In the near future almost a
certainty.
Concerning the other power plant re
ferred to , 1 can speak with greater confi
dence , because it wiitj my privilege to look
It over more carefully. What was for
merly known as the United Smelting and
Refining company's works , but now one of
the prominent plants belonging to the
Greater America company , Is located about
six miles from Helena and this plant until
recently has boon run altogether by steam.
About a year ago the Helena Wntor and
Electilo 1'owur company commenced worl :
electric energy. The second and larger sec-
lion of the power house Is being rapidly
pushed to completion and will contain , when
finished , six more water wheels nnd six
additional generators , exactly like the f.ur
now In use. Hesldcs these thcie will bo
two , possibly four , exciters , ao that the com
bined equipment will furnish 10,000-hors ;
power for distribution over the country.
Ono of the Illustrations presented herewith
show the four generators already In opera
tion and another gives n line view of the
American smelter and the wire Hues run
ning In from the river.
The marvelous possibilities of water power
plants fur the generation nf electrical en
ergy and the apparent case of distribution ,
without great loss of power , over wide acres ,
have never Impressed mo so deeply before
and If any scheme can bo devised \\lth
such results as I have hastily outlined for
Omaha , It should challenge the warmest en
couragement of nil our people.
WILLIAM 11. ALEXANDER.
Getting Kid of Him
Chicago News : "Stranger , " said Amber
Pete < to the cheeky Individual with the sub
scription book , "what do you call yourself 7"
"I. sir , am nn agent and "
SECTION OF DAM.
ncso of the mountain and a glimpse of the
heavy foundations.
Following a bee-line over the hills and
acrcs-s a wide valley In the mountains tlu
pregnant wires stretch away over 2,700 poles
to Helena , with other lines branching olt to
the smelter and the Helena-Livingston re
duction works , In both of which plants the
old steam engines have been cast aside and
the forceful motors Installed In their st'nd
Manager \Vhltley estimates a saving at the
smelter of ail per cent In cost of power , to
say nothing of cleanliness , convenience and
safety. One very gratifying fact In connec
tion with the power plant Is this , that there
has never been a break In the delivery of
FOUNDATION OF GENERATOR HUILDING.
on a large- power plaint , which Is likely to
beet mo a conspicuous factor In the indus
trial activities of this region.
Mr. Charles W.Vhltloy , manager of the
smelter , Is also the mam\inr ; for the water
power company , nnd quite early this morn
ing ho called at 'tliu hotel with n sprightly
team to tnUo me over to the "dam , " us It Is
called , It l located about twenty mlUs
from Helena , at the lower entrance to n
Hinall canyon , wheru the. Missouri ilvur
watora , after a brief confinement between
the narrow limits of UH rocky shares , emerges
with considerable farce to wind their way
down the mountain valley , llowlng , at this
point , toward the northwest Instead of south ,
as wu In Omaha art ) accustomed tu uco them ,
Tlu dam IN a remarkably substantial
plcco of Htiinu and timber work , about thirty
feet high , with a spill-way between the
ponderous abutments of 48.1 feet. The bulk
heads are firmly llxed between one of these
Hilllil abutments nnd the great stone face of
tlui mountain , Two hugu Iron penstocks , to
convoy the watur to the wheels , nro already
In place and two others , utlll larger , will
soon bo completed ,
A llttlo way from the dam and close to
the river Btamls the completed t > ectlan of the
thiek-wulled gnmlto power houssUisro tin
spunky water wheels which drive the gen
erators are placed , Tliero are In operation
at this time four ponderous dymiucs , or
generators , thirteen feet high from their
foundations , with nine-foot armatures , each
capable of producing 880-horso power of
power from any cause since the wheels
wore- started , nor has there been ino slight
est Interference by lightning.
An Idea concernlnc dlfllcultles encoun
tered in setting up this plant so far from
the railroads may bo gotten from the state
ment that the great cast frames In which the
armatures work weigh fifteen tons npleco
and the contractor who undertook to trans
port the huge machines over the foothills
employed n team of soventeun mules , tv\o
of which were killed on the way , and those
strong beasts , hitched to n ponderous wagon
bed , wore seventeen da > working the great
loads to their destination. And this tedious
process , relieved , perhaps , by suggestions of
experience , will have to bo repeated when
the additional generators arrive.
At present thn power company supplies
electricity for the Helena street railway sys
tem , all the. currents for street and other
electric lighting , the two smelters nnd nu
merous other manufacturing establishments.
The- company also has oantracts for supply
ing power In Unite , seventy miles nway , and
wires for this purpose will bo ready for
Horvlco when the now generators shall have
been properly placed ,
Upward of Jl.000,000 will have been
brought Into use when all the plans now
under advisement mature and on this In
vestment n gratifying return Is assured , oven
at the comparatively low rate of $50 per
horse power per annum. The other Illus
tration selected for this letter shows the
"Do you tramp around this hero country
much ? "
"Yes , sir. " I have been on 'the ' road for
several vears. "
"Then , durn your hide , if you call yourself
an agent , an' you've been on the road , } ou
must bo one of these measlv road agents !
Tnko a sneak , stranger ; take a sneak. "
Origin of "Hip ,
Hip , Hurrah"
"III ] ) , hip , hurrah" has always been re
garded as a thoroughly British cry , typical
cf the exuberant temperament of the race.
Compared with It the "vivo" of the French
man , the "hoch" of the German and the
"slava of the Russian are tame and ex
pressionless.
The words are not English at all. A
gentleman named Adams has been Investi
gating the mysteries of the pyramids mil
.monuments cf Egypt nnd has found the
phrase , "Hip , hip , hurrah" amcng the
early hieroglyphics of that country. Ac
cording to iMr. Adams , the hieroglyphic
"Hip , hip , hurrah" means , iwhen translated ,
"On , on to plunder. "
An Irish Egyptologist writes to afeert
that the phrase comes from Pharaohland
via Dublin. In the works of Sir James
Ware (1595-1GCC ( ) , the famous Hibernian his
torian nnd antiquarian of Ireland , there Is
a passage which says :
"Some writers think that Ireland was
called Scotia , from Scota , the wife of
Gnetholus and daughter of a King Pharoah ,
but of wlilcJi name I know not nnd that
the Irish language was Invented from the
saino Gaethelus , from whom It was called
Oaellc. Others say that another Scotn , also
a daughter of a king of Egjpt , married
Mileslus and gave the name of Scotia to
Ireland. "
Thus , says our Hebirnlco-Egyptlan cor
respondent , "Hip , hip , hurrah" can well
bo Egypto-Irlsh.
V , If
The Last Shackle Struck Off T
Hns the motor vehicle tome as the final
emancipation of women ?
Yesterday 1 had a vision if the very
newest of the new women not the ad
vanced female of square-cut attire , sober
colors and socialistic Ideas , but the brilliant
creature of the motor carriage , who Is a
typo unto herself , a creature of the hour.
She was coming down the avenue In the
sunshine. She sat luxuriously among the
rich green cushions of a sparkling new vic
toria with the top crushed back and a foot
man sitting up behind In aristocratic stiff
ness and white-topped boots. In attire ,
from her lace parasol to patent leather ties
she was what one might expect on the HVC-
nuo on a sunny afternoon , but there wasn't
a mother's son , or daughter either of the
thousand who turned to watch her so by
who thought once of clothes , for her hands
were on the two nickel-plated levers which
curved gracefully upward from the car
riage floor In front of her an'l ' one dainty
foot rested on the brake ! bar.
She wore none of the timse , anxious , ex
erted expression of the driver of Jiorses.
A gentle turn of neatly gloved wrist in
creased or decreased her speed by several
miles an hour , a twist of the other and the
vehicle cut out to one side with a pleasant
whirr and passed a lumbering bus ; a pres
sure of her thumb and the electric boll rang
a warning. It was all without effort ,
graceful and deliberate and yet dashing and
impressive.
I watched her spin In and out among
the maze of travel , easily and quietly mak
ing a speed about three tlmcn that of an
ordinary carriage. I saw her whistle across
the tracks at a much-trollled street and
turn with a sweep Into the lower avenue ,
drawing up at the curbing as gracefully as
a bird might alight. And then the big foot-
hlin hold with superior strength the reins
that guide 'his high steppers. And If that
strength failed , what can she do but scream ?
Some there have been who have driven , and
jot no oman ever yet , deep In her heart ,
quite lost the lurking fear of the bit In the
teeth nor overcame entirely her suspicion
that the harness would break.
Hut with the coming of the new vehicle ,
with Its smartly curving handles , all this
Is changed. A woman can drive now and
turn and race as well as a man. It neeJis
only the strength of a child. And more
than that she can stop stop wherever and
whenever she pleases , and In any one of
four or five different ways. And when sin ;
goes In to call or shop she hats no need to
worry about Wllllann and the horses. She
knows of a certainty that her carriage will
remain exactly where she left It , and that
It cannot start until she Inserts the little
brass key which she carrlis with her.
Moreover , she is emancipated from trolley
cars and suburban railroads. If she lives In
the country forty miles out , no more will
she arise in the dawn to catch the fast train
to town and worry nil day about getting
herself and hoi" bundles to the fast train at
night. She is ready when she pleases best ,
her carriage is never eating like horses , nor
warm like horses , never casts n shoe , ami
ahe gets In and rides to town on 20 cents
worth of gasoline or electricity ( her fare on
the suburban train would have been -lit
cents ) , she shops where she pleases , locks
her bundles under the seat , waits for lunch
at her favorite rcataurant and stops for her
husband at the olllce , and they spin home
together In the cool of the afternoon , fasti-r
than the trolley would carry them , with no
jostling nor crowding , and no changing of
cars.
Once at home , this new woman runs her
WHEN THE FOOTMAN DOEa Till" WOHIC.
man came down and held the carriage key
these now marvels of vehicles have kejs
llko treasure boxes while my lady tripped
across the sidewalk to do her shopping.
And thus , I thought , Is'\\oman llnally
emancipated. No more the terror cf the
innaway that hauntcth 'by ' day. no more of
the odor equine , no more of the buckle horror
ror , no more whips , no more lilts , no more
dust to fly 117) from beneath horses' hoofs ,
no more clatter nnd bang and ratt'e.
For these thousand years or more a cer
tain weakness of my lady's \\rists has forced
her to sit quietly nt my lord's side nnd f-oo
MANAGING HER OWN LEVER ,
new vehicle Into her summer kitchen if she * "
hasn't a ! > arn. And there it Is ready for an
other forty miles. There's no unbuckling
of moist buckles , no mysterious straps to
tie up what woman ever really understood
a harness ? no oats to parcel out nor hay
to fork down , and no odor nor flies. Of .
lt.
course , this paragon of wheels must be
cleaned , but no more than on ordinary
buggy , and it must be fed , but that is no
harder than filling the parlor lamp unscrew
a nut , tip up the can , and behold ! it Is done.
The new vehicle must be oiled nnd the tires
pumped a.t . recular Intervals , but no inoro
than a bicycle. Fifteen cents will carry it , ,
100 miles and it never eats when it Isn't
working , and that Is something every former
horse owner appreciates most keenly. And
the cost of a really good vehicle , whether
operated by gasoline or electricity , is not BO
great as 'that ' of a carriage and span.
Any woman can learn to operate a motor *
vehicle In an hour : she can become pro
ficient In half a day ; In two days she can
go anywhere , even In crowded streets. It
Isn't half as difficult to "drive" a motor car
riage as it Is to learn to ride on a bicycle.
The main thing required Is presence of
mind ; a driver must know Instantly which
lover to null ito meet each emerconcy as It
presents Itself. A motor vehlcllat must ex
ercise tbo Intelligence of the horse , and no
moan intelligence it Is , as well as that of
the driver. The training , therefore , Is more
that of the mind than of the hands. There
are only five things to learn nt first ; How
to start , how to Increase speed , how to use
the brake , how to turn off the power and
how to ring the bell. ( All these operations
are performed In most vehicles with two
hand and ono foot lever ; and thev are no
liarder to understand than a sewlnc ma
chine ,
In conclusion It may bo positively asserted ' * '
that the modern motor vehicle has reached
such perfection that It cannot run away
without the very grossest carelessness , and
It cannot possibly explode. These two facts
will reassure seme women who have
formerly been a bit timid regarding this new , ,
vehicle which has become the greatest fad
of the season among the smart set In Newport - ,
port and New York ,