University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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THE REDWOOD 29 power of over ten per cent, and we may safely assume that the factors which forced the industry ahead thus far will remain unchanged. Our generating plants at present have a peak load capacity of 1,223,000 horsepower with ;i very small margin in excess of the maximum load. By 1925, in spite of Hie addition of 452,000 horsepower as planned, the resources of the state will be 175,000 horsepower short of requirements. This means that, if the power com- panies are to meet future demands as great in proportion as those of the past, new plants must be financed and constructed in excess of the present schedule. The conclusion therefore follows that California can utilize all the power flint can be developed. The mo c t conservative and reliable estimates of water power which can be economically developed in the state average about 6,000,- 000 horsepower, and according to the present rate of increase in demand this power will be absorbed in 1941. Already men of foresight are considering the great Colorado and Columbia Rivers as sources of supply for the future. The problem is to develop an adequate amount of power to provide for the full realization of California ' s possibilities. Great national resources lay open to development, and more and more the resourcefulness of the human mind will be called upon to perform marvelous feats of engineering and finance. If the fruits of these new undertakings are in any measure compara- ble with the efforts and accomplishments of the past, we may be assured that the future of California is to be one of continued prosperity. Violets and Stars By Tullio Argenti, ' 23. Violets are the humble thoughts That spring from the soul of earth Even stars are the thoughts of God, High heaven their place of birth.

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28 THE REDWOOD tinctive as the first system actually to operate at this record voltage. The Feather River development also is distinctly a high voltage enterprise, slightly preceding the other two in time, and transmitting power at 165,000 volts, a record for the time of its installation. Permanency and dependability are the principal characteristics of these new systems. Five chief materials of construction, steel, concrete, copper, aluminum, and porcelain, are blended into mighty unison comparable with no other product of the mind and hand of man. Steel is used for the construction of transmission towers one hundred feet in height, weighing up to six tons, of strength sufficient to support heavy spans of the power cables across deep can- yons, wide rivers, and over high mountains for hundreds of miles. Frames and trusses supporting the switches and other equipment are of steel ; likewise the reinforcements which strengthen the concrete in the power houses. Great pen- stocks which convey the water down the mountain side to the power wheels, and the turbines, generators, transformers, weighing up to seventy-five tons, switches, headgates, valves, and other equipment, are built of steel. Concrete, placed around steel frames, produces power house buildings that defy wear and disintegration, provides solid bases for the heavy machinery and trans- mission towers, lines the tunnels and canals carrying water to the power houses, and builds dams necessary for conserving and diverting the water. Copper produces the great coils of the electrical machines, generators and transformers, the electrical circuits through control apparatus and switching equipment in the power houses, an extensive network of high power transmis- sion lines, distribution and service equipment that conqjrises an electrical system. Aluminum gives cables for the high power lines through the moun- tain districts where heavy loads of snow and ice in winter require lightness and strength in construction of the long transmission spans. Porcelain, in the form of insulators suspended from the arms of the towers, supports the lines and prevents leakage and losses of electricity to the ground. Large bushings leading in and out of switches and transformers also serve to prevent these losses. The production of new and larger equipment has kept pace with the demand of the industry in every respect, and an industry based on develop- ment of this type is its own guarantee of a continuous healthy growth and prosperity. That the development of power is the basic industry of California is clearly shown by its relation to the other industries. The home of the Califor- nian is truly an electrical home, and it is here that electricity through its many applications has contributed in the greatest degree to the happiness and comforts of man. Agriculture has been greatly extended due to the use of power on the farm, for over a third of the lands of California are irrigated with water pumped by electricity. Industrial plants such as factories, can- neries, refrigerating plants, lumber mills and logging camps, and the mining, petroleum, and chemical industries, rely upon electricity for power. Trans- portation and communication likewise utilize electricity, and the electrifica- tion of all the principal railways is only a matter of time. For the past ten years there has been an annual increase in the use of

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30 THE REDWOOD Andante By Henry 0. McCormick, 25. T i s one thing to have a town named after you, but quite a different and not so pleasant a thing to be named after a town. Binghampton, New York, is a logical, appropriate, and nice-sounding name for a metropolis. But D. Binghampton Butts IT ! The D stood for Dante. One day Brofessor Barlezvous, our hero ' s erstwhile music teacher, dubbed him Andante, Because he ez one peaceful garcon. But slow? Mon Dieu! On that day D. Binghampton Butts II swore by the nine gods that he would endure the opprobrium of Bing- hampton hereafter, but that never would the word Dante as applied to himself cross his lips again. The great clay dawned. It was a great day, because on that day Bing was to leave his native Los Angeles for the first time in his young life to go to college in the north. Yet it was not without regrets that he was leaving. Slowly and tearfully he cast into his suit case his most treasured belongings. Banjo, pennants and tennis rackets went their way. He would have included his dice and several packs of cards also had not his loving mother interrupted him. Pictures and souvenirs, followed in rapid succession by a leather-bound address book wrapped in a pair of green silk socks which completed the troiis- seau, filled the grip to overflowing. Parents, relatives, friends, servants, retainers, dogs, and sweethearts saw the express pull out, D. Binghampton waving sadly from the rear observa- tion. Write home every day and don ' t catch cold, called Mother Butts, as the cars glided by. Papa Butts said not a word, but his eyes bespoke his message. A wreck made the train hours late. Bing wearily pulled out his watch. The train could not get into Palo Alto before nine o ' clock, and they weren ' t even at San Jose yet. He languidly cursed his luck at having to arrive in a strange place at night, then curled up and went to sleep. The train halted with a jerk, and a squealing of brakes. Whurrah — ! shouted the brakeman. Wha-a, what ' s that? What did you say, half whispered, half snored Bing. Whurr-ah! again repeated the brakeman more distinctly and grabbing the valise carried it out. Bing trailed after him on still slumbering feet. The trainman said something more, but the youth failed to comprehend. Swinging from the car onto a depot platform he beheld a tiny country town blending into the depths of gathering blackness. Several houses, more or less poor, a store or two, the station with its usual crowd of hangers-on, and a dilapidated Ford, graced his uncritical vision. On the distant side of the track loomed a fence, some trees, and then darkness. Not much of a college town. W here are the fellows? thought Bing get-