June 17, 1949 (8 pages)

ew Colgate Pow Yuba Official Closes Switch Thursday Noon The new Colgate hydroelectricytors. They were fed by five rivetplant of Pacific Gas and Electric company with an_ installed capacity of 40,200 horsepower, was officially placed in operation yesterday. With a colorful switch-throwing ceremony in the presence of more than one hundred guests and company officials, the new powerhouse on the north fork of the Yuba river 35 miles north east of Marysville began pouring its electric output into the P. G. and -E.’s far-flung transmission network. Charles Coupe, chairman of the Yuba county board of supervisors, threw the switch that sent electric energy pulsing through the transformer banks into the transmission lines at 12:15 p.m. ' E. ©. Johnson, division manager at Marysville, served as host and chairman of the day. He was accompanied by N. R. Sutherland, vice-president and assistant general manager; I. C. Steele, vicepresident and chief engineer; O. W. Peterson, enginer of general ‘ construction; .H. W. Haberkorn, engineer of hydroelectric construction, and A. J. Swank, engineer of station. construction, all from the general offices of the company in San Francisco. Following the ceremony the guests were served luncheon and later were guided on a tour of! the powerhouse. Among them were Marysville and Yuba public .officials and _ representative groups of residents of the Yuba area. ' The new Colgate plant stands on the site of the historic original plant which was in continuous operation fer nearly fifty years. It is on the north fork of the Yuba river about four miles south of the town of Dobbins and some ten miles downstream from ‘Bullards Bar, " With completion of the new installation he P. G. and E. has added a total of 593,200 horse“ power to its generating resources since it launched its great expansion program in 1945, When the program is finished in 1951 the company will have placed on its lines nearly 2,000,000 horsepower of additional capacity, bringing its total electric facilities to approximately 4,000,000 horsepower. The original Colgate was the second oldest generating plant of the P. G. and E. hydroelectric system. It was placed in operation Sept. 5, 1899, by the Yuba Electric Power company which a year later was merged into the . newly formed Bay Counties Power company. Promoters of the project were John Martin and Eugene de Sabla of San Francisco, and Romulus R. Colgate, New York financier and member of the soap manufacturing family. The three men were pioneers in the development of hydroelectric generation in northern California. The powerhouse was a stone and steel structure 264 feet long ‘and 40 feet wide after it had been enlarged ‘in its earlier years to house additional generators. The site was near the spot where the Missouri Bar trail of early days crossed the Yuba on the route between Dobbins. and French Corral. The new power‘house occupies the same site. The original equipment consisted of ‘four Stanley inductor-type generators. By 1906 two additional Stanley machines and a Westinghouse revolving field generator rated at 9,300 horsepower had ‘been added. One of the these vet‘eran generators was destroyed in ‘the fire of 1946 but the others, ‘after repairs, continued in service until October, 1948, when the building was dismantled to make ‘way for the new structure. Four of the generators had been in al‘Most continuous operation for 49 . years. Seven overhung impulse wheels, five of them manufactured by the Risdon Iron Works ‘and two by Doble, supplied the ed steel and cast-iron penstocks each 30 inches in diameter which dropped 1,184 feet down the mountain side from the forebay. Water was supplied by a flume 7.6 miles long from the diversion dam on the Yuba two miles below Bullards Bar reservoir, the principal storage source, — flume was 7 feet wide and 1 feet deep. This conduit was replaced in 1941 by a 4.6 mile tunnel. A wood stave pipe line and open flume from Lake Francis, ~a smaller reservoir two and onehalf miles above Colgate, provided on additional flow both for the powerhouse and the ditch irrigation system. Colgate powerhouse was th first to serve the San Francise bay area with hydroelectric power. A line first was built from the plant 70 miles to Sacramento and in 1901 the Bay Counties Power company completed a 60,000-volt line to Oakland, a distance of 142 miles. At the time it was one of the earliest successful projects for long-distance voltage transmission of electric power. The Colgate-Oakland line was placed in operation April 27, 1901. On Sept. 13, 1946, the old powerhouse was paftially destroyed by fire and on October 6, 1948 the equipment was dismantled, the building torn down and construction of a modern concrete powerhouse begun. The powerhouse is constructed of structural steel and reinforced concrete 69 feet 9 inches wide by 77 feet 3 inches long with a height of 99 feet from foundation to roof. The building has no . windows, daylight being admitted by panels of glass blocks. The generating room is equipped with a 100-ton traveling bridge crane and 10-ton auxiliary : hoist. Generating equipment consists of one vertical-shaft, reactiontype, water-driven turbine and one Westinghouse 40,200 horsepower generator. from the Yuba river. flows through a tunnel (built jin 1941 ‘for the old plant) 4.6 miles to the head of the penstock line through which it is dropped to the turbine at the powerhouse floor level. The penstock is a single line of 96-inch to 66-inch steel pipe 1,630 feet long from tunnel portal to turbine. Junction .of the penstock line and the tunnel portal is a sealed connection which provides a continuous flow of water: from the headworks to turbine nozzle and thus adds the 110 foot fall of the tunnel to the elevation of the penstock heading above the powerhouse floor. Total static head (drop in elevation from headworks to turbine) is 820 feet. When shutoff valves are closed, the pressure of flow from the headworks forces the water up the surge tank until the’ tunnel pressure is counter-balanced and the flow through the _ tunnel stopped. The Colgate surge “tank” is a steel pipe 96 inches in diameter laid.on the surface up the slope from the point where the penstock leaves. the tunnel. This pipe is 220 feet long and at its upper end joins a_ vertical section 40 feet high. A spill pipe will carry overflow into the ravine below. Electric energy produced by the big generator passes through the transformers and_ circuit breakers of the large bus structure adjoining the powerhouse into 60,000-volt transmission lines to Nevada City, Grass Valley, Oroville, Allegheny, Bullards Bar and on major circuits to Sacramento and San Francisco bay points. Bechtel corporation was the contractor for construction of the new plant. Consolidated Western Steel company fabricated and installed the penstock pipe. About 200 contractor’s men and a su3 water power to drive the generapervisory crew of 40 P. G. and The . _ From the diversion dam, water Le HOLMES FUNERAL HOW IS YOU Show us a man -who-owns his-own home and we will answer the question. I. C. and JO BELL REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND BUILDERS 242 Commercial Street-—Neva ci WR. HAVE GooD (a) o and ‘BUYS WITH LOW RCREDIT? . City ! rhouse Starts Generating 16-—The Nevada City Nugget, Friday, June 17, 1949 and his lawyer, Lloyd P. Stryker, courier for a Communist spy ring. HISS HEADS FOR COURT TO FIGHT PERJURY CHARGE NEW. YORK—Former State Department official Alger Hiss, (left) Court Building as Hiss’ perjury trial began. with lying when he tesified that neither he nor his wife had turned over copies of secret State Department documents to an admitted by ex-Communist Whittaker Chambers. enter New York City's Federal He has been charged The accusations have been made men were employed in construction.Close yconnected with Colgate plant is the historic Brown’s Valley ditch and irrigation system which has been in operation since 1888. The Brown’s Valley Irrigation district: was organized in that year and bonded for $160,000. A flume carrying 2,000 miner’s inches of water was built but the venture proved a financial failure and in 1897 the flume was leased to John Martin, one of the pioneer builders of the present P. G. and E. system. The ditch at first served Martin’s Yuba powerhouse, long since out of commission. When Coigate was built the old flume was replaced with a wooden conduit 7-feet wide and 5-feet deep. It carried 12,000 miner’s inches and extended 7.6 miles from the headworks below Bullards Bar. In 1941 the present tunnel was built and the old flume abandoned, Under John Martin’s lease agreement wtih the irrigation district he was obligated to maintain the flume and supply water to the district in exchange for use of the water to operate the electric generators. That agreement still is in force and water still flows from the Colgate into the Brown’s Valley ditch system. HOME Phone 203 246 Sacramento St. Nevada City The Holmes Funeral Home service is priced within the means of all. Ambulance service at all hours. OLYMPIA WELDERS Grass Valley-Nevada City Hiway } t PHONE 61-J-3 DR. WALTER MULLIS DENTIST 435 ZION ST. PHONE 564 J NEVADA CITY YOUR FINE CLOTHES Won’t Suffer at GRASS VALLEY & Dry Cleaners j We clean them with care and . preciseness—a service to good housekeepers who demand the best. No harsh ingredients or careless handiing at Grass Valley Laundry—a trial will prove it. * GRASS VALLEY LAUNDRY and DRY CLEANERS _ 111 BENNETT STREET WN PAYMENTS. . F.H.A. Caer ee nN at PHONE. 106 MRS. BIGELOW DIES IN PACIFIC GROVE Funeral services were held Monday afternoon in Pacific Grove for Mrs. Nora Hiatt Bigelow, widow of R. L.:P= Bigelow, former supervisor of the Tahoe national forest. Mrs. Bigelow, second wife of the forest supervisor, died of a heart attack suffered while she was working in her garden. Mrs. Bigelow had no children. She is survived by sisters and . brothers in other parts of Calij fornia, and Mrs. Gwen Anderson, West Broad street, Bigelow’s daughter by his first wife. fpartment of Justice, NaturalizaFOUR RESIDENTS ARE NATURALIZED JUNE 15 Mr. and Mrs. Giovanni Mochhi, 340 Long street, Nevada City, became naturalized citizens of the U. S. Wednesday morning in Judge James Snell’s_ superior court. ; Two Grass Valley residents also were naturalized. They are: Adeline Strick, former English citizen, 206 Bank street; and Mrs. Josephine Hooper Merrifield, native of Grass Valley, who lost her citizenship when she married an alien prior to Sept. 22, 1922. Her U.-S.-citizenship was restored when she applied for citizenship and took the oath of allegiance. She’ now lives at 432 Neal street. Petitions for citizenship were filed by the four during the past six months. They were examined by Ed Sweeney, designated. naturalization examiner of ‘the DeCLASSIFIED ADS COMPLETE FIRE PROTECTION Extinguishers of all kinds. Fire Hose and fittings. Recharging inc, CO2. POOLE FIRE EQUIP CO Phone 375J, 228 So. Auburn.G.V ORDER YOUR OAK FIRE ‘NOW—Any size, Any length, Any amount. Mail a card to Box 729, Nevada City, Doug Gehrman, Bob Rice. tf FOUND—Fishing basket, pole, and reel. Also two sleeping bags. Owner identify at Police Station. LAWNMOWER SHARPENED AND REPAIRING All Work Guaranteed Crenshaw’s, 401 E. Main Street, Phone 24 for Pickup and Delivery Service. tf FOR SALE—1937 V-8 Ford Coupe, $175. Phone 7F14, Nevada sh, It is vital to the bereaved that the final rites be a sincere, consoling experience. With this mind, our staff has ‘been trained tu handle arrangements quietly and considerately without unnecessary intrusion upon your privacy. 246 Sacramento St. Naan Oe AA am 0, “egy, Mn, iy, ty, Yon A HOLMES FUNERAL HOME J. PAUL BERGEMANN, Owner Telephone 203 EE age ) tion service. City. j28p (oor a eee po SSS AY “AS A TALE THAT IS TOLD” ideal in Qq /\ Nevada City \ 24-HOUR AMBULANCE SERVICE mae 7 ee a eretetet r+ More than 120 lakes in the Sierra and Cascades are man-made. They were built by P. G. and E. as reservoirs for 56 hydroelectric plants whose generators are spun by falling water. Our reservoirs captute melting snow in the Spring, prevent damaging floods Work riever stops on our eto program IS Sierra ieee California’s “back yard” full of them a eal —— re = —— eS and wasteful runoff of precious water, and provide regulated release of the water for year-round stream flow. Many popular fishing streams otherwise would be dry during the summer and fall vacation season. All thie, and low-cost power too! For the record Medepelestric plants do not con-: sume water.they borrow it temporarily, then return it to the stream. “Hydro” aide irrigation. holding back fleod; woters in the Spring end making the water avoileble when it’s needed most m the dry crop-growing months. . P-G-ok: eauine ryYY wi) Witid i comvatiy ae a “<~

ew Colgate Pow Yuba Official Closes Switch Thursday Noon The new Colgate hydroelectricytors. They were fed by five rivetplant of Pacific Gas and Electric company with an_ installed capacity of 40,200 horsepower, was officially placed in operation yesterday. With a colorful switch-throwing ceremony in the presence of more than one hundred guests and company officials, the new powerhouse on the north fork of the Yuba river 35 miles north east of Marysville began pouring its electric output into the P. G. and -E.’s far-flung transmission network. Charles Coupe, chairman of the Yuba county board of supervisors, threw the switch that sent electric energy pulsing through the transformer banks into the transmission lines at 12:15 p.m. ' E. ©. Johnson, division manager at Marysville, served as host and chairman of the day. He was accompanied by N. R. Sutherland, vice-president and assistant general manager; I. C. Steele, vicepresident and chief engineer; O. W. Peterson, enginer of general ‘ construction; .H. W. Haberkorn, engineer of hydroelectric construction, and A. J. Swank, engineer of station. construction, all from the general offices of the company in San Francisco. Following the ceremony the guests were served luncheon and later were guided on a tour of! the powerhouse. Among them were Marysville and Yuba public .officials and _ representative groups of residents of the Yuba area. ' The new Colgate plant stands on the site of the historic original plant which was in continuous operation fer nearly fifty years. It is on the north fork of the Yuba river about four miles south of the town of Dobbins and some ten miles downstream from ‘Bullards Bar, " With completion of the new installation he P. G. and E. has added a total of 593,200 horse“ power to its generating resources since it launched its great expansion program in 1945, When the program is finished in 1951 the company will have placed on its lines nearly 2,000,000 horsepower of additional capacity, bringing its total electric facilities to approximately 4,000,000 horsepower. The original Colgate was the second oldest generating plant of the P. G. and E. hydroelectric system. It was placed in operation Sept. 5, 1899, by the Yuba Electric Power company which a year later was merged into the . newly formed Bay Counties Power company. Promoters of the project were John Martin and Eugene de Sabla of San Francisco, and Romulus R. Colgate, New York financier and member of the soap manufacturing family. The three men were pioneers in the development of hydroelectric generation in northern California. The powerhouse was a stone and steel structure 264 feet long ‘and 40 feet wide after it had been enlarged ‘in its earlier years to house additional generators. The site was near the spot where the Missouri Bar trail of early days crossed the Yuba on the route between Dobbins. and French Corral. The new power‘house occupies the same site. The original equipment consisted of ‘four Stanley inductor-type generators. By 1906 two additional Stanley machines and a Westinghouse revolving field generator rated at 9,300 horsepower had ‘been added. One of the these vet‘eran generators was destroyed in ‘the fire of 1946 but the others, ‘after repairs, continued in service until October, 1948, when the building was dismantled to make ‘way for the new structure. Four of the generators had been in al‘Most continuous operation for 49 . years. Seven overhung impulse wheels, five of them manufactured by the Risdon Iron Works ‘and two by Doble, supplied the ed steel and cast-iron penstocks each 30 inches in diameter which dropped 1,184 feet down the mountain side from the forebay. Water was supplied by a flume 7.6 miles long from the diversion dam on the Yuba two miles below Bullards Bar reservoir, the principal storage source, — flume was 7 feet wide and 1 feet deep. This conduit was replaced in 1941 by a 4.6 mile tunnel. A wood stave pipe line and open flume from Lake Francis, ~a smaller reservoir two and onehalf miles above Colgate, provided on additional flow both for the powerhouse and the ditch irrigation system. Colgate powerhouse was th first to serve the San Francise bay area with hydroelectric power. A line first was built from the plant 70 miles to Sacramento and in 1901 the Bay Counties Power company completed a 60,000-volt line to Oakland, a distance of 142 miles. At the time it was one of the earliest successful projects for long-distance voltage transmission of electric power. The Colgate-Oakland line was placed in operation April 27, 1901. On Sept. 13, 1946, the old powerhouse was paftially destroyed by fire and on October 6, 1948 the equipment was dismantled, the building torn down and construction of a modern concrete powerhouse begun. The powerhouse is constructed of structural steel and reinforced concrete 69 feet 9 inches wide by 77 feet 3 inches long with a height of 99 feet from foundation to roof. The building has no . windows, daylight being admitted by panels of glass blocks. The generating room is equipped with a 100-ton traveling bridge crane and 10-ton auxiliary : hoist. Generating equipment consists of one vertical-shaft, reactiontype, water-driven turbine and one Westinghouse 40,200 horsepower generator. from the Yuba river. flows through a tunnel (built jin 1941 ‘for the old plant) 4.6 miles to the head of the penstock line through which it is dropped to the turbine at the powerhouse floor level. The penstock is a single line of 96-inch to 66-inch steel pipe 1,630 feet long from tunnel portal to turbine. Junction .of the penstock line and the tunnel portal is a sealed connection which provides a continuous flow of water: from the headworks to turbine nozzle and thus adds the 110 foot fall of the tunnel to the elevation of the penstock heading above the powerhouse floor. Total static head (drop in elevation from headworks to turbine) is 820 feet. When shutoff valves are closed, the pressure of flow from the headworks forces the water up the surge tank until the’ tunnel pressure is counter-balanced and the flow through the _ tunnel stopped. The Colgate surge “tank” is a steel pipe 96 inches in diameter laid.on the surface up the slope from the point where the penstock leaves. the tunnel. This pipe is 220 feet long and at its upper end joins a_ vertical section 40 feet high. A spill pipe will carry overflow into the ravine below. Electric energy produced by the big generator passes through the transformers and_ circuit breakers of the large bus structure adjoining the powerhouse into 60,000-volt transmission lines to Nevada City, Grass Valley, Oroville, Allegheny, Bullards Bar and on major circuits to Sacramento and San Francisco bay points. Bechtel corporation was the contractor for construction of the new plant. Consolidated Western Steel company fabricated and installed the penstock pipe. About 200 contractor’s men and a su3 water power to drive the generapervisory crew of 40 P. G. and The . _ From the diversion dam, water Le HOLMES FUNERAL HOW IS YOU Show us a man -who-owns his-own home and we will answer the question. I. C. and JO BELL REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND BUILDERS 242 Commercial Street-—Neva ci WR. HAVE GooD (a) o and ‘BUYS WITH LOW RCREDIT? . City !

rhouse Starts Generating 16-—The Nevada City Nugget, Friday, June 17, 1949 and his lawyer, Lloyd P. Stryker, courier for a Communist spy ring. HISS HEADS FOR COURT TO FIGHT PERJURY CHARGE NEW. YORK—Former State Department official Alger Hiss, (left) Court Building as Hiss’ perjury trial began. with lying when he tesified that neither he nor his wife had turned over copies of secret State Department documents to an admitted by ex-Communist Whittaker Chambers. enter New York City's Federal He has been charged The accusations have been made men were employed in construction.Close yconnected with Colgate plant is the historic Brown’s Valley ditch and irrigation system which has been in operation since 1888. The Brown’s Valley Irrigation district: was organized in that year and bonded for $160,000. A flume carrying 2,000 miner’s inches of water was built but the venture proved a financial failure and in 1897 the flume was leased to John Martin, one of the pioneer builders of the present P. G. and E. system. The ditch at first served Martin’s Yuba powerhouse, long since out of commission. When Coigate was built the old flume was replaced with a wooden conduit 7-feet wide and 5-feet deep. It carried 12,000 miner’s inches and extended 7.6 miles from the headworks below Bullards Bar. In 1941 the present tunnel was built and the old flume abandoned, Under John Martin’s lease agreement wtih the irrigation district he was obligated to maintain the flume and supply water to the district in exchange for use of the water to operate the electric generators. That agreement still is in force and water still flows from the Colgate into the Brown’s Valley ditch system. HOME Phone 203 246 Sacramento St. Nevada City The Holmes Funeral Home service is priced within the means of all. Ambulance service at all hours. OLYMPIA WELDERS Grass Valley-Nevada City Hiway } t PHONE 61-J-3 DR. WALTER MULLIS DENTIST 435 ZION ST. PHONE 564 J NEVADA CITY YOUR FINE CLOTHES Won’t Suffer at GRASS VALLEY & Dry Cleaners j We clean them with care and . preciseness—a service to good housekeepers who demand the best. No harsh ingredients or careless handiing at Grass Valley Laundry—a trial will prove it. * GRASS VALLEY LAUNDRY and DRY CLEANERS _ 111 BENNETT STREET WN PAYMENTS. . F.H.A. Caer ee nN at PHONE. 106 MRS. BIGELOW DIES IN PACIFIC GROVE Funeral services were held Monday afternoon in Pacific Grove for Mrs. Nora Hiatt Bigelow, widow of R. L.:P= Bigelow, former supervisor of the Tahoe national forest. Mrs. Bigelow, second wife of the forest supervisor, died of a heart attack suffered while she was working in her garden. Mrs. Bigelow had no children. She is survived by sisters and . brothers in other parts of Calij fornia, and Mrs. Gwen Anderson, West Broad street, Bigelow’s daughter by his first wife. fpartment of Justice, NaturalizaFOUR RESIDENTS ARE NATURALIZED JUNE 15 Mr. and Mrs. Giovanni Mochhi, 340 Long street, Nevada City, became naturalized citizens of the U. S. Wednesday morning in Judge James Snell’s_ superior court. ; Two Grass Valley residents also were naturalized. They are: Adeline Strick, former English citizen, 206 Bank street; and Mrs. Josephine Hooper Merrifield, native of Grass Valley, who lost her citizenship when she married an alien prior to Sept. 22, 1922. Her U.-S.-citizenship was restored when she applied for citizenship and took the oath of allegiance. She’ now lives at 432 Neal street. Petitions for citizenship were filed by the four during the past six months. They were examined by Ed Sweeney, designated. naturalization examiner of ‘the DeCLASSIFIED ADS COMPLETE FIRE PROTECTION Extinguishers of all kinds. Fire Hose and fittings. Recharging inc, CO2. POOLE FIRE EQUIP CO Phone 375J, 228 So. Auburn.G.V ORDER YOUR OAK FIRE ‘NOW—Any size, Any length, Any amount. Mail a card to Box 729, Nevada City, Doug Gehrman, Bob Rice. tf FOUND—Fishing basket, pole, and reel. Also two sleeping bags. Owner identify at Police Station. LAWNMOWER SHARPENED AND REPAIRING All Work Guaranteed Crenshaw’s, 401 E. Main Street, Phone 24 for Pickup and Delivery Service. tf FOR SALE—1937 V-8 Ford Coupe, $175. Phone 7F14, Nevada sh, It is vital to the bereaved that the final rites be a sincere, consoling experience. With this mind, our staff has ‘been trained tu handle arrangements quietly and considerately without unnecessary intrusion upon your privacy. 246 Sacramento St. Naan Oe AA am 0, “egy, Mn, iy, ty, Yon A HOLMES FUNERAL HOME J. PAUL BERGEMANN, Owner Telephone 203 EE age ) tion service. City. j28p (oor a eee po SSS AY “AS A TALE THAT IS TOLD” ideal in Qq /\ Nevada City \ 24-HOUR AMBULANCE SERVICE mae 7 ee a eretetet r+ More than 120 lakes in the Sierra and Cascades are man-made. They were built by P. G. and E. as reservoirs for 56 hydroelectric plants whose generators are spun by falling water. Our reservoirs captute melting snow in the Spring, prevent damaging floods Work riever stops on our eto program IS Sierra ieee California’s “back yard” full of them a eal —— re = —— eS and wasteful runoff of precious water, and provide regulated release of the water for year-round stream flow. Many popular fishing streams otherwise would be dry during the summer and fall vacation season. All thie, and low-cost power too! For the record Medepelestric plants do not con-: sume water..they borrow it temporarily, then return it to the stream. “Hydro” aide irrigation.. holding back fleod; woters in the Spring end making the water avoileble when it’s needed most m the dry crop-growing months. . P-G-ok: eauine ryYY wi) Witid i comvatiy ae a “<~