Clinton News-Record, 1974-03-28, Page 19Ontario Hydro's first Chairman, Adam Beck toured the rural areas of the province before
the First World War with a number of trucks equipped to demonstrate the time and labor-
saving advantages of electricity. An electric motor mounted at the rear of this truck was
hooked to a nearby power line to power a circular saw, water pump, cream separator, but-
ter churn and grain grinder.
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482.7901
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to the
PUC
ON THEIR 60th ANNIVERSARY
33 Victoria St.,
Clinton, Ont.
Phone 482-3421
iljfiLE
=.=
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4A-Ci."INTON NEWS.RECORD, THUR$DAY, MARCH 28, 1974
Electric Power first looked upon as miracle
Canada, in spite of its vast
areas with pockets of
population spread hundreds of
miles apart in some areas,
ranks second among countries
round the world in per capita
consumption of electricity. Only
Norway, which, like Canada has
large hydraulic developments,
exceeds our use of electrical
power.
Getting there hasn't been
easy and the many advances
since the turn of the century
reflects the industry's "get up
and go."
In 1920, Canadian utilities
employed 10 1 /9-thousand
people to produce 5,8-billion
kilowatt hours of electricity.
Fifty years later 47 1 '
thousand employees were
producing 205-billion kilowatt
hours.
The statistics are no reflec-
tion on the utility staffs of the
Roaring Twenties (who worked
longer hours than people do
today), The answer lies in the
tremendous progress made in
technology and mechanization.
Even within the last 20
years, crews of half-a-dozen
men would dig the holes for ,a
power line with pick and shovel
and manhandle the pole 'into
position with pikes. Now a
single operator drives his
mechanical auger vehicle into
position, bores the hole in the
ground in minutes, drops the
pole into position with a winch
and moves to the next location,
In earlier days, every small
generating station was staffed
by a number of operators who
watched the dials and con-
trolled the station's output.
Now the dials are read and the
switches operated electronically
by remote control. One
operator is able to control
several stations in a central
location, miles from the
generators.
In 1920, Canada's total
generating capacity was slightly
over 2-million kilowatts, Today
we are building plants which
can produce that much elec-
tricity at one location, The men
who operate these giant
stations control huge blocks of
power which previously
required hundreds of men in
dozens of locations.
But the increase in the out-
put of kilowatt hours per em-
ployee does not answer the
question ,of why the surge in
demand for electricity during
this century.
To begin with, it was in-
dustry and commercial
premises which first benefitted
from the convenience of elec-
tricity. Electric motors replaced
the steam engine and soon elec-
trically-powered production
lines were turning out goods in
quantity at a fraction of the
price previously.
Canada's first electric motor
is reputed to have been in-
stalled in a Yonge Street,
Toronto store in 1881 for the
purpose of grinding coffee. Un-
fortunately, no one explained
to the store owner how to stop
it and he kept on grinding cof-
fee until a customer suggested
he pull the wires off to stop the
machine.
But the applications in in-
dustry and commerce soon
were more than matched by the
number of eleetrical devices
that were developed by the
manufacturers for use in the
home.
From our -1974 all-elect
vantage point it is easy to lo
a little condescendingly on t
pioneering days of the indust
It is easy to see ahead aft
wards! Actually, the great
credit is due to the. electrical
dustry's pioneers who co
(continued on. page
First electricity...
(continued from page 3A)
This actually did happen and
for some months for several
years the council did deduct
from its streetlight account.
During all this period the
usual interruptions of service
were experienced, Weather, a
serious fire, and similar
familiar pitfalls were experien-
ced, but the company survived.
In 1900 Mr. Graham, in-
vestigated the possibilities of
selling his plant, and several
prospective buyers turned up
but none turned out to be suc-
cessful,
. *
* *
* *
* *
* '* 60 YEARS OF SERVICE *
* ' DESERVES * *
i
* A' SINCERE
EXPRESSION * OF, ' ' * * -1 APPRECIATION *
** , We are pleased
* U.,'
4
offer ours
to
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CLINTON HOTEL .*
CLINTON
PUC
DES CASSIDY *