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Show Winward Returns From Trip Preston Resident Writes Of Recent Vacation Spent At Coulee Dam, Canada I have just recently returned from a two and a ha?f month trip to the Coulee dam in Washington. I promised the paper a snort synopsis sy-nopsis of my trip. I left Preston on January 2 and returned March 16. We experienced experien-ced quite a bit of cold weather on our drive out, but the temperatures haven't beeii as low out there as they , were while I was away; the abovu zero. 1 havl't seen much ! coldest I experienced was 8 degrees snow except in the mountains since I left home. So far as the dam is concerned, it is practically completed. One power house is completed, three , 150 h. p. units havei been installed three more will be installed by the end of 1942, and three more in 1943. The contract has been let to the C.B.I, contractors for the east power house and they are j rushing this to completion, expecting expect-ing the cement work to be completed com-pleted by October 1, 1942. The installation in-stallation of nine more units will commence and be rushed to completion com-pletion as fast as possible. The Irrigation project is being slowed down owing to war conditions condi-tions as electric power is of paramount para-mount Importance at the present time. Being as well acquainted as I am with several of the leading officials, I was not permitted to go into either the power house or tlie dam on this trip because oi- war time restrictions. Even my effort to see Mr. Banks, the chief engineer engi-neer failed. We know here at, home that we are at war, but the closer we travel (Continued on back page) Wlstward &etu?ns Fsrom Trap (Continued from page 1) to the coast the more apparent it becomes. When r first went out there, there was a guard of white soldiers guarding all avenues ta the dam; these were shipped out aftei about one month and were replaced bv n. ennmnnv nf nvpr 200 well- trained negro soldiers. The latter being strict. Even all the regular workers, Federal men, contractors, etc., had to carry positive identification, identifi-cation, a picture and an identification identifica-tion card, and if they failed to have either on their person at any time they went to work they had to go back and get it. Before returning home I had the opportunity to go up into the Okanogan Oka-nogan valley In northern Washington Washing-ton and over the line into Canada, visiting the little town of Osoyoos which is 935 feet above sea level. The season Is quite well advanced after we got out of the mountains up to Omakj and from: there on as far as we went into Canada plant- j ing was in order. All the orchards have been trimmed and sprayed, tractors were working in the orchards, or-chards, and gardens are being planted. The Fordson tractors seemed to be the most popular in that section of the country. I have seen many large crawler type tractors trac-tors working the wheat fields. The fall wheat is growing, making the countryside look like huge lawns. Okanogan county is an Indian county and as I inquired I found that the full blooded Indian is getting get-ting quite scare as they inter-marry extensively On my way north I saw more logs waiting to be loaded load-ed on the cars to be taken to the sawmill at Omak than I have ever seen in my life before. I am told that the mill at Omak can saw 150,000 feet of lumber in 24 hours, employing over 400 men. The entire en-tire trip from Coulee to Osoyoos and back was 195 miles. My trip by bus from Koontzville to Spokane through northern Idaho Ida-ho down through Montana and home was without event. I left Spokane at 8 p. m. and arrived in Preston the following night at 6 p. m. When I arrived home .and found 12 inches of snow on my farm, I was Coulee dam homesick. This is my fourth trip to the Coulee Cou-lee dam, having spent a total of more than seven months there. B. W. Winward Sr. n ' |