Hungry Horse news. [volume], January 14, 1949, Image 1

About Hungry Horse news. [volume] (Columbia Falls, Mont.) 1948-current

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
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In addition to its racing slopes, Big Mountain Juts gentler inclines over snow that presently is fou>
i five feet deep.From this side of course can be seen peaks in Gl acier national park, and Moser
i kettle and Colum bia Mts, Bad Rock ca nyon with Columbia Falls this side of the natural gateway.
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% Mountain'^ 3,220-foot long ski lift has a 1,024 foot vertical
pe. Here where the wind seldom bloivs, evergreens often pre
nt the real winter look, further proof of a good place to ski
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Photographer Lacy took this slalom action picture at last spring's Doug Smith Memorial
j!ow racing requires complete control as athlete twists and swerves at high speed betiveen flags.
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Gene Gillis, Mrs. Gillis and
Austrian alpine skier,
one °f best known men in skiing circles, looks on . T ■ an
nie hH Mountain ski school (you can leant oo * cradle of American skiing.
"ZarT instructor for Hannes Schneider at North Conway, N 0reg0lt
9 sf ® chl e-f instructor at Sun Valley; now he has { Switzerland, he met Rhona
Wt\ Gene Giu 9 ™as a member of last year's Z Mrs. Gillis. Tapley
1 a n 9 a nada's Olympic team. An outstanding woman s Flathead. He likes it.
éructer at Sun Valley, and this is his second winter m Montanas
as
Spotted Bear Reports
523 Elk; Snow Deep;
Mercury 30 Below
A tale of cold winter and elk
in uninhabited wilderness has been
adioed by Ernie Harter and Nor
man Watkins from Spotted Bear
ranger station of the Flathead na
tional forest 50 snow-deep miles
from civilization.
These state fish and game sur
.' 3 v men returned to Spotted Bear
with Sam Gibson of the forest ser
vice and Fred Mola of the U. S.
Geological survey who made the
trip in a ski equipped snowmobile
tractor. Enroute to Spotted Beàr
the party counted 523 elk in bun
: ches of from three to 25 above
Dry park on the Flathead river's
■ south fork.
i They measured 76 inches of snow
I at Trout lake; found 50 inches at
Spotted Bear station where the
j temperature had dropped to 30
below.
Spotted Bear is about ton miles
abovo the end of the future Hun
gry Horse reservoir.
Temperatures of 30 below have
somewhat curtailed activity of the
game survey men, who use skiis
and snowshoes on their treks. They
had just completed a trip from
Dry park to th e continental di
vide.
10 cents a copy
Hungry Horse News
Vol. 3, No. 24
Columbia Falls, Montana
Friday, January 14, 1949
Big Boost Means 4,000 Jobs
i An appropriation of $24,000,000
for Hungry Horse dam construc
tion during the next fiscal year
means 4,000 men on the job this
summer, as compared to last fall's
I peak of 1,500.
I President Truman recommended
this amount to congress Monday
in his budget address.
The unusual zero temperatures
have brought out-of-doors con
struction to a virtual standstill,
j Yet the president in his Monday
address expressed a Pacific north
j west power and water need when
he said Hungry Horse dam water
storage was hoped for in 1952.
The big appropriation means
that General-Shea-Morrison, the
prime contractor, can go full-speed
ahead in finishing their "plant."
this coming summer whereby sand
gravel, cejnent with steel will
become reinforced concrete and
placed in a dam that will rise
to 520 feet above the bed of the
Flathead river's south fork.
From appropriations, other mon
ey is being earmarked to pay for
about 400,000 barrels of cement
during the 12 months following
June 30. There are also payments
on the four generators being built
by General Electric for $4,641,383
and the four 105,000 horsepower
turbines, a $2,350,034 Allis Chal
mers contract.
Biggest new contract for the
coming spring will be for relocat
ing 16 additional miles of the Spot
ted Bear road out of the Hungry
Horse reservoir. Now half com
pleted, l»ut off for the winter, is
F. R. Hewett Co., Spokane, rebuild
ing 14 miles of the Spotted Bear
road for $632,448.
Other clearing contracts are
planned for the summer. This past
fall, Wixson, Crowe and Trisdale,
Redding, Calif., started their 7,210
acre $1,733,880 clearing operation
in the reservoir area, and with
fair spring weather will take up
100 to 200-man operations.
Seaboard Surety has the 1,335
acre clearing at and near th e dam
site for $408,320, and wants to
finish it this coming fall.
Completion date for the 520-foot
high, world's fourth largest con
crete dam is now scheduled for
autumn of 1953. Th e $43,431,000
prime contract was let to General
Shea-Morrison April 21, 1948.
The big dam will have four
75,000 kva generators, and will
serve an additional purpose of
providing for downstream install
ations. No water storage in the
nation, it is believed, will be used
over and over again more times at
various dams on the way to the
sea than th e waters from Hungry
Horse dam which is within sight
of the continental divide.
1947-48 appropriation was $14,
611,650 and 1946-47, $2,500,000.
Zero Policy Holds
At Hungry Horse
Friday morning temperature at
Hungry Horse was around 8 be
low. Word is "open up, Monday,
if there is any break in the weath
er at all." No activity is planned
for Saturday or Sunday by GSM.
Briefly outdoor construction on
the part of General-Shea-Morrison,
the prim e contractors, comes to
a virtual standstill when temper
atures are below zero.
As soon as the thermometer
shows above zero morning temper
atures, the full GSM force of
550 including drillers, carpenters,
riggers, laborers and operators is
back on the job.
Total Hungry Horse winter em
ployment is about 800 as compar
ed to last fall's 1,500, and this
coming summer when it will ap
proach 4,000.
A Monday report from the U. S.
1 weather bureau at Kalispell show
ed 16 below, the coldest record
ing since January 18, 1943. Tem
peratures at the damsite are usu
ally 10 degrees below Kalispell
readings.
Judge King to Lead
Youth Problem Panel
District Judge Dean King will
lead a panel discussion on juv
enile delinquency before the Colum
bia Falls chamber of commerce
meeting Tuesday at 8 p. m. in the
high school building. Also attend
ing the meeting which is open to
the public will be Otto Nordstrom,
probation officer.
During 1948 there were 7,619
auto licenses: 3,290 truck licen
ses and 311 trailer license plates
sold by the Flathead county treas
urer's office.
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Overlooking 400 square mile agricultural Flathead valley is IT he Big Mountain, which in seven
more weeks will be host to the National Ski association's downhill and slalom races. About 100
contestants are expected to attend event. It will bring other skiers and outdoor enthusiasts from coast
to coast. At foot of Big Mountain is seven-mil e long White fish lake,frozen over, and in the distance,
Flathead lake, second largest fresh water lake west of Mississppi. All pictures by Photographer Lacy.
National Ski Races Near for Big Mountain
Project Will Ask
Coal Supply Bids
About February 1, the Hungry
Horse project will open supply bids
for three to five carloads of fur
nace lump coal.
Other February bid openings
are for 20,000 feet of stranded cop
per conductor cable and connect-1
ors. Another bid will be for mis
cellaneous metal work also for the
Hungry Horse dam power plant.
At the Wednesday opening, five
bids for terminal boards and box
es were received from Westing
house Electric Supply and General
Electric, both of Butte; Graybar
Electric, Spokane: Warna Co.,
Baltimore and Curtis Development
Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee.
Freight differentials will deter
mine the award of this under one
thousand dollar nontract.
Nine pipe supply bids were op
ened Thursday. Only local bidder
among the nine was Kalispell
Lumber company. Freight rate
differentials will determine the
contract. It will be for approxi
mately $700.
Rubicon Co., Philadelphia, have
been awarded the order for
Wheatstone bridge testing unit for
$12';.88 delivered. Other schedules
of this opening for testing equip
ment will be readvertised
a
Whittling Exhibit
Slated for February
How much arts and crafts home
talent is there in the upper Flat
head ?
To help find out, the Columbia
Falls chamber of commerce is
sponsoring an arts and crafts ex
hibit for the West Glacier and Hun
gry Horse area sometime in Feb
ruary.
Further purpose of the exhibit
is to bring more attention as to
what skills local people have de
veloped along such lines as wood
carving, painting, sculptoring and
leather work.
There will be prizes for teen
age and adult entries.
On the general committee are
Kirkpatrick,
Jack Andrew, John Perry, higii
school manual training teacher;
Chet Scymer and Melvin Ruder.
Frank
chairman;
Award Fire Alarms
Hollingsworth Electric Co., Ka
lispell, have been awarded the
Hungry Horse project contract
for installation of a fire alarm
system in the government area.
Their bid, opened December 2,
was $4,072.95, lowest of four en
tered.
I
. .Merchants are cautioned that
there have been complaints about
selling cigarettes to minors. This
is against Montana law. — Signed
Vem Brandes, Chief of Police.
Daily Event Is Elk
Processional Across
Ice of St Mary Lake
More than 300 wild elk in a
single line cross the ice near the
foot of St. Mary lake is the re
' port from Glacier national park's
i east side.
I
Just after dusk sets in, the big
elk herd crosses the ice to the St.
j
Mary flats where they graze aJ
night not far from the ranger
station. Before dawn in the morn
ing, they return to more secluded
mountain areas within the park.
The morning and evening ice
crossing single column is nearly
a daily event except in case ot
storms or high wind .
Seeing the elk procession are
District Ranger and Mrs. Don
Bamura, Ranger and Mrs. Horace
Chadboume, Ranger Joe Heimes
and Electrician Xngwald Ander
son.
Snow where it is not wind swept
is about two feet deep.
Thursday is $100
Day for Drillers
j
Thursday, January 20 is $100
day for underground drillers dri
ving the 14-foot in diameter pilot
tunnel for th e Hungry Horse spill
way.
This GSM subcontract is held by
Boyles Brothers, Salt Lake City,
and there's a $100 bonus for each
man on the heading crews if the
pilot tunnel is "holed through"
Thursday. If it gets through Wed
nesday, the report is it will be
$115 a man as bonus, and Tuesday
it would be $130.
If the "holing through" comes
later than Thursday, the $100 bo
nus will be reduced by $5 a day.
The 955-foot long spillway tun
nel is being drilled through doli
matic limestone, and when comple
ted the diameter will be about
35-feet. Its lower section will be
part of the present diversion tun
nel.
New State Cop
Now assigned to the Hungry
Horse area is state highway pa
trolman, Alfred C. Rierson, for
merly of Plentywood, who will
alternate shifts with patrolman
Bud Ward. Rierson is married
and has a son.
What Will Be Done?
When it comes to the public
health problem, the solution tends
to be a rather elaborate county
set-up involving the matching of
state and federal funds. We favor
A.t the moment there is an ap
parent near epidemic of mild ca
ses of mumps. A mild disease this
Effective aid to the control of
contagious disease is to require
this too, but it doesn't seem any
closer.
time.
Seven weeks away is th e nation
al downhill and slalom ski races
to be held on The Big Mountain
above Whitefish March 5 and 6.
The 1950 races are to be at Sun
Valley.
Activity for the national wiL
start at Whitefish late in Febru
ary when up to 100 top-notch
skiers from all parts of the nation
will be arriving to try out the
Montana course. Other arrivals in
addition to spectators will be
about 20 officials for the meet
including all of the presidents of
the divisional ski associations.
These will include the grandson
of James J. Hill, Cortlandt Hill,
Los Angeles, president of th e Far
Western (California) division.
There will be other names like
Dick Durrance, who will serv e as
chief of course. Durrance is now
head of the Aspen, Colo. Ski Lift
association.
No accurate estimate of the
total number attending the meet
is available. It may be 5,000.
Races get underway at Big
Mountain Saturday, March 5.
Likely at 1 p.m„ the downhill
event over a two mile course with
a 2,400 foot drop will start. Com
petition will be men and women's
amateur and open. The course
will curve through trees and
where
bound over open slopes
skiers will attain 60 miles an
hour speed.
Sunday, March 6 at 1 p.m
should see the start of the slalom
event. These twisty races be
tween flags show control as well
as skiing ability, and it will be
a 2,5000-foot long course with a
900-foot drop. Again there wili
be men and women's amateur and
open contests.
When time comes for awards,
there will be prizes for the down
hill slalom and best point totals
for both, or the combined.
This is Montana's first time as
host to a national ski meet. Skiers
and other sports fans are expected
from Great Falls. Butte, Bozeman,
Helena, Missoula as
Flathead. A large delegation from
L,.rkane is also expect 'd.
Preparing the course for the
races will be 60 national ski patrol
members from the various Mon
ta; a communities.
li as the
Big Mountain's present staff in
cludes Ed Schenck, manager,
Toni Matt, former assistant of
Hannes Schneider at North Con
way, and later chief instruclo ■ at
Sun Valley, has charge of the Big
Mountain ski school. Assisting
him are Gene Gillis, member of
last year's American Olympic
(Please turn to page 4)
each child absent over a day or
two to present a physician's clear
ance.
Again we have a problem, we
can help without getting involved
in elections, petitions and mill le
v ' es - It W *U b® interesting to see
how our school system meets the
present disease occurence We
had thought it was an American
custom to ask a doctor's note of
each child known to be sick. MX