This topic will most likely be of less interest to most people than my article on the Civil War monument, but it is very important and does touch the life of everyone in Perry. It is the topic of electricity.
In 2011 I was looking through a copy of the Perry Centennial Book from 1969, which I had purchased from the Perry Historic Preservation Commission for $5. I happened to see that Perry began the production of 24-hour electricity for the city in 1917.
I thought that this event would be worthy of a 100 year celebration this year. I imagined at this celebration representatives from the local Alliant Energy and ITC shops speaking about how important electricity is to our country and town and how honored they are to be able to provide this utility for such a minimal cost.
I imagined Perry Mayor Jay Pattee giving an illustrious speech about how electricity led to the great things in the world, country, state and our city. He even could have used this material for his annual end-of-the-year speech at the second city council meeting in December.
I also imagined the Iowa Energy basketball team would have their dance team, the High Voltage, come to Perry to perform a couple of dance routines in honor of this significant event. I talked this over with Perry Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bob Wilson prior to his departure, and and he politely nodded.
Perry history buff Larry Vodenik later gave me some pictures of past Perry power plants.
If you know me, then you know that I have a memory like a steel trap. My mother does not seem to like this when I ask her about things that I remember when I was 2 years old. It makes me wonder whether there is something that she is afraid that I will remember that she does want me to.
I remembered reading that 24-hour power came online in Perry Nov. 17, 1917.
This event really occurred March 21, 1917. So goes proof of my great memory. Bob Wilson left the Perry Chamber of Commerce possibly to avoid my idea.
In the first place, the organization I was working for did not belong to the Chamber of Commerce. Secondly, the Iowa Energy became the Iowa Wolves, and the dancers becames the Iowa Wolves Dancers. Thus my great idea of a celebration honoring something as important to every citizen in Perry as electricity never came to be.
At any rate, 24-hour electricity did come to Perry March 21, 2017.
Larry Vodenik did suggest that I look at pages 96 to 100 of Marjorie Patterson’s book, “A Town Called Perry,” which is the section about electricity coming to Perry. This book is another useful item that I bought from the Perry Historic Preservation Commission for $5.
Perry first received electricity Dec. 7, 1892, generated by burning coal in a building on west Warford Street that also housed the water plant. One week later, a fire alarm sounded at the plant. The machinery was not damaged too badly but was offline until Dec. 19 of that year.
There was no daytime electrical service, so a whistle would blow at dusk each evening to notify residents when the power was turned on.
The generator blew up in December 1893. It was replaced, and power was restored 10 days later. In May 1894 there was a coal strike that shut down power generation until June of that year.
In July 1894 the electric plant blew up. According to Patterson’s history, the explosion killed one Mr. Hock, who was blown threw the north wall. He was found alive and was taken to the St. James (later the Rogers) Hotel, where he died several hours later.
A Mrs. E. Everett in a neighboring building was hit in the arm by a brick and received minor injuries. Other heavy pieces of the building were blown up to 300 yards away, up and over other buildings, with some falling only a few feet from residents and buildings nearby.
Luckily, no other people were injured. You can see a picture of this on page 96 of Patterson’s book. Nothing but debris was left.
Land was then purchased south of the triangle downtown where a warehouse stood. A new electric generating plant was built and began operation in September 1894. There is a picture of it with this article.
Where would we be without electricity? I like to listen to the conspiracy radio program “Coast to Coast” on WHO radio. Many guests have claimed if the U.S. lost power for one year, 90 percent of the population would die, which amounts to 300,000,000 people. Some claimed this many deaths would occur within just 90 days.
I would probably be gone in less than two weeks.
Electricity runs everything. I remember when our gas stove used pilot lights. You could still use gas even when the power was out. Now all gas stoves have electric starters. Even gas furnaces need electric fans to function. Without electricity, even natural gas distribution would probably stop.
On Sept. 1 and Sept. 2, of 1859, a solar storm, also referred to as the Carrington Effect, occurred. It was a geometric storm. It made evening appear as day in parts of the world, and in Europe and the U.S. it made telegraph systems fail. Telephone operators received shocks, and sparks were created in systems.
In lines that were not disabled, operators were able to send messages while not being connected to any power source. There were smaller storms in 1921 and 1960, which disrupted radio transmissions. On July 23, 2012, a storm the magnitude of the 1859 storm missed the earth by nine days.
A storm of this magnitude could disrupt power and electronic devices, possibly disabling them. One of these solar storms could occur in the near future.
There is also a fear that a solar device detonated in the atmosphere could take out all of our power grid and electronic devices in our country. This is the fear from the tests North Korea has been making. Rogue nations such as Iran might also bring about a similar effect. Even Russia and China are a threat for this.
The 2017 movie “Blade Runner 2049” discusses the “Blackout,” in which a man-made event erased most of the history on computer systems. Only information recorded on paper was not lost.
Just this past week, the airport in Atlanta lost power for only 11 hours, and it caused turmoil. The rest of Georgia had power.
Just a few months ago, power was knocked out in Puerto Rico after hurricanes hit the island. After nearly four months, with all of the resources available from the U.S. to this small territory, the power is still not on in many parts of the island.
What would happen if power was knocked out in the entire U.S.? How long would it take to get it up and running? Certainly Perry would be one of the lowest priorities if this were to happen. California and several states in the east would be the highest priority. Perry cannot generate its own power. It is dependent on Alliant with no back-up.
Happy thoughts for this time of year.
For future reference, Perry first received dial telephone service May 17, 1959. Maybe I can contact the Perry Chamber of Commerce and get this celebration better planned. I think 42 years should be enough time. Where would we be without our phones?
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
