by Paul R. Spitzzeri
Moving along with the third and final part of our look at the pages of the May 1929 edition of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employee magazine, The Intake, we note that the bulk of the material in the 64-page publication concerns “Correspondence and Contributions” from various sections. Correspondent J.W. Van Osten of the Commercial Billing Section began by asking readers to solve the puzzle of why Herbert Hoover, just inaugurated recently, was the thirtieth holder of the office of the presidency, but was the thirty-first president. The answer was actually mentioned in part one: Grover Cleveland remains the only chief executive to serve non-contiguous, having held the office from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893-1897.
He had fourteen more items to report, so we’ll just note that many of these are about women working in the department, including the transfer of Gertrude Walsh to the accounting division; the siblings Florence and Elizabeth Henning, who recently joined the department; that Emily Palmer moved to Chicago to earn a certificate in teaching music; and that Doris Ohler “has admitted that her losing battle with Dan Cupid is over, though “she now has a real man,” with Van Osten requesting her to “bring him around . . . [so we can] see how he stacks up with his many rivals.” This kind of talk is certainly not acceptable in today’s work culture.
Louise Dolan and Dorothy Strom were the correspondents for the commercial bookkeeping section and quoted from John Ruskin about into daily work to help others and “for the joy and peace of my own life.” They added that the telautograph, a “short-line telegraph used to communicate handwriting and sketches,” as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, had “always been a source of wonder to the consumers who call at the counter in the main lobby for duplicate bills” along with department clerks not used to seeing them.
Communicating within the organization meant that “handwritten messages are transmitted over wires, in the handwriting of the sender” and one wonders whether the telautograph was a precursor of another machine that is sliding into oblivion: the fax. In any case, Dolan and Strom provided some history, noting that it was exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair at Chicago (which was important for the promotion of greater Los Angeles). Unfortunately, the customer comments cited by the pair included one from a “colored man” whose remarks were expressed in the “Negro dialect” almost always calculated to amuse white people and which regarded the “ghost machine” that amazed them.
Other news shared by the duo included Grace Tower Williams’ vacation, which was comprised of working at home “to create more cheer and cosiness . . . for friend husband and herself;” Eloise Pierce and her engagement ring; the leaving of James Moran with his position filled by William Dorris; and a visit by two-year old Grace Settles, who “already made known her inclinations toward office work” with her tapping at a typewriter and her counting up to thirteen.
The consumer service division’s Joseph F. Curtis, aside from noting the nuptials of Sibyl Severance, who “sailed from the Port of Single Blessedness on the sea of Matrimonial Bliss,” took most of his space talking about a streetcar conductor, known only as Maloney, who griped about the fact that “every halfwit and smart-aleck in town lived on this line” as well as “queer nuts” with their strange behaviors, criticisms and other behaviors that put poor Maloney into a funk.
Among the descriptions of the commuting characters was “an interesting sidelight” in the form of a Black man of more than 70 years of age whose features “were moulded in lines of dignity and sternness that a statesman might have envied.” When the elderly rider showed that he only had a paltry amount of money in a coin purse, Maloney replied “you keep it and take a seat. Your fare is paid” before walking away “to avoid any embarrassment to either of them.”
William Helmkamp of the Harbor District office related how a pair of colleagues headed out on a road trip, planned for six weeks but over in under two, because Harry Ericson, who was to see a beau in Tennessee, “got homesick for the water” back home, and so they returned to Los Angeles far before intended.
On the humorous side, Helmkamp related how a DWP employee changed a water meter and left notice of the work, but the homeowner wrote the department stating she’d already registered to vote, while a Wilmington meter reader found low consumption at a residence and recorded in his log book: “Reading O.K. In jail again.”
The personal lives of colleagues were also mentioned, including the birth of a child for one and the rumor that another was about to march down the wedding aisle, while Jack Williams “takes his gold like a Kentucky colonel used to imbibe Bourbon. Seriously and at all times.” Lastly, the correspondent recorded three matters he’d like to have seen halted: 1) a female employee pronouncing “been” like “bean;” 2) “Fat” Lusby “calling on Providence for aid whenever called upon to write orders; and 3) “the landlord calling for the rent.”
C.R. Hill of the Meter Reading section detailed a visit to the DWP’s Electric Testing Laboratory, where 60 employees in a pair of groups heard presentations on “Meter History and Progress,” “Principles of Meters,” and “Standardization of Instruments and Their Relation to Meter Accuracy.” A walkthrough of the meter laboratory, demonstrations of equipment and methods of reading meters, an illustrated talk on “Principles of Indicating Meters,” and a film of a meter factory followed during the day. Dry as this might be for anyone else, this field trip was said to be of great value in the improvement of reading meter efficiency.
This was not all, however, as further excursions were made to to a receiving station that is now part of a massive DWP “Main Street Center,” just before that thoroughfare crosses the Los Angeles River and into Lincoln Heights; the Elysian Pumping Plant at the reservoir in the park of that name; the Ascot Reservoir (which was being covered at the time) in El Sereno at the north end of the hills where the old Ascot Speedway was at the south extremity; and yards, distributing stations, pumping plants and district headquarters throughout the city.
An honor roll was also included with observations that Daniel Gross read 22,000 electricity meters without a locked house, R.E. Moore read 20,000 water meters without an error, and others cited for like impressive records. G.C. Mueller, a section supervisor, was to present a course on elementary electricity for meter readers with a dozen lessons on wiring, diagrams, motors, generators, storage batteries, transformers and other components. A recent presentation by H.F. Bergan of the Record section concerned “irregular wiring and jumpers” and “gave the boys a very interesting and instructive talk.”
The Purchasing Division’s Genevieve E. Flynn offered a little tidbit about friends from an unidentified source, including the admonition that “friends mean far more than material possession.” She reprinted a report from a fellow division colleague about a purchasing agents convention in Sacramento, including a luncheon, visits to the legislature at the State Capitol and to the state Purchasing Department, where its operations were discussed.
More interesting were her revelations about the sidelines of fellow employees, including Imogene Bowen’s taking typing classes at the Belmont High night school; Sally Abrahamson going to vocal classes nights at Los Angeles Polytechnic High; Dave Toffel studying higher accountancy; Jim Watson attending architecture classes at the Otis Art Institute; and “Wickie” was at Manual Arts “swinging the dumbbells” for a gym class.
Burton S. Grant of the Water Executive Offices reported that snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains was about half of what was then considered normal, even as there was more powder, but water content was significantly lower. He added that warm March weather bypassed a “crusting” process, so melting and runoff began sooner than typical, so the DWP’s Haiwee Reservoir, south of Owens Lake reached capacity during that month, necessitating the filling of a still-unfinished Tinemaha Reservoir about 65 miles north near Big Pine. Yet, cold weather at the end of March and into April halted runoff, but the value of the latter storage facility was made evident.
Mamie Meek and Babe Schwartz of the Water Cost Division paid tribute to Ben F. Gilman, who celebrated his 20th anniversary with the Department, starting as a construction clerk for the Los Angeles Aqueduct at Cinco, south of today’s Red Rock Canyon State Park along State Highway 14. Gilman worked on the project north to Independence until its completion and then transferred to the billing section of the Water Department before moving to the General Warehouse, where the DWP still has a presence. He moved to the Engineering Division and worked as a field auditor for all manner of construction sites and was lauded as “a man among men” with “his cheerful smile and pleasant smile” not to mention diplomatic skills.
Five new employees were welcomed; a weekend swimming class discussed, though mostly with male students and only a few women, so the latter were encouraged to “show your sportsmanship, and get ready to be in the summer swim” by joining the classes; while the hairdos of other female colleagues were commented upon and other news presented.
An interesting tidbit is an aerial photograph of the Inyo County seat of Independence and it was reported that Gerald Schaefer, who took the image from a craft going 90 miles per hour and was a DWP shop worker in that town, snapped it “out of the cabin window . . to the extent of hanging by the waist and legs.” As he finished, however, an air pocket was hit and “nearly threw Mr. Schaefer to the earth.” At the Homestead, we are interested in Independence because it was intended to be the terminus of an 1870s railroad led for a time by F.P.F. Temple, though the project’s only completed section was a branch line from Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
While somewhat technical, an article by Clayton M. Allen on work to deaden sound at the San Francisquito Power Plant No. 2, which generated power from the dam completed in 1926, but which failed just under years later, causing massive flooding that killed well over 400 persons. The plant was destroyed during the disaster, but was rebuilt and put back online in fairly short order and photos accompanying the piece show control, meter and service boards.
With regard to the facility, Marie Halliburton contributed “Stray Thoughts of an Operator’s Wife” and she lauded the fact that,
Should you stop and go inside, you will hear the road of the massive generators and pay tribute to the skill and ingenuity of man, who has devised this marvelous and intricate machinery that generates the electric current flashing with lightning speed over mountains, across streams and through valleys, to the cities and towns; turning the wheels of industry, and transforming the night into a fairyland of scintillating lights.
Exclaiming “what a romance this industry represents!” Halliburton added that “this harnessing of power and transforming it into light is a concrete symbol of man’s age long battle against darkness” while the provision of electricity was “one of the greatest of all the servants of mankind.” She prognosticated that “among the yet unborn ages will arise those whose genius will relegate our marvelous power plants to the scrap heap” as the technology of power provision would surely advance to levels “as yet undreamed of.”
Despite her isolation, Halliburton pointed to the fact that she could listed to a radio powered by electricity and have access to a wide world, while she testified that “we love the solitude, the towering hills that surround us, the clean, bracing air.” As to those dwellings, for which Department officials were lavishly praised, she noted that “the interior decorating and finish are exquisite” with comfortable furniture, while they “have that rare thing in persons as well as houses—charm.”
She rose into a reverie about her surroundings, including variegated colors in the mountain setting, wildflowers, and other plant material that were such that “they radiate an ecstasy of spiritual fulfillment and freedom that tugs at our hearts.” Halliburton’s purple prose continued its paean of the plant’s surroundings and, after expressing her ecstatic reaction to a sliver of the moon and a single, bright star, she concluded, “so the days pass—filled with an ineffable, deep, content. For cottage no. 8 is Happiness House, and it nestles among the Enchanted Hills!”
Among the items in the Power Distribution Division report by C.R. Hamilton is the note that the DWP “regards the safety, physical comfort, and health of its employees as of equal importance to correct electrical design,” so, to that end, a distribution station was reconfigured so that an “operator’s balcony” was to be constructed so operators could be “free from the excessive room temperatures . . . and free from the obnoxious gases” from the adjoining parking lot. Moreover, a room was to be “suspended from the ceiling, and will be totally enclosed in a steel and gas shell” with adequate cooling and ventilation drawing air from an outside duct.
Truman C. Auringer’s report from the Power Cost Division includes an interesting observation about technology and the understanding that “Radio has not yet supplanted the Automobile as a topic for general discussion” as “the various makes of benzene buggies has become quite a hobby!” Noting that cars were a necessity, it seemed as if owners strove to prove that their “pet necessity” was more so than others, but “now comes aviation” and Auringer wondered if future Americans would talk about their personal aircraft as they did in the Roaring Twenties about their cars. He then concluded with the comment that “the great American creed is free speech” and that it was to be credited with much of the nation’s success, so he admonished his fellows not be afraid of “friendly discussions” as “we live to learn, and we learn to live!”
Another featured employee, from the Power Drafting Room and its correspondent John R. Kelley, was Harry G. Hawley, a civil engineer with the Colorado River Division, this working on what became Hoover Dam. Hawley came from the railroad industry, then the federal reclamation bureau and dam work, before coming to the Angel City in 1917 to work for the Pacific Electric Railway streetcar system as a designer and draftsperson. In 1926, he began employment with the DWP, working in drafting until his latest move to his current position.
The DOWAP (Department of Water and Power) baseball team was also highlighted as the Municipal Baseball Association Industry “AA” League, Section A schedule of games for the first half of the 1929 season was published. The squad split its first two games, winning a contest against the Madsen Iron Works and dropping a protested game to Jell-Well Dessert Company, because, purportedly, the latter had ineligible players . Other teams in the section included the Santa Fe Railway; Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company; Pacific Ready-Cut Homes; Southern California Gas Company; and the Southern Pacific Freight Department.
Lastly, a description was provided of a Tri-Section Banquet, though the date and location were not disclosed featuring music, a ventriloquist, dramatic recitations and other elements and which were considered “the last word in snappiness.” The event was determined so successful that more were planned as it was pointed out that
To the accompaniment of the crash of drums, the syncopated croon of the Sax, the haunting wail of the violin, plus the palpitating throb of the piano, the Tri-Section Banquet went over with a bang. Talk about eats! Boy, we had plenty, and how! The boys all seemed to be full of pep, and ready to go.
Employee magazines like this, whether from private firms and public entities, are fascinating to examine as they reveal a great deal about institutional culture as well as the general place and time from which they were produced. We’ll certainly look to feature more examples of The Intake and similar publications in future posts!