National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-08-19
THE cAPABILIrIEs OF THE RIVER.

One of the best gifts which has been be-
slowed upon the inhabitants of Washing
ton is their contiguity to the Potomac
river. Myriadfold and multiform as are
the uses for which the river may be brought
into requisition in relation to daily life,
there is not one of them that has been yet
developed toits full capacity, and there
are hundreds of methods by which it may
be made to minister to our social and indus
trial life that are totally untouched. 1t
drains the city and furnishes convenient
highway for transportation, and this sums
up nearly the whole of its capacity for ser
vice that thus far has been utilized. Ex-
anime the numberless methods by which
rivers abroad are made to minister to the
services of cities near which they pass,
and then compare the magnificent capaci-
ties of the Potomac in its relation to Wash
ington with those of the Thames to Lon
don, or the Seine to Paris. and one may
begin to realize the marvellous capabilities
that lie dormant in the shining waters for
the use, perhaps, of this generation, but
certainly with far vaster development for
the use of generations to come. Indeed,
with both Paris and London, as to a limited
extent with our neighbor of Baltimore, the
question now is mainly not so much how
to utilize the river for good, as how to
prevent it from doing harm. The con-
fined water supply has become so infected
with the necessary wastes of the teeming
life on its banks that the utmost skill is
needed to prevent the poisoned waters
from polluting the atmosphere.
Not SO with us, however. From the
falls above the waters, almost as fresh as
when they were MIXED from the clouds
by the mountains, glide by US in stream
so fast that all the sewerage of the city is
made innoxious before it has rolled out a
hundred yards into the tide; and when the
rains cease to be abundant and the upper
currents slacSen or decrease in volume, the
ocean flows in, and sometimes its salt
waters almost reach our wharyes. There
is no fear of injecting the Potomac. We
are so safe in this respect that all our en-
ergies may well be turned to utilizing its
capacities. In the aspect Of a mechanical
force alone the capacities of the river are
simply wonderful. Who will so utilize
them that the force of the Great Falls may
be used to furnish compressed air here that
will make steam or steam-power useless
for all stationary engines in this District
Who will chain the rapids to the factory
wheels that shall set in motion ten thou
sand spindlesH Who will provide means
for giving to every workshop in the citya
pipe that shall hold, transported here, with
no serious loss from friction, the mighty
forces of gravitation that are Weakened when
the flood dashes itself over the Great Fallsf
Who will give us baths by the river-sidet
Who will add to the waters of the river
the fish of all the fresh waters of the globe
Who will give the poor sick and infrm
chance at the invigorating breezes and the
wholesome enjoyments that the river fur
nishes7 Who will inaugurate regsttas that
will vie with Saratoga All these things
have even now beginnings, but giant en-
ergies and strong wills and sharp intellects
are needed for their development; and
thousands of other methods of utilizing our
river advantages yet remain to give fame
and fortune to him who can conjure them
from its. waters.