The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-07

machines. If the flVer ID to S"ii1 '"s product of these mines! Ana what of the fruit of the fields. | After these mines have yielded the last ore. tunnels and furnaces left for bats and a wasted river crying out to our descendents how prodigal we were Tn our use of the good things in natures | store house. Lets leave the river for transporta- 1 tion in favor of the railroad. Paranei | the stream for that distance ana ciaiHi 1 every pound of coal and iron rom the | hills. Develop the power Of the stream | to operate this railroad and Tor the r.dnction of these ores and the treat r,ant oT native substances by electroly- tic and fusing processes.
 | Add every year to development. as now occurs where electric power IS pro- l duced cheaply by water and as the | t,oosa Valley was a cherished spot 70 | the Indians before us. So will IL De 10 | our people.
 | No greater gift to the people of Ala
 hama. could our National Government | make than to legally declare the Cposa I River. from Lock 4 to Wetumpka.
 abandoned forever for proposed naviga-
 tion. This would be river distance | of 11s miles and could be covered by | A railroad built and equipped in Penn
 sylvania railroad fashion for $l.ooo.ooo' | The plan of so-called river improve | ment, contemplates the expenditure oi
 upward of six million dollars. hence. in
 the railroad there is easily direct sav-
 ing of five million dollars.
 The money expended by the govern | ment of course would not pc supJecl to | taxes How about the railroad and the
 manufacturing institutions of various I sorts that would build their own dams | and erect great establishments. if the l eove, nment would give a Qult-clalm. l For the lonely lock keepers home we
 would substitute the factory nearoy' | with it's great number of operatives
 forming a nucleus. for thriving town.
 Would not the revenue from all these
 amount to respectable proportions ana
 doubtless grow enormously m tune
 Would not this be direct gift, not
 to consider the other advantages In
 bringing within our midst institutions
 which employ labor and manufacture
 from our own raw material. salaole
 products?
 Those who have so earnestly advocat-
 ed opening this river to navigation
 have done so with the best intentions.
 The people of Alabama. have long peti-
 tioned for 1t, but conditions nave
 changed and they should now petition
 the other way
 |
 time a necessity. There were no rail
 roads and country dirt roads were bad
 and wagons not what they are today,
 so that marketing the products of the
 farm or mine was more or propieH
 than production or output.
 Then was started the clamor for gov
 ernment aid to make navigable the
 Coosa River. At that time it was not | adapted to power according to the | A. ble sites the river was found to be walled in by solid rock thus preventing the mill or factory getting near the
 power. hence the river was wasting It.
 self.
 How are conditions today? New
 discoveries have been made and de- veloped. for the mill no longer has to be near the power. Almost any loca- . ton will afford room enough for the , diminutive electric power house ana the main manufacturing institution can be located at any convenient, neaitnV point on the railroad.
 r Why then is this out of date effort still kept alive-because we inherited ! if. It Is handed down from time when that was not only the best. but the only thing that could be done 10 make the river serviceable. Today we
 have another and greater need of this . river and We should weigh well the |, two requirements
 We can create for ourselves trans portation facilities. but cannot create a water power such as we nave anu need. and are endeavoring to rum l If may be said that the water power s feature of the river will not be inter n ferred with in being made 'navigaole' a but this will not hold god. LOCK
 will furnish a head water from F to n n feet only; a power dam should not 3 be less than 30 to 40 feet for tw" : reasons; -.- : First-These heads give cheaper and . better results in installation and opera l. ton of power machinery.
 r, Second-The storage referred to as a heinz so necessary and valuable In our l. climate. is greater in volume with y higher heads and more power IS de S rived from that storage.
 n And last. but not least. the water re- '. onired for lockage would curtail at low ,. water any extensive power plant. In t fact statement that the two can Work E together implies that so few boats VIII
 be passing that the water power Will S he available and seldom interferred }, with.
 l. Without the locks and with the e higher dams, practically the entire fall t of g feet from Lock to WetumpKa a can be utilized; yielding with storage n upward of 100000 horse power the year a round or more than enough to operate d every industry in Alabama today l. Beginning at Lock below Greens q port, this river has been divided into V two section. The upper, from Lock n to the head of Weduska Shoals. a C river distance of sixty-eight miles witf Q a fall of Y feet and the lower section :: from the head of Weduska Shoals tC y Wetumpka, a river distance of forty if seven miles with a fall of 245 feet. c The upper section is through an oper
 country with a limestone bed and of s fers numerous good sites for develop 7, ment. affording fall combined with fine g storage capacity. The principal shoal:
 are as follows in the order In which 7, they come proceeding down stream '? Whistfnants. Ten Island. Broken Ar e IEo&p &hCAholoco, Claunches, Drake'i n and Turner's Mills.
 2 The river then enters into a different . character of country. Instead oi l. hanks of moderate height, the solid n rock confines the river practically al s every point. notably at Carrolrs Bluff d where there is an elevation of more
 than 200 feet, affording picturesque h scenery second to none.
 IF Entering this lower section we have al the weduska Shoals. with A fall of 5
 feet, Tuck-a-league with 40 feet and V fifteen others on down to Wetumpks