The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-22
wArrn ANn MrcHANrcs.

WAITER ANO AnCnA9SANEs
 At casual view there would seem to be no connection between forestry and mechanical motive power. but there is, just the same. According to collector of statistics in 1900 only about IS per cent. of the power used in our manufacturing industries was de- rived directly from water but that statement was misleading for that pe- riod and would be far more so if ap- piled to present conditions.
 What the writer meant was that the power of water, applied directly to wa ter-wheels and from them to the ma chinery. constituted only about Is per cent. of the total power used in all our manufacturing industries. Most of the remainder was steam, or steam-gener- ated electricity. Since the date men toned steam has been rapidly and ex- tensively displaced by electric power and that is largely generated by wa- ter. Steam is fast losing its suprem- acy. not only as a direct driving force but indirectly as a generator of elec- tric boyer which Is coming so gener- ally into use. not only for driving the machinery of mills and factories, but for transportation purposes. To use a common expression. steam is not in it any more. and must give way to wa ter-driven electricity as a working force.
 But what has that to do with forest ry7 may be asked. The. connection Is ore intimate than a casual observer is likely to understand Coal and wood are rapidly disappearing, and as, they disappear as a steam-producer electric power from the force of water must take their place. But as fuel Is dis appearing from constant drain so is water disappearing with forest denud- ation. As the forests disappear the water supply becomes more limited and uncertain, and thus 1t is seen that on the preservation of the forests largely depends the future supply and cost of all mechanical power Both the Geological Bureau and the Forestry bdIGdu oA lnS T EQETtAA CbN Ci al C interested in the subject and, in the words of The Richmond News Leader. have agreed that in the absence of great storage basins at or near the headwaters of the mountain streams. the only hope for preservation of the streams. as factors for the industrial and commercial development of the country, lies in the protection and res toration of the forests and the conse- duent prevention of the running off of the waters during the spring. So aside from the devastation caused by fresh cts there is another and potential in- centive to forest preservation and re- forestation that should command the attention of the lawmakers of every State
 Thus it is seen that not only the cost but the actual supply of mechanical power for the future is largely depend ent on forest preservation. The most enthusiastic advocates of electric pow CT have been astonished at the wonder full advance made in it's use. From running thC uellCdle uTlll or the dentist or the jeweller to driving a train of cars or the machinery of a great fac- tory 1t Is equally applicable and reli- able. and 1t is equally serviceable for lighting the surgeons searchlight or the streets and houses of a great city. Almost universal now, 1t is bound to become much more so, but it's econo- my and universal application must de- pend largely on a constant and easily obtainahle supply of water. That can only be assured by the rain supply and | that, again. is shown to depend largely on the preservation of the forests.
 From these deductions 1t follows that there Is an intimate connection between forestry and the mechanical power of l the future, and thus 1t Is that the States. as well as the general govern ment, are all interested in forest pres ervation, and that the people generally also have a vital interest in 1t, and nowhere more than in the South. We are using commendable efforts down here to extend all kinds of manufac- turing industries, and to do that eco- | nomically We must have plenty of wa i ter. Thus are nature and human effort dependent on each other in building up the great South.