The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-09-30
MUSCLE SHOALS ID AID NORTH ALABAMA Power to be Generated Worth S1,9O0,oOO a Year IS 185,OOO HORSE POWER Bill Passed by Last Congress Makes Great Inducement to Big corpo-
 ratlon-story of the
 Struggle.
IS 185,OOO HORSE POWER
BY c. M. STANLEY.

through the last session of congress pro- yiding for the utilization of the power at Muscle Shoals, on the Tennessee river.
 Here are some of the facts:
 The estimated horsepower of these shoals Is 1S5000.
 The estimated horsepower of Niagara falls is 100000.
 The actual monetary value of the pow CT now going to waste at these shoals is s1, ,9OO,OOO a year.
 When, through the persistent efforts of Congressman Richardson of the Eighth Alabama district, bill was passed by congress and approved by the President allowing a private corporation to utilize this power, the affair was for the first time brought into some tangible shape.
 Open to Any Corporation.
 As 1t stands now. any corporation back ed by sufficient capital to guarantee It's serious intentions can get a perpetual franchise from the secretary of war to build dams and power houses and harness the shoals in earnest. The one company which has figured most conspicuously in it's efforts to get this franchise Is the great Westinghouse company of New York They have had men in the held surveying the prospect for years.
 Such an enterprise as this is too gigan- tic an undertaking to be accomplished Tn few weeks. It takes years. But when the power is finally brought into such shape that it can be disposed of to the public it will mean great things. It will mean that the country within radius or 125 miles of the shoals can be supplied with power cheaper than 1t can be pro cured by any other means. It means that new manufacturers will move into the zone to get the benefit of the cheap pow CT.
 Tn fact. 1t means a boom for north Ala bama such as no other one thing could possibly bring about.
 Future of Alabama Towns. | With 1S5OO0 daily horsepower at their | disposal who can foretell what will be the future of nearby towns such as the Decaturs Sheffield, Florence, Huntsville Tuscumba? Who can say what 1t may mean for Birmingham, and even for Chat tanooga Memphis and Nashville?
 While the Westinghouse company has been figuring on the utilization of this mower. 1t must not be understood that this Is the only concern which has looked at the project with longing eyes. There has recently been considerable talk about consolidation of the Newman properties | in the south, and it is generally supposed that this merger. if effected, would be but a preliminary step toward making an ef- fort to secure the concession 10 derive their power from Muscle Shoals. Their numerous street railway lines and power plants could all be done away with if they had one big plant at the shoals with wires reaching out to the various cities to carry the power to the great centers of industry.
 Can be Carried 125 Miles. If has been estimated that this power can be carried for 125 miles with practi- cally no loss, and the loss would be so small as to make it profitable to carry 1t much greater distances.
 One of the things which now threatens to delay the realization of this great pro- feet is the enormous sums that are being demanded bv property owners along the river for riparian rights. Lands which
 were held at very low figures before the massage of the shoals bill are now held at sueh preposterous figures as to make them bevond the reach of any corporation. Judge Richardson is inclined to think that it may be necessary for him 10 procure an amendment to his bill giving the con- cern to which the franchise shall be granted the right of eminent domain. It is felt that this may be the only means of frustrating property owners In their determination to hold up the developers. Senator Morgan's Report. | Tn the report of a select committee of | the limited States senate which was pre- scented in December. 19O5 by Senator John | T Morgan from Alabama, there appears the following interesting information con- l corning Muscle Shoals; on addition to the great volume of water power afforded by other parts of 1 inc Tennessee river and it's aff1uents i which may be justly said to equal any river system in reach of the industry and 1 commerce of the world by water trans Y,ortation. the Muscle Shoals has power | and advantages which are of extraordina- | ry value that deserve separate eXahlha- | tion. - AT.
 , . continuous rock formation, with
 fau of M feet. for a distance of 21 miles | Fxcluding for the present the part or 4tis harrier above Lock No. 1, the Muscle
 shoo1s nroper and the Little Muscle | Shoals bIow Lock No. of the canal | (which are a part of this rock lorna tion)' l inc denth of water on the shoals, at the ,',,o.. n1 t,dos in the river, forbid any navi-
 gat,on that requires more than 15 inches 1 of water.
 'aThis great river spreads out over these l shoals to an ge width of more than
 A mile and Is intercepted by lslets ana
 projections of rock, between Whlch It It | flows in swift currents. l He hi5 iO9N '' | the islets is about 15 feet above the sur
 face of the water, and are covered Tn the
 highest stages of the river. The prolec- | tions of rock would probably average three feet above the lowest stage of wa | ter
 Use IsIets in Building Dams.
 .erhe general surface of the water on | these shoals is comparatively smooth ana 1 of even depth in it's levels across the | river and Is about the same, with no daen fssures to interfere with the build inc of dams at any location that may be selected The islets and projecting rocks | can he taken into the structure of the dams at a considerable advantage In the | cost of such works.
 rrhis section of the Tennessee river is through a fertile and beautiful upland
 nresentng on both shores bluffs or rock | of strong texture that afford very exten- give and excellent quarries of stone for all structural purposes, while the rocks | Cor the rougher work of dam construction ara ahundantly supplied in the bed of the river. Sand and clay are easily in reach | nf these shoals by water or land trans portation , :, o,a o, tho | .b,ast American engineers who has ex- l an,ined and surveyed these shoals for f- x7<4f1 trl