The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-06

Th4 p}en of late years sadopted by tke rivers and harbofs committee of congress concerning the appropriations for river Improvements in that appro- priafions shall be made only in those cases where the commerce can be un- controvertably shown to Justify the ex- penditure and where 1t can be shown to Congress that the river or harbor will be used when opened. The agree ments secured by the Coosa River Im- provement Association is the assurance sought by the Rivers and Hhrbors Com mittee and means that the final work of opening to navigation of the Ala bama will commence in the near fu- ture.
 The development of the water power along the rapids of the coosa River will mean cheap power for the indus tries of that entire section of the State, for many miles south of Montgomery. and beyond Gadsdcn in the northern part of the State. It Is estimated that 3eo,0 ,000 horse power will be developed along these rapids or In one years time enough power will have been devel- oped and sold to the manufacturers of the State to equal the latent power in s,500.o0o tons of coal.
 It is significant in connection with the possibilities of cheap power to be had from the rapids of the Coosa that a recently discovered electrical process for the production of steel reduces the cost of the production of that article from s5 ton under the open hearth process, to 30 cents a ton. Several plants are now successfully producing steel by this process. onesin particular in operation in California. With prac- ticaiiy inexhaustable fields of iron ore lying immediately along the bank of both the Coosa and Alabama Rivers, it Is reasonable to admit the possibil- ity of an industrial activity in Alabama much greater than at present.
 Nor is 1t 8 dream that such will be the final effect of the opening of the river. The power Is there and the money is pledged to harness It. The iron is there and the world at large awaits 1t. The two factors ne side by side and the laws of trade make it im- perative that the cheapest methods of production shall ultimately be adopted l. The market opens to those who sell the best and at the cheapest price. These conditions are met when the electrical power Is turning the wheels and heat ing the furnaces of converters.
 In Germany there are in successful tion of nitrogen from the atmosphere by electrical processes. The greatest consumer in all the world of nitrogen is the Southern cotton field. These two facts taken conjunctively mean the production in the very heart of the cotton producing States of nitrogen as fertilizer by an electrical process much cheaper than 1t can be shipped from the nitre fields of Chile. now about ex- hausted. The United States Steel Corr poration is at this time building a nj for ho nroSueffan af nitrogen at Gary. Ind. from current produced by steam. When the power of the Coosa River is developed Ala banna can make nitrogen for less than one-thfrd the cost of it's manufacture at Gary or anywhere else in the world.
 What Work Contemplated.
 The work to be done on the Ala bama and Coosa river contemplates the securing and maintainance of a six foot channel from the Gulf to the head waters of the Coosa in Georgia. below Montgomery and beginning at this city. a nine foot channel will be maintained. As matter of fact, however, 1t is said that the actual chanel will be nearer eight and half than the first figure.
 This fact taken into consideration with the methods of navigation Tn the shallower streams of Europe means that navigation will be possible for boats of any depth required to carry the freight of Alabama to the ses In Europe many of the streams used ev- cry day in the year have but two feet of water. yet they are successfully navigated and the manufacturers of that continent are annually saved mill lions of dollars In freights.
 To the north of Montgomery in the valley of the Coosa river lie the great and varied fields of mineral wealth. Tn no other region. 1t is said. are there so many different minerals of commercial value available in quan- titles suficient for paying production. Iron ore to the extent of 1,0T5.o .ooe. 900