Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-03-29
HARVESTING RIVERS IN THF. SOUTH
BH FNI;DEKIC J. iIASKIN,
One OF the Days Best Cartoons.

! CHATTANOOGA. TENN. March IS
| Perhaps the most significant Industrial
| development Of the modern south. and
/ III" one OF most interest to the nation
! at large. is the harncssing Of tho
/ streams that flow down from the \lle-
! ghancs.
I These mountains extend through the
{ whole length OF the South from the
! Mason and Dixon line far into Southern
Georgia Their wealth OF coal and min
I eral has resulted iii the growth Of some
! OF the largest industrial cities in the
/ South along their foothills /, is only
! in recent years that the people OF tho
: south have awakened 10 the fact that
| in the swift Allegheny rivers there is
I "A source Of power far greater than
that OF the coal mines. and absolutely
I incNhaustible.
All through the South these rivers
: are now being damned. and their rush
! ing currents turned upon turbines that
supply light ana factory power to a
host OF cities and towns. Chattanooga
located within striking distance OF the
Tennessee and Dkoce rivers is partic,l-
! larry favored in this regard. and tho
! city mas taken 10 itself the title Of
The Dynamo Of the south" There
are others that might vel! claim II
/ This city has simply been selected a.,
I a typical example Of how tn. South is
utIhZlnG It's resources in water power
! There arc three water-power sites
within reach or Chattanooga which ara
! especially favorable for dcvelopment-
iiaics bar on In" Tennessee River The
okoee River, and the Muscle Shoals OF
the Tennessee River in Alabama The
NrSt two have been developed by pri-
Na'c capital The third. which is bv
/ Tar tho largest in potential power has
| received tho approval OF tho govern
! m"nt engineers, and a project TO de-
4 Z A.,
/ great industrial dream of this section
! of tho south
Architect OF city. Fortune.
AS !s often tho case In the Sudden
. rise o! q new industry the story Of
! ChattanooCa's hydro electric develop
men' is closely bound UP with that OF
single man. Charles L.. James il his
/ name thattanooga points to him
! frankly and proudly as III. architect
! OF her fortunes. She gives him crcdi,
! Tor having brought to the CITY indus
| tries which are worth twenty-fivc mil
| non ddliaTs-and the whole assessed
| value OF property in Chattanooga is
| only thirty millions.
Mi James might be described with
/ OUT starting an argument. as tho man
VINO made q town. The statement how
ever. would be strictly unau,hnriz,d
1"f MT James is In that class of hero..
VINO nave lame thrust upon them Chat
tah"oSa ncwspapcrmcn say tina, hc i
'i'e hafoest individual TO Interview in
t. 2ou',' re is small, gray man
wa" works hard ~ desk i'm = small
once all day long, and ters.ly rrrcrs
81! inquiries to some Of his u,i,u.,,ry
assistants aud secretaries
H''cr'heieSs Mr.. James is a lnpIr.,I
candidate for the Spotlight bccaus.
nc - "oth unusual ana typical He Is
native builder Of the sou,h, sou,h
] Prner norm and &c
s'rated that the South produces in
uus'riai hrains OF the highcs, order
"h"h ne came TO Chattanooga with his
parents and several brothers. he w,e
hNc years old and barcfooted His IA.
'her began the family work by ar
'uinniating something Of fortune AMI
q large amount Of Chattanoora real
estate.
CHARLES began his career as :, j,,ili
cr early III life, helping To erect Chat
tanoosa's first thcatcr when SIM ,
boN vs. soon as he came into his share
W Tue 'ah!iN fortune, he disposed OF
! the vacant real estate gathered to-
| Rrthcr all the capital he could. ana
! proceeded TO furnish the city with sun
1 airy equipments and improvements
! which he thought il needed. lie built
! q G"s works and a street car system
| ana took over Il little coal mine quad
! rupIcd its OUTPUT and made chatta-
duction Of coke
Power Possibilities Realized.
: Meantime. the great power posi-
/ DiiiticS Of the mountain streams were,
beginning TO be realized. and Il con
/ Srcssional investigation was held 10 de-
/ terminc whether the city OF chatta-
! nooga should be allowed to develop a
! power plant on the Tennessee River
| The committee decided that the pro-
| Ject was n good one: nut before grant
! ing the permit Congress required as
] surance that the plant would he built
The city could not give guarantee
, Mr.. James then took the stand. and gave
J assurance that if the city refused to car
! ry out the work. he would sec that il
/ was done by private capital.
The Chattanooga city fathers decided
! they could not afford 10 build u power
! plant, and il was up to James. who
| took into his counsel J. G.. Guild. a
well-known civil engineer. Between
! them they had not enough capital to
! swing the deal: but they got assistance
J from New York. and tho plant was
| bui!' Neither OF It's promoters made
| much money out Of tho WORK; but they
! made good the assurance given by
F., James, and gave Chattanooga u tire
mendous industrial asset. The plant
| is that at fIa1e's bar and has a total of
| $500 horsepower. 1t has tho capac-
| lily to furnish all the power for four
! times as many factories as tn .rc are in
| Chattanooga.
| Chattanooga also has a smaller plant
| generating about 1900 horse power on
the Okoec River, much smaller
| stream. Since the development OF these
two projects many Of Chattanoogas