The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-07-24


a Electrical World1
lrroximately 3Ss,o00 men: hence Cor
ey cry 1000 tons IF coal transported the
services of 1,02 men were required to
work a year.
| This coal finally landed in the ash
pile and we find from statistics relat-
ing to employees in central steam sta
tions that for every 1000 tons of coal
consumed there were required the SER
vices of half man for one year
Therefore the total labor required for
the consumption Of every 1000 tons OF
coal on the basis of one years time Is
2.7S men.
On the average. 1000 tons of coal in
1.-THE United States produces 1875 hip. for
a year of time; 35,O00,000 water horse
power developed and in commission
would save the necessity of mining
2S0,000,000 tons OF coal per annum. AS
regards labor this vast tonnage re-
quires for it's production, transporta-
ton and consumption 2S0,000x2.7S
men, or 77S,000 laborers of one kind
and another. The amount of labor re-
CURED to operate this 35,000.000 water
horsepower may be put conservatively
oe IptoVN lhSh. hNI SioA6 inc ilSS CtA'
ing in the way OF labor alone by the In
stallation of this water horsepower
would be approximately 100000 men
available for other industries.
The above figures brought down to
a statement that can be easily reTnem-
bered amount to this: Every time so
hydroelectric horsepower is developed
and put In commission, one laborer is
permanently released for other nses.
The foregoing figures are of them
selves OF great moment with respect
to the saving Of labor, but there is still
another tremendous conservation that
has directly to do with the cost of food
and tn tn, cost OF many other Feeds
Of life.
To transport $50 1000, 900 tons of coal
there are required among other things
100000 freight cars that cost about
81, 100000 and 10000 locomotives
that cost about $500. 100000 more, and
| II we add to the above figure other fin
ancial expenditures that are necessary
so that the freight cars and the loco
motives can do their work, we have as
result around 1920. 100000 Of our
railroad investment employed in the
hauling Of commodity that could be
dispensed with entirely and this great
amount of equipment employed in the
/, transportation of our farm products,
certainly at a less cost than obtains.
The spectacle of hauling 2S0,o00.Oo0
| tons of coal (35.000O00 hp. at tons
per year per horsepower) over our
railroads each year when we could
avoid so doing in perfectly practical
way is just as foolish as would be a
proposal to make the railroads haul
the salt water of the ocean on cars to
interior points and there evaporate 1t
for the salt it contains instead Of using
as we do the natural inland salt de-
posits.
Power in all its forms In the United
States has been steadily going down.
ward in cost for many years, yet IN
spite of this the average selling price
%of hydroelectric power Is about $40
per horsepower per annum less than
the price of the same unit by steam.
The crops in Frence, in England, IN
Germany and in the United States are
all suffering today from want of fer
tilizers. Volumes have been written
showing that fertilizers. inteliigently
used, would about double the present
farm production of the United States.
The primary basic need Of fertilizers
is nitrogen, which can be most econ
omically produced by the arc process
from the air. We are the only large
country in the world where fertilizers
by this product are not in successful
use.
Page after page could be filled with
enumeration Of other blessings along
the same lines that are now denied
our community because Of lack OF
water power, and in this category
could be included wide benefits IN
the way il reduction In the cost OF
news print paper instead Of the main
tenance of a monopoly therein as is
now the case because no new water
powers are being developed.
Direct Economic Saving.
Let us now "sum up" the above d..
rect economic values that the con-
struction of $4,000, 900 hp. from water
would produce:
Annual saving to consun1-
ers, 100000 hp. at
$40 ..r...... $o5O,OOU,UUO
Annual interest and de-
probation on 1920
100000 worth of rail-
|. road property needless
ly employed, at per
| cent -. 15s,soo, 900
Annual production along
other lines due to the
|. labor Of 73S,000 men,
assumed at $1,000 per
laborer ............... 73s,0Oo,0oO
Total ............... $1,241 500 900
In other words, we are following a
program that is absolutely wrong
relating to s1,241 100000 annually Of
our business life. to say nothing Of
the reductions in the cost Of food if
every state In the union could be