Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-30
THERE ARE GIANTS TO'BE
sx HARNESSED

y kTyOMMENTING on the proposal that the
- city operate it's own coal mine to supply
the needs of the public schools, Secretary
Dick. of the Board of Education, points
out that legislation would be required to
permit the use of funds for this purpose
Mr.. Davis. chief Of the Water Bureau,
when interviewed by the EVENING PUBLIC
LEDGER on Monday relative to new
masonry dam for Fairmount Park. sug-
gested the possibility of hydro.electric
plant water power will be more impoi-
.tant In the future than in the past, and the
rehabilitation of old power plants and the
rapid development OF new ones may he
anticipated on large scale" he declared.
and went on to explain that the hydro
4 elscfric power developed could be used "in
connection with the operation of the Bel.
mont pumping station, which supplies all
!. the water for West Philadelphia. the
Belmont filters" which are in a sense trib.
utary to the main Belmont plant.
There are lands in the world still powed
with wooden plows. The Arabs have
fought recently in the Mesopotaman des.
erts with the spears of their ancestors. In
sor1e places along the Nile the old bucket
methods of lifting water for purposes OF
Irrigation are in use. The British found
Bagdad still employing as boats the round
! the Assyrians. Modes of locomotion i'm
'--s' '--s'---s-1t are strangely similar to those
NJ. sed so many centuries ago that the
'tt ! history Of the times has ceased to
81 list except in fragments of stone.
Science stepped in two centuries from the
OK cart to the automobile. But science con-
tinues to haul power on wheels. Science con.
tinues to block our railroads with coal
cars Science steps off the sidewalk at the
( bidding Of the weather. Science still relies
on the hardened sunshine of bygone cen
turtles to furnish power for our modern
world; that is men put that tarnish on the
name of science, although science long
since has been singing and shouting the
virtues of white coal" the capitalization
ef the enormous water asset of the nation,
the conversion into forms OF heat, light
and power of the vast energy of rushing
streams.
There is an agitation in Washington vir
Y fually to abolish the use OF coal by utiliza.
Ftion OF the water power Of the Potomac
{ The enterprise would cost, say, thirty or
forty millions, but it would heat and light
I. every building in the metropolis and run
every machine in the capital. There is
enough energy going to waste in streams
about Philadelphia to fix on imperishable
1 foundations the industrial supremacy of
the district. There is enough power flow.
ting unmolested into Delaware Bay to
break for all time any freight congestion
IAN this territory, to make the comfort of
I the city Independent of weather, to abolish
/ forever the smoke nuisance, to assure
cheap trolley fares, to set the city ablaze
In electric glory at night to provide such
! general facilities as will change the city
.rfrom brick to marble" and all this at a
I o6st which. while vast In the beginning,
would be small in comparison with present
<&01f n measured in annual payments.
n Tha war is a great barrier, temporary
E0piy. to the stride OF progress. But the
n VAR has taught us, on the other hand that
Tor generations We have been pikers. We
/, beloved with the voice of the giant and
&Uorked with the hands of pigmy. Now
last we know what capital is, what
91ro6it is and how TO utilize our resources
ksA assets. The magnitude of no task
>ofter will give us cold feet. AS inevi-
"a ~ the rising Of the sun is the event
3x1*oupowerment' ~ OF this community by
&<j1izAtion Of the energy generated by
- water. Newton discovered the
AZ gravity and great engineers since
(opght us how to use it. The rivers
N are the horses OF tomorrow, pow.
IcHltss mighty as gods and giants.
Ming 10 be harnessed. Two great
Hrace Philadelphia.