Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1920-09-28
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INvES.
TIGATE SCHEME TO CREATE
LARGE RESERVE LAKE OUT
OF SHENANDOAH IN
CLARKE AND JEFFER-
SON COUNTIES

Town--Cost Would be Over
$4,000, 900 and thousands of acres
of Land in Clarke and jefferson
Counties Would be Converted in
to Great Lake-to Conserve Water
for Big Water Power Station at
Great Falls near Washington When
Potomac River Gets Low.
Through the courtesy and enter
prise of the Editor of the Clarke
Courier We have an advance copy of
the following story which appears in
this weeks Courier, with leave to run
in this issue.)
Dear reader:-This is not a fish
yarn which our old friend, T. Eddy
Brown, brought back from his fishing
trip last week; it is a honest-and-
straight news article and it original
ed from that supposedly august
| United States Senate, which since its
villifcation of Woodrow Wilson all
the world knows can do mighty fool
ish things. Here is another one of
| it's folish ideas:
| The United States Senate, when it
establish an enormous water power
station tGreat Falls, near Washing
ton, on the Potomac river for the
purpose of supplying electric power
heat and light for all purposes for
Washington, Baltimore and nearby
towns, amended the measure, pro-
viding for an investigation of
scheme to erect dam across the
| Shenandoah River near Millville and
thereby create an enormous lake in
Clarke and Jefferson counties for the
purpose of establishing a reserve
water supply for the proposed power
station when the Potomac river ran
low.
In response to this action of the
Senate, William B. Harrison, Fed
eral Government engineer, came to
| Berryville last Friday and started
| first to ascertain the value of the
lands in Clarke and Jefferson coun-
ties which would be Inundated by
this dam. He interviewed Hon. A.
Moore, Jr., former President Of the
Northern Virginia Power Company,
and Postmaster George H. Levi and
several others. He then went to
Charles Town.
Mr.. Harrison told these persons
that the proposed dam would back
water as far up the Valley as River
ton, or a distance of % miles.
Thousands of acres of the best land
in Clarke and Jefferson counties
would be inundated. He told one
citizen that the water, if the dam was
constructed, would cover the bridges
now spanning the Shenandoah river
at Castleman's Ferry.
Dykes, he said, would have to be
constructed around Charles Town to
prevent that community from being
compelled to use boats on it's streets.
The projects, he said, would cost be-
tween $50,000,000 and $75,000,000.
For years Congress has been dilly-
dallying about taking over Great
Falls on the Potomac river, and build
ing there great water power station.
The water at Great Falls has a large
fall and engineers declare it is an
ideal place for a water power station.
1t is declared by engineers that
huge water power station at Great
Falls would furnish enough electric
power to heat and light Washington
and Baltimore, to run their machin-
cry, to- operate their electric railway
systems; in fact, to furnish all the
heat, light and yower for all purposes
and do away with the necessity of
using coal or other forms of fuel.
The Editor of The Courier, when a
reporter in Washington, has heard
The Washington newspapers have
limited gently many times that the
reason Congress never took any def
mite steps in the matter was that it
did not wish to offend the company
which is furnishing power and light
to Washingtonians at pretty high
rate.
Evidently, some one in the Senate
desired to make the project ridicu-
lous and tackled on an amendment to
the bill for the investigate IN in the
project to create an enormous lake
in the Shenandoah Valley in order
that when the Potomac river ran low
water could be turned loose from the
the Valley Lake and therefore the big
dynamos in the power station would
always be kept humming. Congress
has a way sometimes of amending
bills for the purpose of killing them.
The land in Clarke and Jefferson
counties, which would be Inundated
by this proposed dam, is the richest
in the Valley. 1t is the section of
the Valley which after being survey
ed by George Washington he describ-
ed as beinga ''principality and would
keep in affiuence any family for gen
erations." 1t is also the most beau
tiful section of the two counties.
The high hills around Wickliffe,
which make that section a delight to
the eye, would become islands in this
lake scheme.
The Courier wishes to admonish
landowners against being alarmed
over this scheme. The chances are
1000 to l it will never come true.
The Courier man, from his own OBJ
servation, knows how Congress talks
and sputters and does nothing in the
end. That is about the way this pro-
ject will wind up.
The Courier's Pigion Hill reporter,
upon reading the above, exclaimed:
Great Lord; if Berryville is to re-
main on the map they will have to
put it on stills, and then they won't
have any trouble keeping the streets
clean"