The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-02-08
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, ID. c.
4 cred" RIVER TO TAME.
Washington, ID. c.

4
plunges steeply thru a series of the
deepest gorges on earth, of which the
| Grand Canyon is the most famous
Its name means simply Red river. and
red" it is, in the popular sense OF
the term. for it has never submitted
to American civilization, and it fire.
quently rises in its wrath and upsets
! what little civilization there is along
it's banks.
incidentally about one million
horsepower annually go to waste in
the activities of this unframed stream
and hundreds of thousands of acres OF
either side of it are blistering desert
one of the greatest wildernesseS left
in America-that might be irrigated
and transformed into fertile farms by
this same river.
The suggestion is made that, having
deported all the alleged European
reds, the great American government
now turn its attention to this native
red. The suggestion emanates, not IN
exactly those terms, from the former
secretary of the interior, Franklin x.
Lane, and it is endorsed emphatically
by engineers who have studied the
problem of damming the Red river.
The country, we are told, is suf-
fering from over-product1on and I'M
employment, while it's great need is
for good farm lands that men can get
at reasonable prices. Here is chance
to put some of the unemployed to
work, help the mills of business make
a new start, create thousands of farms
and millions of horsepower in electrl-
cal energy.
Yesterdays Haskin letter explained
Secretary Lanes plan for doing re
clamation work by means of bond
issue. This article takes the spec1fic
case of the Colorado river, and sets
forth exactly what might be done with
it, in the opinion of Mr.. William Null
holland, chief engineer of the water
department in Los Angeles. who is a
we'll known authority on such prob
lens, and who has made a special
study of the Colorado river.
A Dangerous River.
According to all the stories told, this
Colorado river is about the most tenn
peramental stream in existence. By
government agreement and universal
consent it is not navigable stream,
and its waters may. therefore, be i'm
pounded and made available for both
irrigation and power.
There is an added reason in the
fact that the Colorado river occasion
ally runs wild and tears up things gen.
orally, having been the direct cause
of many great losses in the past, es-
pecially in its lower reaches. The pro-
posed controls will make this damage
impossible in the future.
At the two largest proposed dam
sites. which Mr.. Mulholland has in
spected, the side walls are already
there in towering cliffs many hun
dred feet high. 1t is necessary, there
fore, to build only the cross or gate
dam, and this again is made easier by
the material being practically all on
the site.
Mr.. Mulholland figures that he
could put in the two largest dams with
complete hydroelectric machinery, for
the conversion of all available power,
with canals and distributing bitches
for the irrigated lands, for thirty mil
lion dollars. and that these two sites
alone would produce over six hundred
thousand electric horsepower as we'll
as enough available water to irrigate
over six hundred thousand acres
Leaving out of the calculation entirely
the immense value of the water for
irrigation, placing the cost solely on
the power produced. this figures at
fifty dollars per horsepower. Ask any
user of power what this means in
value. Figuring generously for inter-
est, sinking fund, labor and replace
ment, the annual cost per horsepower
is so small that a market for it is as
sured at once, or certainly for all of
it within five years.
Power for Railroads.
The railroads would like this cheap
power. To the mining enterprises
scattered thru these states this power
will enable profit where here is now
a doubt. To the municipalities and
the small towns and their citizens it
means cheap light. heat and power.
And for the country as a whole there
will be vast economic saving. Ac-
cording to Mr.. Mulholland's hasty
figures, in reply to a question. one
million horsepower expressed in fuel
terms, taking power value on the ba-
sis of two pounds of coal per horse
the consumption of one thousand tons
of coal per hour under the very best
practice. This means that the Colo
RADIO river. when harnessed and put
to work, will save the nation twenty
four thousand tons of coal per day.
Mr.. Mulholland has figured on
three large and several small dams
and power sites at the various best
points along the river and this natural
advantage. skilfully developed, will
enable the best distribution of water
and the power also. He figures that
the whole work could be finished and
put in operation within four years.
To sum it up. the American people
can take a desert and make it one of
the most productive sections of the
country and a sure crop section. II
will give homes and farms to say
fifty to one hundred thousand Ameri-
can citizens and their families. 1t
will take some of the burdens from
the railroads by selling them power at
a much lower cost than they can
make it. 1t will stop all floods in this
section, some of which have cost mill
lions. 1t will enable this desolate re-
gion to produce millions every year in
direct taxes and indirect taxes from
its trade and commerce.
1t will cost the American people
nothing to do all this except to stand
behind it, after all the assets are
pledged, and to give the bond issues
the same status as the farm loan
bonds now have.