Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-11-19
Ford's OffertoUS.
For Muscle Shoals
Virtually Accepted
Auto Manufacturer Will Be-
gin Immediate Work on
Huge Development if Deal
Is Closed

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1S.-ACcept-
arce of Henry Ford's big offer for
the Muscle Shoals nitrate plant vir-
tually has been decided upon by the
Harding administration.
This was learned from high Off
cial sources, as the automobile man.
ufacturer came here today to dis
cuss details of his proposals.
Mr.. Ford will discuss his Muscle
Shoals offer today with Secretary of
Commerce Hoover. A slight indis-
position of Secretary of War Weeks
made it necessary to announce at
Eoon that the Weeks-Ford confer
ence, scheduled for this afternoon,
would be postponed, probably until
Saturday.
Mr.. Ford said shortly before the
conference that he is prepared to
remove one of the administration
main objections to the acceptance of
his offer under which the govern
ment will eventually receive be-
tween $500, 200, 900 and $250,000,0 900.
Backed by his engineers, Mr.. Ford
said he would inform Senator Weeks
he could complete the Wilson dam,
using Ford engineers and Ford eff
cheney methods for the government
at a cost of between S1S,000,000 and
$20,000,000.
War department engineers have
asserted that the cost of completing
the plant for Ford would be from
SIS 900 900 to $4,000, 900 and Secre-
tary of War Weeks has taken the
position that congress might bllk at
such a large appropriation. The
\ ~
ment complete the plant. 7 Gis work
mainly will be to finish the Wilson
dam from which 5000 horsepower
will be developed.
No Other Proposals
Other than this he will make no
new proposals ard will stand pat on
his original offer.
Il can complete the dam for be-
tween $1S,OOO,0O0 and $4,000, 900, I
believe" said Ford today in a state
ment, "and 1 can do it in one-third
less time than the government esti-
mates will be required. This is the
conclusion of my engineers who
have made a careful survey of the
situation.
IF the government will agree to
pay for it, l will build the dam and
enterprise will be no longer delay
ed
Mr.. Ford is eager to get under way
with his gigantic industrial project,
which should cause a great city to
spring up around the nitrate plant
AS soon as the dam is completed,
Mr.. Ford hopes to have several of
his new industrial plants ready for
operation.
To Build Cotton Mill
The nitrate plants will be COM
pleted first.
THE cotton cloth factory, which
will be one of the greatest in the
south, will follow" said Mr.. Ford.
The Ford company now requires
daily close to 1880 yards of cotton
cloth in the manufacture of cars,
and we are steadily increasing our
requirements. The Muscle Shoals
plant is in the heart of the cotton
country and we believe that we can
establish there a model cotton cloth
plant that will not only take care
of our requirements but manufac-
ture cotton goods for other lines.
1.-THE most recent reports of our
engineers all indicate that the
bauxite deposits, essential in the
sufficient in extent to develop the in
dustry in such fashion that we can
count on the manufacture of alumni
mum as being one of the major in
dustries at the shoals. l want to use
aluminium in our car wherever we
can substitute it for steel-principal-
ly in the car bodies. Cars must be
made lighter. The manufacture of a
. new type of light steel freight car
= il another development we are plan
ming for the shoals plant"
Mr.. Ford has a keen interest and
very real confidence in the revival
of the river traffic in the south and
middle west. He has already had re-
ports made for him covering a ire
mendous project for the creation of
a great lock system along the upper
Mississippi. In the building of the
Wilson dam he sees the possibility
of extending river traffic on the Ten
of the dam.
River Traffic Revival
'"The completion Of the Muscle
Shoals plant ought to be vital fac
tor in the revival of river traffic on
the Tennessee, the Ohio and Missis.
sippi," he said. ALREADY we have
toward the establishment of a packet
line between Ironton, Ohio, and Ash
land, KY. in which a new type OF
river steamer will be used. 1 ex-
pect to see the time when the
levees at st. Louis, New Orleans
and Memphis will again be thick
with vessels. River freight is chear
freight and it is fast freight com
pared with the average freight train
transportation of today. River
freight will cut costs and cutting
costs is going to be the problem OF
every business man during the next
decade"
Mr.. Ford has declined to become
involved in any way in the arms
limitation conference. For that rea
son he is living in his private car
and not in hotel damned with arms
parley delegates.
Copyright, 1921, By United Press