Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-10-21
MUSCLE SHOALS PROBLEM
Allow Property 10 go 70 Waste or
Give il TO Henry Ford.
PROPOSED SALE FULLY EXPLAINED
IF Government Does Not Sell Prop
erty All its Great Investment will
be Lost, But Powerful Interests
would Rather Have That Than See
Eord Cot II

be Loct. But Powerful Interests
would Rather Have That Than See
! Ford Get It.
Washington Herald.
/ Should the United States spend
! somewhere in the ncighborhood OF
| $4,000 900 and render itself free from
/ the necessity of having to rely on
! Chile for its supply of nitrates which
ere the basis for wartime explosives
and peacctime food? In other words,
what is to happen TO Muscle Shoals?
Under the control of the war depart
mcnt, it is proving a rather veXinS
question, only one bill on the plant
having been so far received which
could in any sense be considered TO
have the requisite financial backing.
Probably no public work Of prime
| Importance, to compare with this pro-
icct Eas Lccr so maliGned or so little
understood by the general public. we
krow we spent q lot Of money during
the war and the suggestion has been
made that the whole project he aban-
dCrcd and the loss charged to war
expenditures, just as the airplane ana
shin losses have been wiped out. Some
few people, believing it all wasted
really advocate such step. 1t would
bc z grave error We lave mighty
baby which needs nothing more than
ar expert trained business nurse and
.omc finanCia! milk to grow into splcn-
did manhood.
The facts are that the government
hes a p!rnt of marvellous potcnt!alitles
in Muscle Shoals, ready to use. In
fact il las been used and produced
line nitrogen, the basis of nitric acid
which in turn is the prime need IN
both the fertilizer and the explosive
field. This plant operation waS ac-
cumpishCd using steam power from
liant cuuinpcd with 10000 horsepow-
a. in steam Loi.cr With the COM
Fiction of the dam, and the coming OF
choancr power, the cost of producing
would be cut almost in half.
\ two weeks test run of the plant
with steam power showed that lime nj
trocen could lie cG.~ed. when the
;Ilart o.N#trI g.. >" v,r cent. cAp'r-
~. at - cost e $ii.5& per ton. The
rs,ila?teI cost for producing with the
rlant running,at full capacity, turning
o,.t 80 900 tons per year. under steam
,owcr. goes dom to $3S per ton. This
latte" figure uses power cost "i .oo4-
cents pcr lilowatt hour. With the
completion of tn" dam, the estimated
cost of = kilowatt hour Of power Is
put It .00O75 cents, which would cut
iha cos. or the fertilizer to about $50
l."r ton.
Investigation committees OF cn%i-
ncery ana business mon from both the
american Farm Bureau Federation
ana the Mississippi valley association
examined Muscle Shoals. Their re-
ports show that the condition existing
is apnrcximatcly this.
vi told the government has spent
on ;hc rroicct a total of $l05,l2l,2S@.5l
ibis amount is divided into cXrcndi-
turcs Up to June 80. 1920. for Nitrate
Plan. 80. / $l3,5fi5G7.12 (and this
liant has never been used, on account
of thc gYcatcr safety o! the process Tor
nitrogen fXation used in hlart NO y;
rn NitTatc Plant 80. > $69G7GSS9.O6
and on the Gor%aS Steam Station, in
81 IL