The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-08-24

L 10 lCooOIioplC " ouppooC liza
Mr.. Rockefeller Of Pocantico Hills,
New York, is losing any hair worry
ing about the Senatorial inquiry into
gasoline prices. Government inter-
ference may disturb railroad presi-
dents, coal barons and the so-called
vested interests but the oil pro-
ducers have been on the rack so
often that a little thing like an Off
cial investigation is an old, dull
story to them. 1t is said to be sig
niticant, nevertheless, that gasoline
dropped two cents a gallon on the
day the Investigation started in
Washington. The gasoline producers
have testified before the Senate that
they have operated at a loss since
late in 1920. The Senate Committee
has just turned on the spotlight, and
there are several million automobile
owners in the United States who will
hope that the Senate chauffeurs may
find some of the bad spots that are
in the gasoline highway.
New England has awakened to the
fact that it cannot possibly get an
thracite coal this winter and a des-
pairing wall from the Fuel Admins
tration of Maine says: 1.-The con-
SumerS must plan to use soft coal,
and they will be fortunate if they
are able to obtain it," Chicago sees
a famine in coal fifteen days away"
LNxyAn Don ~ IVY xo YSn urhocn yn1itinn1
government tops all the rich coal
fields foresees early 'hardships to
domestic consumers"
People who have used their eyes
during the past few weeks could
hardly fail to observe that there has
been a genuine rush upon the coal
supplies. In the cities the coal
trucks have been going day and
night, never letting up even or Sun
days. The purchasers have usually
been large consumers with hotels,
apartment houses, large buildings or
factories to look after. AS a rule
the ordinary householder has not
been among the patrons. In a few
weeks everyone must have coal. The
above are straws that show which
way the wind has been blowing. 1.-The
other 70 or so per cent" of the popu-
lation will have to take turns under
the distribution programs of the Ma
tional and State Fuel Administra-
tions.
Although the Federal water power
act is about two years old, the ex-
pected water power boom is still
on paper. The visitor to the great
plants at Niagara Falls will find a
genuine understanding of the future
possibilities of water power.
The present effective radius Of dis
tribution of power from Niagara
Falls is about 200 miles. The highest
voltage used in the existing system is
10000 volts. Manufacturers nov
state that they are prepared to guar
antee equipment that will carry 300,-
900 volts. Distributor possibilities
are governed solely by what the lay
men will understand easiest as the
amount of Juice" that can be put
back of the distributing plan. And
800, 900 volts, the manufacturers ex-
plain, is sufficient to put Chicago and
New York City in the power ION of
Niagara Falls. So much for direct
power distributed. But there is ano
Their proved feature in distributing
power. A number of Southern pow
err companies demonstrated it last
winter. There was a drought in North
Carolina and the textile mills were
about to close down for lack of pow
err. The Alabama Power Company
transmitted power to the Central
Georgia Power Company. That COM
pany tied-in with Columbus and the
process was repeated farther away
through four or five additional units
until the North Carolina point over a
thousand miles distant was reached
and supplied with the needed Juice"
The developments in the transmits
sion of power by the hydro-electric
methods thus demonstrated at Mia
CARA Falls and in the southern states
shows that the waterpower resources