Evening star., 1923-11-10
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS


The greatest water power in the
Kongo. but it is not worth a wagon
load OF German marks, for there Is
no demand for its power by anybody
within commercial reach of it.
In the United States it Is found
that the greatest natural water power
Is located on the west of the Rocky
mountains. and the greatest demand
for power lies with the more densely
populated east. It is not possible to
move the people westward to the
power and 1t is just as obviously i'm
possible to bring the Pacific coast
power to the Atlantic. All that the
east can do is to study the possi-
bilitiss Of developing what power re-
sources nature has youchsafed us
and note what problems the far west
has solved. Upon the Pacific coast
there Ia superpower extending from
British Columbia to Mexico, with but
four breaks, totaling twenty-five
miles, yet not all of even the power
possibilities Of Washington and Ore
gon--blest as are those states with
natures white fuel"-has been har-
messed.
There has long been problem be-
fore engineers as to what to do with
the potential power of the Great
falls OF the Potomac. Tens of thou
sands OF wild horses are, prancing
over the rocks of Great falls, within
fifteen miles Of the National Capital.
which ought to be hitched to our
street cars and to the machines
grinding our electric lights and to
scores of other kinds of machines
working for our comfort.
Inere have been many plans put
on paper by government engineers
and very much misunderstanding on
the part OF Congress and the public
as to what constitutes a water power
plant. The public learns that a GER
tain fall OF water is equivalent to
SO many thousands of horsepower
ana fhe cnsplatss m S s,,t that sss
with the water that is past" the
country has lost billions of dollars.
which have flowed over the falls
since the Declaration of Indepen-
dence. Such economists forget the
system OF conservation reservoirs in
which to store water In seasons Of
rult row for use in eQualizing dry
periods. They forget the cost OF
"a.
the overhead of upkeep and running.
AS one OF the governments expert
engineers has remarked: "This pop
ular ignorance is due primarily TO
lack of correct information
The report of Mai. NJ. c. Taylor TO
Maj. Gen. Lansing r. Beach. chief Of
engineers, covers a new plan for
Harvesting Great Falls, with "brace
dams at Chain bridge and above the
falls and storage reservoirs in Great
Cacapon river. the north fork of the
Shenandoah and the south branch
Of the Potomac. That project would
cos. s44.4s1.ooo. 1t would require an
annual upkeep OF si.534,s sos. With
out the reservoirs, the cost of the
water power plant alone would be
some $l5.000.800 less, but il would
to cover periods of low water in
connection with the electric plant
The Tyler plan is indorsed by the
Federal Power Commission. which
estimates that, with it. electric cur
rent delivered ut way stations would
cost between SO and 10 mills: but
that even at the higher figure. it
would be much cheaper than coal.
be not less than 675.00o.0oo kilowatt
hours annuaily-far more than Wash
tngton is now consuming for all pur-
poses Presumably. the cost above
quoted means 10 mills per kilowatt
hour, az contrasted with the present
rate to householders of 10 cents.
= < y <
There has been a greater advance
in the development Of hydroelectric
power in the United States since
Congress passed the water power act
OF 1920 than during all the period
since the passage of the first act Of
1895. At the time the present law