Evening star., 1924-01-18

George WashinHton's greatest
dream OF promotion was in connec-
ton with. the development, OF Great
Falls and the Potomac river, with q
tcanaf running around the falls, con-
Meeting tidewater with = 'ths great
west. That. dream, which, he .desig-
mated ~ his "favorite plan,'. stands
to-day only in:'ruined tnAsenry of
three canal locks, long since, aban-
donsd: For who could thensaforesee
tho coming Of tho steam railway, to
lsupersede canal boats, much less hy-
droeiectric. power to,supersede steam
tpower? $780, - 49, "a
Congress will be asked again at
this session Gas, 1t has been: asked
every session for the last twenty
years), to accept George washing
toms "favorite plan" modernised, by
developing the potential hydroeiectric
power sof Great Falls :. Thereby II
would not only save annually more
than 100000 tons Of coal, but make
the Capital great manufacturing
center and head of ocean navigation.
waste h6ver the cataract and rapids
amounts to $4,000 horsepower. iAe
the city grows In population It's own
ineedsfWill eventually absorb all that
power. In the meantime there will, be
lures which always flock to cheap
hsuper.power" Of the hNs east wan tanitins ins
all the territory from New England
20, Seorgial. the ,surplus power will
wide radtus-from Richmond to Bal
| tlmore ana wheeling, w. Va.
+ + :: T..
/, The development Of the falls and
rapids OF the Potomac river has been
a "favorite plan" Of Senator Norris
lof Nebraska throughout his twenty
years In Congress. Once his bill for
that purpose passed the Senate, but
was defeated by the representatives
OF the House, when 1t reached con.
ference. 1t still has strong support
In the Senate. and may pass both
branches this year, for Senator norris
has reintroduced the measure, and
IT Is also pending In the House The
from new members who have not had
! opportunity to study its merits. and
look only at the cost -
The project, as presented by the
4 StetrCcios 'i5 SUInpilCAteQ- WITH ABB
struse technical language, therefore
1t Is Handicapped. All that the aver
age congressman. engrossed with his
nome needs, can see clearly is that
| tnere are five separate parts to this
plan, ranging in cost from $4,000. 900
/ to-. s1s.000.O00 and o total estimate q
! cost OF $44. .421,000. The enterprise
! now under consideration has TO do
with power only-not water supply
for Washington. -,
| + 4 X
At first, both water supply and
! power were included In one project,
but Congress has now adopted a:plan
for additional water supply, with a
new conduit, parallel to the old Com
| duit, receiving water from special
dam Just above the falls.
This water supply Improvement will
cost about s6.5O0.OOO. and will include
a filtration basin costing sss7 900: and
a nine-foot conduit paralleling the old
conduit and doubling the water flow
| from the dam to the city. With: the
new conduit, the supply will be atnple
for the next generation, even thsthe
population increased to half a million,
as estimated for 1910, or $4,000: by
1860. in place OF the present 447,0GO.
| There Is agitation for "high water
pressure" for the business district but
tthat would be obtained by pumping
| from the river close to the city into