Evening star., 1933-02-05
ROOSEVELT PROJECTS TEST"
NVAST RESERVOIR OF POWER
Monroe Dream of Tennessee Basin De-
velopment Appears Destined to Be
Pushed In Next Administration.
BY REX COLLIER,

BY REX COLLIER.
A dream for development Of one of
Americas greatest natural resources
the Tennessee River Basin. first en-
visioned more than q century ago by
President James Monroe, appears des-
tined to step from the realm Of fan
tasy to the world Of hard facts during
the forthcoming administration.
limited aspect Of navigation in 1927
Other Presidents and Legislators and
engineers have viewed the mighty po-
tentialities of the rugged valley and
it's water courses and have given reign
to their imagination. Invention of the
dynamo and the electric light opened
an even wider vista of possibilities for
development OF the valley. eliminating
in construction of the Governments
war time power and nitrate plant at
Muscle Shoals.
Varying opinions as. to economic
soundnesS of comprehensive power
program in this generation. opposition
of many national leaders to entry OF
the Federal Government into the power
business, the great cost involved In car
rying out gigantic, co-ordinated
power navigation flood control project
and other factors have combined in the
past to confine the ambitious enter
prise to the blueprint stage.
The most important advance made
toward the longsought goal Of Ten
nessee Valley enthusiasts was the ex-
tensive survey of the basin conducted
by Army engineers under authority OF
an act CT Congress approved JANUARY
81, 1927, with amendatory provisions.
Roosevelt Outlines Plans.
1t was the voluminous report SUBJ
mitted to Congress by these engineers
which inspired President-elect Roose-
welt to call in the newSpaperfnen at
| Warm Springs, Ga. the other day and
outline to them his plans for making
the pleasant Tennessee Valley dream
come true.
Apparently Mr.. Roosevelts program
represents a combination of power
navigation and flood control plans
worked out by the Army engineers and
certain reforestation and reclamation
ideas nurtured by Mr.. Roosevelt, him.
self
His recent tour of the valley. includ.
ing a visit to Muscle Shoals. impressed
him with the magnitude Of this vast
reservoir of power. Here was natural
|
engineers, of producing ultimately some
10000 kilowatts Of firm power. The
nucleus Of network of power systems
already existed at Muscle Shoals. II
would, OF course. take many years tC
develop these power resources to thet1
maximum capacities. and develop a
market with sufficient demand for &C
great a supply of electrical energy.
Unemployment Relief.
In the meantime. Mr. Roosevelt be-
lieveS, there are prospects Of immediate
unemployment relief in the undeveloped
marginal lands of the basin. in the
forests and in the lowlands. Thousands
of men can be put to work on reforesta-
ton. drainage and reclamation under
takings, he claims. These improve
ments automatically will increase the
valleys population and industry and
will facilitate building up Of market
for increased power output.
In New York State Mr.. Roosevelt evi.
denced an intense interest in forest con.
servation. He has seen the employment
benefitS to be derived from planting
trees and he is confident that similal
undertakings on larger scales will b'
just as productive of good. According
! to officials at the United States Fores
Service, no survey of employment pos
sib.lities bound up in the TENNESSEE
forest preserves has been made, bu
they are prepared to make such q sur
vey if the new President or Congress
directs.
The latent power resources thai
await harnessing in the big basin under
plans Of Army engineers were outlined
to Congress in 1880 by Maj. Gen. Lytle
| Brown chief of ENGINEERS
An outlay Of $1,000, 900 900, he said
would produce ultimately about 3.000,.
| 600 kilowatts at an average cost Of A.:
mills per kilowatt hour at the power
plant.
while this price" Gen. Brown said
'iS not remarkably low for q large
hydroelectric power development, 1t il
considered sufficiently low to constitute
an economically feasible and desirable
project whenever the demand for power
has grown sufficiently to produce 9
market which could absorb such large
quantities"
Minor Cost to Government.
The 81 200 900, 900 cost of the project
| Gen. Brown pointed out, should not bt
confused with the cost of any projec,
| to be carried out at the expense Of the
Federal Government.
1T is vast plan possible to o proper
combination Of private enterprise anC
public works." he reported. "l1-he tota
cost is of no special interest in thi.
report since only minor part of II
enters into prospective operations By
| the general Government"
The power development would be co.
ordinated with navigation so that ship.
ping would have 9-foot waterway from
the mouth Of the river to Knoxville
with depths of from to feet fol
some distance up the tributaries.
The contemplated power system, wher
| completed, would consist of 146 hydro.
electric power projects and q number
of auxiliary steam plants. all inter.
connected so that the entire system
could function as unit. Unless thu,
connected, some Of the plants woult
suffer from deficiency of waterpowel
in dry weather. Compensating reser.
the flow of water for the turbines. The
reservoirs also would be Of value ir
preventing floods on the lower river
such as caused damage Of 2,600, 900 ir
the vicinity Of Chattanooga in 1926
Once every 500 years a flood sever
times as disastrous may be expected
engineers declare.
"1t is obvious that project Of this
magnitude must be constructed ster
by step over a long period of time,
Gen. Brown informed Congress. TT
meet the immediate needs of this re.
gion for improved navigation and in.
creased power development. the district
engineer recommends q more limited
development, consisting only of seven
dams on the main river below Knox
Vile"
These seven dams, It was stated
would produce large amount of electric
power and, in combination with existing
dams at Muscle Shoals and Hales Bal
and with dam No. 50 on the Ohio
River would provide 9-foot navigation a,
far as Knoxville. The total cost of the