Evening star., 1934-02-13
ARTICLE NO. 3.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

MULE SAM mas Undertaken
the job Of turning the world S
biggest sword into the world S
~ biggest ploughshare.
That sword is Muscle
Shoals.
The great dam across the Tennessee
River, the hydro-electric plant and
the nitrate factories probably conSti-
tute the most titanic war weapon a
nation ever forged. Never unSheathed,
it Is as bright and stainless as the
day it left the hands of that master
craftsman. the United States Army
Corps of Engineers. 1t is one of the
wonders of the world. Before the
imposing spectacle of concentrated
power one has somewhat the sensation
of insignificance that comes from
looking at the stars on a clear Octo-
Der night.
Statistics Are Feeble.
The oft-quoted statistics, imposing
as they are, give feeble impression
Of the magnitude and power which is
felt in the presence of the great plant.
1t is the most massive dam in the
world, containing 1853, 900 cubic
yards of concrete. The great Assouan
Dam in Egypt, its closest rival, con-
tains only 1,179,O00 cubic yards. Its
total length, including locks and abut-
mentS, is nearly 5000 feet-longer
than eight Washington Monuments
lying end to end. 1t is only 80 feet
lower than Niagara. A 20-foot high
way runs along its crest.
The hydro-electric plant has po-
tential generating capacity of nearly
million horsepower enough to supply
the needs of a city of 2,5O0.OOO. 1t
has been calculated that this repre-
SentS approximately the total working
power of 52,380O00 men working al
their greatest capacity. The actual
capacity of the present installation is
however, somewhat less than 26O, ,00O
horsepower.
The building of the dam created
lake extending upstream for II
miles and covering 14,5OO acres-a
place which has become famous for
its natural beauty To enable nav
lgation to proceed up the river past
the dam required the building of the
largest locks in the continental United
States. They are hewn out of natural
rock. Their construction necesSitated
the removal of about 100000 cubic
yards OF rock and earth. These
alone remain under the jurisdiction
of the War Department.
Huge Nitrate Plants.
Almost equally imposing with the
dam and power house are the nitrate
plantS-to furnish power for which
was the primary reason for construc-
ing the hydro-e electric plant There
are two of them. The first, which
cost $12,O0O,OOO, doesn't amount to
much any longer. 1t was completed
one day after the signing of the
Armistice. 1t had been built to ex-
tract nitrogen from the air according
to the process devised by the German
chemist, Haber, which was not very
clearly understood in the United
States at the time. One test run
was made.
The second is the largest plant in
the world for the fixation of nitrogen
by the so-called cyanamid process,
now considered more expensive than
the refined Haber process 1t was
built during the war period at a cost
of about $75,000,000. There are ia
Aodern, fireproof factory buildings.
There are two model towns on a
reservation of more than 1000 acres.
The equipment INCLUDES a steam
plant containing the worlds largest
turbine with a generating capacity of
10000 kilowatts. Begun in January,
1918 the plant was completed in
october of the same year. 1t is
equipped to produce 10000 tons of
ammonium nitrate a year.
The entire Muscle Shoals project
was a war measure, although it is
claimed the late President Wilson had
uppermost in his mind the posSibili-
ties of harnessing the tremendous
power Of the Tennessee River to serve
the people But at the time the
plants were built there was urgent
need for nitrogen to provide explo-
sives for the Army in France 1t so
happened that the war ended before
tn. sword" could be gotten into
action.
Nitrate Plant Preserved.
The nitrate plant has been kept in
splendid state Of preservation and
efficiency. Every bit of machinery
looks as if it has just come from the
factory. Within a few hours after
the declaration OF war, if there was
need for it, the factories could be in
operation at full capacity. 1t is as
clean and we'll oiled as a soldiers
rife at inspection.
But Uncle Sam, at peace, found
himself with the finest hydro-e electric
plant and nitrogen factory in the
world on his hands 1t had cost
about S150.000,000. Although there
was no present need for it, it was an
invaluable asset of national defense.
Then started the long and bitter
debate over what should be done
with it.
Now it so happens that nitrogen is
equally indispensable as a supporter
of life and a dealer of death. 1t is
full explosives and the most necessary
fertilizers. Farmers all over the
United States, and especially in the
South, had to have nitrogen and pay
heavily for it, A great deal was being
imported, in the form of nitrate of
soda, from Chile With a few altera-
tions the great cyanamid plant was
just as well equipped to turn out fer
tilizer nitrogen as war nitrogen. But
here two difficulties appeared. One
concerned the ethics of the Govern
ment entering into competition with
an honorable private industry which
seldom had been accused of mulcting
the farmers. The other concerned the
efficiency of the process. The refined
Haber process had come into use. and
was proving considerably cheaper
than the cyanamid process. Factories
were springing up which were making
nitrogen a drug on the market. Al
the same time farmers were learning
to make their own nitrogen, simply
by planting the right kind of crops.
No Need for Power.
Nor was there any pressing need ir
the locality for the great potentia
roouer- of Wilson Dam There WaS mr.