The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-06-26

tween Asheville and Hot Springs
remain undisturbed. This would
add a great value to these plants
of the Carolina Power and Light
company, without cost to chat
company. Meanwhile the recon-
mendations of these engincers
contained no provision to pay sthe
owners of privately owned power!
sites a dollar for their Dow
rights. -i
The Southern Railway was e.
| be affected to some degree bXI
some relocations of. railway
tracks, but the railway would notI
be adversely affected and migat
even have the tracks somewhat
improved. The plans therefore,
would not hurt the Southern Rail-
way company, would add large
sum to the value of plants own
ed by the power company, private
power owners would get nothing
and Buncombe and Henderson
counties would be ruined.
But these engineers were pro-
ceeding on wrong basic and even
engineering assumptions. The
Carolina Power and Light COM
pany, due to the threatened en-.
croachment of cheap subsidized
power, probably will be glad to
relinquish the small plants, and,
they can be dismantled and aban-
doned. Thus. the power company
probably constitutes no lnsuper-
able problem. AS to the South
ern Railway line, down the river,
this niece of track is crooked, has
excessive grades and is not good
enough to handle the traffic of
the future across the mountains,
A new railroad should be con-
structed with easy curves and al
ruling grade of about 20 feet tol
the mile so that 100-car trains
could be hauled, as is done on
better cross-mountain lines sueH'
as the Virginia, the Norfolk and|
Western, and Carolina Clincht
field and Ohio. The cost of con-
struction of such line might;
reach or exceed five million dol
lars but it would be a sound in-.
vestment, unlike the contemplaf
ed wholesale destruction Of prqU4
erty under the engineers oil
and the savings in cost Of ope<#
alton with increased railway eSe|
pacity would Justify such an outts
lay. If the government viii ~
nance such a line from aronfsss
Knoxville TO Ridgecrcst and and
get it up properly out Of the bed
! of the river. the power Of the
French Broad can be better de-
veloped, at far lcas cost than
these estimates. including the
cost on a new railway line. and
some Of the major objections to.
this locality be avoided.
Instead Of nix dams in North
Carolina, only two will be rcquir-
ed. One dam, Just above Mar
shall and l~>w the mouth Of Ivy
river, will cost around six or
eight million dollars, and back
water almost TO Asheville. The
two dams will store sufficient
amount Of water. nearly a years
normal supply, and they will con-
troll the flood waters Of Swan
nanoa river and other creeks
around here, whereas the Ashe-
vile dam would control but two
thirds of the headwaters. There
is no great amount of valuable
property to be flooded and there
will be no serious loss felt by the
interests of Asheville and Bun
combe county. The other dam at
Deepwater bridge. just above Hot
Springs, about $50 feet high, will
not be a very expensive dam az
the site there is exceptionally
good and will satisfactorily COM
plete all the necessary storage
and power requirements. The to-
tai cost including the new rail
road, would be under half the
cost according to the army engi-