Imperial Valley press., 1936-08-30
News Behind the News
Everybody Works Together The
World POUer Conference Indus
try on The Spot -.

WASHINGTON.-Leaders of the big utility
industries government officials economists and
operators of publicly owned power plants are
working like happy little band of brothers for
success of the World Power Conference which
will be held in Washington the week beginning
Sept. Z.
Considering the bitterness with which some
OF these men regard one another and one an
others ideas. this cooperation is nothing short
of remarkable and certainly exceeds most pre-
vious hopes.
The boys will proceed to fight like cats
after the foreign delegates welcomed. Ad-
vocates of very cheap electricity, both inside
and outside the government, hope to be able
to put the industry on the spot and strike some
great blows for public power development.
Many foreign delegates. representing nations
which have gone far toward public ownership
will help them out-this being the first con-
ference of the sort where economic as well as
technical phases of power production and dis
tribution are to be fully discussed
But the ablest men on both sides will be
reading the papers. Arguments will be factual
and scientific rather than political
o
This World Power Conference will be the
biggest international meeting ever held in this
country, some $40 delegates from so other coun-
tries already being on the way or now packing
their bags. They are the power experts OF the
world.
About 5000 persons will attend a banquet
in the main waiting room of the Washington
Union Station, the cityS only place large enough
Dr. c. G. Abbot famous scientist and secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institute, will stage the
first demonstration of his remarkable inven-
ton, steam engine run by the rays of the sun.
which some day may revolutionize the power
industry.
On Sept II, at Constitution Hall. President
Roosevelt will push button which will turn on
the generators at Boulder DAM and man out
there will broadcast back to the conference the
story of how it all looks and sounds
In the audience will be some of the power
trust" magnateS who fought vigorously and by
many devices to smother the Boulder Dam
project
Eighteen translators and eight editors are
at work on the papers to be read or presented.
Simultaneous transmission from the platform in
English, French, German and Spanish will be
made into individual earphones
After the conference there will be study
tours to all the important power centerS of the
United States and Canada-including the great
public hydro-electric system in Ontario.
Foreign engineers and experts will visit iva,
Boulder Dam, Bonneville, Grand Coulee, Forr
Peck and other federal projects, as well as the
big private plants and such factories as those of
General Electric and Ford.
At Seattle they will be greeted by COM
mttee including local private power officials.
but chairmaned by j. D. Ross, SEC member who
fathered and managed the public plant there.
Some utilities officials at first objected to
these tours as too much advertising for New
Deal power policies but caved in with gen.
eral decision to play ball.
The decision due to feeling of obliga-
ton to pay back entertainment by foreigners at
previous conferences abroad, to assurances from
Chairman Morris L. Cooke that the economics
of power would be discussed in a scientific way,
and to realization that American private utilities
would look a bit silly and lonesome if they
stayed out.
100000 for conference expenses after Congress
had made certain that the meeting would be
held by appropriating s75,O00