Evening star., 1943-04-04
BY Bainbridge Crist.

SpeCldl SENATE COmmllCee nedQeQ 0y
Chairman Charles L. McNary of Oregon,
the present minority leader of the United
States Senate, went West to survey
possible sites tor Boulder Dam 1t was
historic committee because it located
the first Of a number Of large Govern
ment power projects that are now sup
plying vast amounts of electricity to war
industries and that will provide un-
dreamed-of power to peacetime activities.
Members of that survey party still on
Capitol Hill are Minority Leader McNary
of Oregon. Senator Hiram johnson, Re
publican, of California and the secretary
of the Senate, Col. Edwin A. Halsey, who
served as clerk. The new Senator from
Nevada, James @. Scrugham, distin-
gulshed engineer, was Governor of his
State and deeply interested in the project
Nobody foresaW war conditions at
that time" Senator Scrugham said the
other day But we had faith in the
country. We had faith that an enormous
economic development lay ahead We
were the optimists of the times. We saw
a future demand for power"
Halsey remarked. You were statesmen
with vision. 1t was a decisive time in the
development of power"
1T was dream in a sense" Senator
Scrugham continued. 1T has not brought
all the good 1t can yet. Bonneville,
Grand Coulee and the Tennessee Valley
Authority have all stemmed from it. 1t
was far too large proposition for local
or State governments"
Trip Was Difficult.
The survey trip. as described by Col
HalSey and Senator Scrugham was
faced with difficulties in travelling, de-
spite the efforts of the then Gov
Scrugham to make it as comfortable as
possible. Starting from Las Vegas, Nev.,
the party made it's way through practi-
cally uninhabitated territory by almost
making roads as it went" or by going
over plank roads The Governor had
prepared for the Colorado River part of
the journey by having constructed a
special boat, with screw propeller and
rear paddle wheel.
The people in the small towns through
which the party moved were so grateful,
Col Halsey recalled, that young girls threw
MOVERS into the cars. Former Senator
Ashurst. Democrat. of Arizona, member
OF the committee, was besieged by his
constituents as he got off the train at
Flagstaff, all Of them anxious to learn of
the chances for obtaining dam There
was interest not only in the possibility
OF power, Col. Halsey said, but in irriga-
tion and the control of food waters,
which swept down the Colorado from
spring thaws.
The people frequently had all their
money in their farms A dam meant
better lrrigation-a rehabilitation of that
part OF the world Col Halsey added.
Choosing the Dam Site.
THE fact that Gov. Scrugham knew
his country so well helped to sell the
present site to the committee Col Hal
sey said. The whole river area was
trying to get control. But Governor
Scrugham did such good job the very
far-sighted committee decided on the site
which is on the border OF Arizona and
Nevada, and their decision does them
great credit
The survey trip took about month
Following inspection of sites and the
Roosevelt Dam, which was completed in
1911. the committee went to LOS Angeles
for hearings.
There was the market" commented
Senator Scrugham.
The party, Col. Halsey said prac-
tically lived in trains Much of the
stocks of fruits were given to the COM
mittee by townspeople as the train
moved along from place to place COL
Halsey probably has several hundred
photographs of the trip. showing the
inspection of Roosevelt Dam, the va
rious sites, members of the party and
HOLLYWOOD The Indians Col Halsey
said. were bashful about posing but
when they saw silver piece they for
got their "bashfulness" and it was hard
to get rid of them.
Boulder Dam, which was completed in
1885, now supplies about half of the
power required in Southern California.
Figures given to Col. Halsey's ofice show
that about 80 per cent of the electricity
generated there finds its way into war
industries, such as airplane factories and
shipyards on the Pacific Coast. Last
year 1t generated 4,l4,2o5.ooo kilowatt