The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1946-11-01

ohO ~ 0AsAhC
Knoxville, Tennessee, and the
thought came to us that one
of the truly greatest shows
on earth"--the Tennessee
Valley Authority-was only an
hours drive out into the hills.
So we turned off the highway
and set out for Norris dam to
see this great symbol of Amer
lean imagination, faith, and
engineering practically.
iva, as most of us once
knew, from the days OF the
front-page battles over its le-
gality some ten years ago, but
as many have by now forgot
ten, is d tremendous system of
dams and water-powered cleo
trical generators which has
turned a section of Northern
Tennessee into one vast system
of deep artificial lakes trapped
in the basins of the high wood
ed hills. The total acreage COW
cred by Morris lake." which
is the main body of water Gre
ated by IVA, reaches some
staggering total, and the total
amount of kilowatt-h hours of
electricity which is produced
by this water falling on the
turbines of the giart dyna-
mos in the huge cement dams
is an even more staggering
figure. This energy is lsed to
light FARMS, homes, towns and
factories throughout the South
Central section of the country,
and even a great area OF Nor
thern Mississippi is dependent
on this source OF energy.
The principle of this vast
hydro-electric system is " rel
atively simple one. It is bas-
ed on the simple principle that
if a creek is damed up in a
ravine a lake and a mill
stream or waterfall can be
produced as the water comes
tumb'ing over. the dam. That
is a simple principle that al
most any farmer knows and
at some time or other has used.
Men have made grist mills
through this principle from
time i,1memorial, not to men
ton the fact that many a boy
in a billy country will out
lakes has created a swimming
pond by means of a board
and-eafth-works dam.
But the IVA enterprise has
undertaken to carry out this
principle on a scale to stagger
the imagination-the greatest
engineering undertaking of its
kind in history, 1t was con-
eeived during the depression
whdn millions were out of
work and there was need to
create employment of any kind
to take care of some of the
Unemployment. Many of the
"made jobs of that period
served no permanently useful
ends; but the IVA project.
which was built to last for
generations and to create a vast
amount of saleable electric
power. served such obviously
useful ends that it met MANY
an objection on this very core.
That matter was thrashed
through the courts for years,
being pushed hard by those
who considered that IVA was
running unfair competition
with their own type of bust
ness. The courts ruled how
ever hat IVA was a legiti-
mate undertaking of govern
ment, and the matter has now
been settled. And even many
of its former enemies, the late
Wendell Wilkie for one, came
to admit later that IVA Great
ed not only a great improve
ment of the standards Of liv-
ing in the poor Tennessee hills
and in neighboring states, but
created also large industrial
opportunities by furnishing
cheap and reliable power which
enabled manufacturers of many
types to settle in this part of
the South. It's chief iustifica-
ton came during the war
when il made possible the pro-
duction of aluminium for bomb
ers AID fighter planes on a
vast productive scale. which
would not otherwise have been
possible. Many believe that
the availability of this source
of energy shortened the var
BY a considerable period. Ger
tainly if the enemy air forces
had been able TO bomb targets
in America, the IVA system
of dams would have been one
lof their chief ohjectives. if
not top of the list.
There are some half dozen of
these tremendous dams, seal
ing up a vast system of lakes