Evening Star Newspaper, August 18, 1929, Page 4

COMMISSION URGES GREAT FALLS PARK Power Dams Would Ruin Beauty of River Valley, Group Holds. __ (Continued From First Page) up the picture of a great navigational | development, linking up- the Potomac and Monongahela Rivers with a canal network, giving Washington water access to the vast Mississippl system under the intracoastal program. Gen. Jadwin sums up the anticipated financial benefits, aggregating $48,000,- 000, in this wise: Savings on production of hydro power instead of steam, capitalized on & 6 per cent basis, at $15,000,000. Saving by elimination of two bridges, | $3,000,000. | Savings in the form of income from | taxes, at the rate of 2 per cent, cap- 1 italized at $14,000,000. Savings which the power structures ‘would produce in navigation should be extended up the Potomac River, amount- ing to $14,000,000. Savings on preliminary treatment of the Washington water supply, and esti- mated value of flood protection, $2,000,- <00, Gen. Jadwin explains in his report that: “With the present population, about $10,000,000 of the total savings would fall to the specific enefit of the residents and the government of the District of Columbia, and $38,000,000 %0 the ad)acent Staiet and to the coun- try at large. Coal's Value Is Added. “The value due to the conservation of the coal should, when more definite- ly determined, be added to the above $48,000,000. The same is true to the increased net freight savings, which will come from the navigation improve- ment and the growth of commerce.” Gen, Jadwin does not neglect park considerations in his report, for he says: “Shall a park of the low-level type be developed at the sacrifice of over 48 millions of dollars, plus the cost of low-lying land and its development? Or can a plan be devised that will save this sum to the taxpayer without sacrificing park values? To assist in determining this, a special joint com- mittee was appointed by the executive officer of the planning commission and the District engineer of the War De- partment. The plan, known as scheme “C" proposed in the report of this spe- cial joint committee contemplates a high-level park develdpment of an area equal to that in the low-level park, with two lakes substituted for the low- est, most ragged part of the flood plain. ‘These parks contain more recreational features. than the parks without these lakes. The major scenic feature of the gorge. the Black Pond area and Diffi- cult Rm, « > <ommon to both devel- opments.” * > w “To summarize, comprehensive plan- ning for the National Capital demands that all major elements of the situation be considered. The decision lles ke- tween a park prodigal of the latent re- sources of the Potomac and an equally good park conserving these resources. Combined park and power development is feasible, and the waste of more than $48,000,000 of potential values for de- batable minor scenic consideration is neither necessary, desirable nor sound,” Gen. Jadwin concludes. Members of Majority Faction. The report of the majority of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission represents the views of Col. ‘W. B. Ladue, Engineer Commissioner of the District; Robert Y. Stuart, chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; Representative Frederick N. Zihlman, Republican, of Maryland, chairman of the House District com- mittee; Frederic A. Delano of Washing- ton: the late Milton B. Medary, jr., of Philadelphia, prominent architect; Frederick Law Olmsted of Brookline, Mass.; Jesse C. Nichols of Kansas City, Mo., and Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant, 3rd, executive officer of the commission. The two reports, bearing the date of August 2, 1929, were forwarded to F. E. Bonner, executive secretary of the Fed- eral Power Commission. Another re- port on the Great Falls power situa- tion—that of Maj. Brehon Somervell, district engineer for the War Depart- ment for the Washington area—also is pending before the Federal Power Com- mission, but has not yet been made public. Maj. Somervell conducted his investigations at the request of Gen. Jadwin and the Power Commission. In addition to these prior investigations, Maj. Somervell's office now is engaged in conducting the fourfold survey of the Potomac River Basin, authorized by Congress as part of a nation-wide in- vestigation, with relation to irrigation, flood control, navigation and power de- velopment. The report of the majority of the planning commission foliows in part: “After extended consideration of the report on ‘The Dcvelopment of the Po- tomac River Valley for Park and Power Purposes’ by a_joint committee of the Federal Power Commission and the Na- tional Capital Park and Planning Com- mission, together with supplementary information supplied at the request of the commission by Maj. Brehon Somer- vell, United States engineer officer, and after an intensive study on the ground by its committee on parks and other members, and extended discussion in formal sesion, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission adopted the following resolution on December 15, 1928: Urges Park Treatment. “ ‘Resolved, That the National Capital Park and Planning Commission favors the acquisition of the Potomac Valley from Chain Bridge to and including Great Falls and the development of this area for park pur s as funds may be made available, leaving it open for Congress at any future time to author- ime the development of the navigation, flood control and power potentialities of the area should such development be- come of greater importance and be jus- tified in the public interest.’ ““The main considerations moving the commission to the above action were as follows: *“1. The valley of the Potomac River from Chain Bridge, to and inciuding Great Falls, has, in its natural condi- tion, unique and distinctive scenic and Tecreational values accompanied by cer- in historic and scientific points of in- terest which, as a whole, make it extraordinarily important to the Capital of the United States. These values are unique and distinctive in the sense that this is probably the best example in the Atlantic Seaboard States of the particular type of natural scenery here presentéd, and that these natural scenic values are believed to be unexcelled by those in the vicinity of any national capital of the world. These values have not been fully appreciated and enjoyed by the public, mainly because the land s largely in private ownership and but little of the area is readily accessible. “2. Notwithstanding the ingenuity, resourcefulness and painstaking care applied to the search for a method of conserving as much as possible of these e developing an economically sound power project, all such methods which have been devised, and all methods which seem likely to be pos- sible, involve the sacrifices of the major part of these great though intangible scenic, recreational and inspirational muel, llthnudgh they do so in consider- ly varying degrees. “3. In other words, the two objectives of economically develo&lng power on a large scale from the Potomac River, and of conserving the peculiar and charac- teristic scenic, recreational and inspira- tional values of this part of the Potomac River v.xug are so essentlally in con- flict that they cannot both be attained in a satisfactory degree. Therefore, the onl‘v ‘l‘illln for lvl:ldl.n;h ll; I.;eflclent ?:Ine vfih of these two objectives Great Falls of the Potomae, which the Park and Planning Commission thinks would be destroyed by a power project. Below: Map showing location of two proposed dams. - should be the controlling or dominant purpose, and then to seek, as a by- product, so much and only so much of | the other objective as is consistent with | the fully successful attainments of the objective selected as the dominant one. Differences Are Cited. “4. The ‘combination park and power schemes’ presented by the joint com- mittee represent, essentially, attempts to arrive at a thoroughly "successful economic development of the potential water power of the Potomac River in such a way as would permit the inci- dental creation of as good a park on the margins of that development as is consistent with the controlling purpose of power production. They tend to in- dicate that if power development is to be the controlling objective, a park could be created. Even so, that would robably be well worth the cost which ts creation would add to that of a power project designed wholly without regard to park values. But it would be a totally different and less valuable kind of park from the natural valley. And the price of creating this different and less valuable kind of park would not merely be a matter of dollars, and of the lapse of many years for the heal- ing of scars, but would include the de- struction for all time of essential char- acteristics which make the present nat- ural river valley unique and distinctive as an appendage of the National Cap- ital. “5. For such amount of power as would be used here, it does not appear that. the prospective economic advan- tage to the National Capital and its en- virons . from any exgecmblc saving in cost of power from this source &8s com- pared with others, even assuming that the saving would be passed on to the consumers, would be so great, or that the people of this region and of the United States are so poor that they cannot afford to forego it for the sake of retaining a unique feature of the National Capital. “g. It would therefore seem inad- visable to decide now upon the destruc- tion for all time of the scenic and rec- reational and inspirational assets of such large prospective importance as those included in the Valley of the Po- tomac at the doors of the National Capital. “(The foregoing expresses the views of the following members of the commis- sfon: Col. W. B. Ladue, Maj. R. Y. Stuart, Hon. Frederick N. Zihlman, Mr. Frederick A. Delano, Mr. Milton B. Medary, jr.: Mr. Frederick L. Olmstead, Mr. J. C. Nichols and Lieut. Col. U. 8. Grant, 3d.) Gen. Jadwin'’s Opinion. “Gen. Jadwin did not concur in the above action and views of the commis- sion and submits his views as follows: “1. The National Capital Park and Planning Commission is organized by act of Congress as a planning commis- sion as well as a park commission. The broad official representation and the varied technical and business rep- resentations are intended to assure broad, well rounded planning and con- sideration of the interests of the Dis- trict, its taxpayers and of the Federal Government. There is enough data available to now consider the develop- ment at Great Falls as a whole. We should give due weight to every ele- ment which affects the best interests of national planning as well as the spe- cific matters bearing on parks. These other elements are the development of power, navigation, flood control and other allied economic interests. The parks should fit into the scheme of the Nation and not the Nation into the scheme for parks. Large areas of ground should not now be bought and funds spent in developing them as a park if they are to be flooded later to New Wall Compare These Low Prices on This First Quality! FOR ' PARTITIONS " Wood Pulp Wallboard Per 1,000 s29 Sq. Ft... | and for | Per 1000 |5 Fe... ¥or 1 | FIREPROOFING | Rockboard o eiey develop power and navigation on the river, “2. The potential value of a rational development of the power possibilities of the river is tangible and too great | to be ignored in the determination of the present policy for the development of this reach of the Potomac. “The potential power of the Potomac | was held by the Federal Power Com- | | mission in its review of the Tyler | project to be ‘a national asset of in- calculable value.’ Hydro-electric power is dependable. Since the water power is not subject to disturbances because of shortage of coal, labor and trans- portaticn, as is steam power in times of stress, there would be assured the continuous functioning of activities es- sential to the normal operation of the Natfonal Capital when those commodi- ties are at a premium. “Abundant power and cheap power will tend to create new markets, new wealth and new taxes. Interconnec- tions with other large power systems will be mutually advantageous in ex- tending and interchanging the ad- vantages of cheaper power in large | quantities, not only to the area ad- iacent to the Potomac, but also to the Middle Atlantic section. That one of the leading utility companies of the country wishes authority to develop the project is practical evidence that a market is in sight. Taxes Are Estimated. “If the power plants at Great Falls are built by private companies the annual taxes thereon, estimated to be over $850,000 at 6 per cent, represent a capital value of over $14,000,000. “The District engineer, Maj. Brehon B. Somervell, estimates the cost of power produced by such a hydro plant at approximately $1,000,000 per annum cheaper than equivalent steam-pro- duced power. These savings capitalized at 6 per cent represent a capital value of $15,000,000. “Not ,only will there be a capital | saving by the cheaper generation of power, but there will result a saving of fuel coal. Annually there should be consumed 500,000 tons. The ulti- mate depletion of the ground reserves of coal will be deferred by the non- combustion of this large sannual dec- rement. The resulting undepleted re- serves of coal have a present appre- ciable value and a future value prob- ably so large that it is difficult to esti- mate. “3. The potentialities for navigation on the Potomac are great. The intra- coastal waterway is assured from Mas- sachusetts to Florida. Soon insistent demands may be expected that its bene- fits be extended up the Potomac to Cumberland. “The canalization of the Ohio River assures 9-foot navigation #rom the coal flields of Pennsylvania and West Vir- ginia on the Monongahela, down the Ohio and Mississippl to New Orleans and a connection with world sea trade. Improvement of Mississippl tributaries is under way. A connection between the Potomac and the Monongahela will naturally follow, thus joining the vast M i system to the intracoastal y by a waterway of adequate 4 waterwa. capacity along the route selec the first President of the republic. Board &= Purposes INSULATING Insulating Board $42 partitions : [} | Per 1000 178q.4F%.... $35 3 BRANCHES 3 Main Office Sixth and C Streets S W Comp Meigs Fifth and Florida Ave. N B." Brightwood 5921 Georgia Avenue N.W. “The dams built for the development | of power will then likewise be useful for navigation and wiil save some $14,- 000,000 which would otherwise have to be spent for construction costs for that purpose. “The District engineer reports that conferences with the chief examiner of the Interstate Commerce Commission indicate a prospective annual saving of $3,000,000 on a completed 12-foot pro- ject between Washington and Cumber- land. This is based on present traffic and without allowance for the normal great future increase or that which can logically be expected to follow the construction of the connection with the Mississippi River system. The larger traffic which may be expected in the future will increase these sav- ings. Better navigation and cheafer water rates would result with a series of high dams and deep pools than with low dams and narrow channels. There- fore the $14,000,000 saving in the con- struction cost is not a full measure of the dual employment of the dams. Advantages of Dams Given. “4. Other incidental advantages ac- crue from the placing of dams across the river. The reservoirs which afford the power development would reduce the cost of operating the purification sys- tem of the Washington water supply. ‘The item for chemicals in the budget for 1930 is $70,000, and this will in- crease yearly. The District engineer estimates that due to the aid of the reservoirs created by the river dams, the bill for chemicals would be reduced three-quarters. This average annual amount represents a capital value of about $1,000,000. “The protection of certain low areas in and around Washington would cost in the neighborhood of $175,000. The local works for this purpose would not Money for your vacation . . . and a cozy bungalow %Ul vacation! What will it be? A few trips the thereby save about $3,000,000. "l.wA summation of the various po- tential values which would inure to the financial benefit of the people by ra- tional development of Potomac River re- mrmm would be approximately $48,- 000, g ) Savings on production of hydro- power instead of steam power, capital- ized on a 6 per cent basis at $15,000,000. “(b) Saving by elimination of two bridges, $3,000,000. “(c) Savings in the form of income from taxes at the rate of 2 per cent, capitalized at $14,000,000. “(d) Savings which the power struc- tures would produce if navigation should be extend Potomac River, amounting to $14,000,000. D o D O Dot aupply ment of the Washing water and estimated value of flood protection, | 2 potal, $48,000,000 «With 'the present population, about $10,000,000 of '-Id‘: ':v:‘n.t.“w ‘would fall to the e dents and mn;oc Government of the Dis- trict of Columbia, and $38,000,000 to the adjacent States and the country &t large. """rhe value due to the conservation of the coal, should when more definitcly determined be added to the above $48,000,000. The same is true of the increased net freight savings which will come from the navigation improvement and the growth of commerce. Amount Teo Large to Sacrifice. b “g. Should the development be by the Government, the benefits from taxes on the private enterprise should, if the plant be properly managed and regulated, be by & similar re- duction in the total cost of generating | th current. 7. This $48,000,000 is equivalent at 6 per cent to about $2,880; T year. This s too large an amount to be sacri- ficed without the most careful consid- eration. Let us see whether it is justi~ fled as an expenditure for parks in the District in addition to the amounts already spent and those contemplation for park purposes. “g. It is im t that Washing- ton, the Capital of the Nation, should have an excellent system of parks. The existing park area and that planned by the commission for the National Capital region, that is Washington and its en- virons, total some 21,532 acres. To figure should be added about 7,500 acres for the smaller and local parks in the region outside the District of Columbia. This makes a total of 29,032 acres, or about 45 square miles, roughly equal to three-fourths of the total land area of the District of Columbia and about 10 per cent of the 288,000 acres affected in the District and its environs. In addition, the city has a relatively large mileage of wide streets lined with beautiful shade trees. This park system of the District is being carefully studied by the Planning Commission and is being continuously added to as found justified. 1t is a park system of which any city or any nation might be proud. ‘The valley of the Potomac should be in- cluded in the system. How shall its park resources be utilized? Shall a park of the low-level type be developed at_the sacrifice of over 48 millions of dollars plus the cost of low-lying land and its development? Or can a plan be devised that will save this sum to the yer without sacrificing park values? To assist in determing this a special joint committee was appointed by the executive officer of the Planning Commission and the District Engineer of the War Department. The plan known as scheme “C” proposed in the report of Jjoint committee contemplates a high-level park develop- ment of an area equal to that in the low-level park, with two lakes substi- tuted for the lowest, most ragged part of the flood plain. These parks contain more recreational features than the parks without these . The major scenic feature of the gorge, the Black Pond area and Difficult Run are com- mon to both developments. The re- mainder of the low-level park is a park around four small lakes seperated by rapids, while the remainder of the high level is based on two large lakes separated by rapids. Spectacle Would Be Modified. “With the latter plan, the spectacle at Great Falls and in the gorge below them will be maintained in comparable but modified form. The regulation to be secured from the upper storage res- ervoirs would assure an amount of water to pass over the rocks of the Falls sufficlent to produce scenic effects com- parable with those which would exist with flood in the river in its present condition. At the time of flood flow, less. flow will pass over the Falls. In dry periods more water would pass over the Falls, due to the regularization of the flow from storage. “The low level park is costly to im- prove as a park, costly to maintain, on account of the floods that would ravage it from time to time, and bly would afford less real recreation and this | Bodies of 28 American soldiers, killed {during the World War in North Russia, to the beach—perhaps motoring for a week or two—then baci. to work for another whole year. Every summer you have no doubt seen lovely lile bungalows tucked away iin the hills or nestling near the shore. And how you have longed to own one! ‘With a Morris Plan loan you can buy just such a bungalow in which to spend your vacation ‘THIS YEAR. And you can furnish it simply but comfortably. In a year it will be paid for— YOURS to live in eve summer thereafter. Friends over the week.end will add to your en. joyment. Decide now to own at least & modest summer bungalow to which you can retire for sest and recreation when vacation comes. Call and learn how easy it will be to own one the Motris Plan way, MORRIS PLAN BANK Under Supervision U, S. Treasury 1408'H St. N.W, ‘Washington, D. C. President’s Cup in 1927, which is ex- pected to compete in the race again next month. BODIES OF 2815, WAR DEAD FOUND Veterans Recover Remains of Men Slain in Campaign in North Russia. By the Associated Press. KANSAS CITY, Kans, August 17.— have been recovered by a commission of members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in the United States, it was an- nounced at national headquarters of the organization. Information of the recovery of the | bodies was received today from Edwin | S. Bettelhelm, jr., Washington, Vice- | chairman of the commission, in a cable- gram sent from Archangel. When the American party left New York, they hoped to locate and return | to the United States the bodies of 128 | American war dead. Twenty-nine of | these bodies were believed to be in | graves in the Archangel section. i The remainder of the bodies were | burled in crude unmarked graves in | the Dvina River Valley. Surviving | members of the United States force | that campaigned against Bolsheviki | troops have supplied the approximate | location of the unmarked graves. Mast ' of the dead were soldiers from Michi- ' gan. | Z | en, ent to the public than would the | dum boating waters and wooded shores incident to the high level park. “9. Consideration must be given to the general interests of the District and the country as well as to parks for the District. It is not sound to ignore the financial situation of the Federal Gov- ermnment and that of the District of Columbia, where expenditures are dou- ble and where funds raised through lo- cal taxation have trebled during the last 10 years, nor to disregard the rights and Interests of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other States in_the power resources of the Potomac River and the navigation pos- sibilities of the Potomac as a feeder to the intra-coastal waterways and as 8 connection from that system to the Mississippl Valley system. “10. To summarize, comprehensive planning for the National Capital de- mands that all major elements of the situation be considered. The decision les between a park prodigal of the latent resources pf the Potomac and an equally good park conserving these re- sources. Combined park and power de- velopment is feasible, and the waste of more than $48,000,000 of potential values for debatable minor scenic con- sideration is neither necessary, desira- ble nor sound. “Very respectfully, “For the commission: “EDGAR JADWIN, “Major General, Chief of Engineers, | Chairman.” Above: Miss Syndicate, winner of the Below: Gar Wood, famous will take part the DL WAKESREPLY TODRYLAW FOES Senator Says Deaths From Alcohol Have Not Grown Since Amendment. By the Associated Press. SPOKANE, Wash, August 17— United States Senator Dill, Democrat, ‘Washington, in a statement issued here today took issue with assertions made this week by the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment that the death rate from alcoholism has been mounting since the adoption of pro- hibition. Senator Dill's statement fol- lows: “United States census reports tell a ‘The Census Bureat reached 5.6 per 100,000 ulation for the 20 years prior to prol tion. The highest it has been since prohibition is 3.9 per 100,000. It averaged 2.5 in the dry States and 4.5 in wet States. In all but four cities the death rate| from alcoholism is lower than in the saloon days.’ “The Mutual Life Insurance Co. re- port for 1926 said: 1 “*This year every important cause | of death showed a decrease from the | year before.’ “Dr. George H. Bigelow, commissioner | of public health in Massachusetts, says: | «‘What is killing people now Wwho | die from alcholism is what killed them back in the days of the high alcoholic deaths of 1916 and 1917 and before, namely, ethyl alcohol, grain-alcohol, or good pure alcohol.’ “Dr. Reld Hunt of Harvard Medical Schools says: “‘It is well for everybody to remem- ber that a person deeply intoxicated is near death, and that a dose of alcohol slightly greater than necessary to cause profound intoxication is a fatal dose.’” U.SFORCESTOAD INCUP REGATIA Federal Branches to Help in Plotting and Policing Course. The Coast Guard service, the Light- house Service, the, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Navy Yard here will combine their energles in the staging of the revival of the President’s Cup speed boat regatta on the Potomac River off Hains Point September 13 and 14, it was announced last night by the Chesapeake and Potomac Power Boat Association, sponsor of the meet. ‘The course over which some of the speediest boats in the country will run | for prizes will be plotted by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, while the buoy markers will be placed in position by the Lighthouse Service. The Coast Guard will patrol the course, keeping spectators’ craft clear of the paths of the racers. The Coast Guard expects to bring the cutter Apache, popularly known vessel in these waters, to Wash- ington for the regatta. In addition to this vessel, nearly a score of smaller Coast Guard craft will be on duty also, the Coast Guard has announced. The Washington Navy Yard will be headquarters for the launching and grooming of out-of-town racing boats. The craft which are to be shipped here will be billed direct to the yard, where they will be unloaded right on tl wharves. Following necessary adjus! ments to underbodies and bottom gear. the boats will be let overboard by yard cranes with no intermediate handling. ‘While plans for the actual handling of the regatta are being completed ef- forts are being pushed forward to raise the $10,000 expense fund needed by the regatta committee of the power boat assoclation. According to L. Gordan Leech, secretary of the association, the fund was still short of completion last night, but confidence was felt that the amount will be subscribed, DR. CLARENCE C. LFI'TLE WINS DECREE FROM WIFE By the Associated Press. ANN ARBOR, Mich., August 17.—Dr. Clarence C. Little, former president of he University of Michigan, today was granted a divorce from Katherine Little by Judge George W. Sample in the Washtenaw Circuit Court. James C. Murin, Detroit, represented Mrs. Little in_court. Mrs. Mattie L. Cardage, formerly Lit- tle’s housekeeper, was the only witness in addition to Dr. Little. The charge was cruelty and legal desertion. Dr. Little testified he had established a trust fund of $100,000, the income from the fund to be used for the sup- port of Mrs. Little and the three chil- dren, a daughter and two sons. Dr. Little will have the children a part of each year. Four Out of Five Have “It” Four out of five homes have the smart appearance that only ...and the fifth, good paint can give too, will eventually vield to “Murco” magic! “Murco” Lifelong Paint gives so much beauty . . . so much genu- ine protection . . . at so little cost! Every can of “Murco” is 100% pure . . . that's why it resists wear condition. under any weather E. J. Murphy Co., Inc. 710 12th St. N. W. National 2477 Ony 2 More WEEks Of These Special Unusual Terms 1305 G St. N.W. On AUTOMATIC GAS PittSburg WATER HEATERS home. DOWN Installs a Pittsburg Instantaneous or Stor- age Heater in your —Then 18 Months to Pay. New Price Reductions Now Effective Edgar Morris Sales Co. National 1032 Pittsburg Water Heaters Also Sold by ~ THE GAS CO. OR YOUR PLUMBER