Items of interest September 18, 1915 Issue

Items of Interest

The project of harnessing the gigantic power of the Colorado river in the great depths of the Grand Canyon has passed the visionary state. The United States department of the interior has granted permission to the promoters of the scheme to make the preliminary surveys for the proposed six dams that are to be built across the river in the canyon, also for the sites of the reservoirs and hydroelectric plants that are to be constructed. The preliminary work will be followed immediately by the making of permanent locations and the commencement of the actual construction of the first of the series of dams. It is announced that the project has been financed, and it is reported that interests closely identified with the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads are back of it.

The plans contemplate providing electric power for operating the Arizona divisions of these two railroads, the furnishing of electrical energy for operating the machinery of mines and industrial plants and for lighting systems of towns and cities over a large territory. The whole plant will have a total capacity of 400, 000 horse-power. It is claimed that this prospective available electric power is but a small part of the total electrical energy that might be developed at other points in the Grand Canyon by the construction of dams and the harnessing of the stream.

Higher taxation of much of the unused land in Massachusetts as a means of forcing the owners to use it for timber or other purposes was advocated by State Forester Rane at a hearing given by the special commission on taxation. One difficulty encountered in arousing interest in the reforestation of land has been to convince owners of bare land that it has a potential value, said Mr. Rane. So long as there is a low tax there is little to prompt many owners to develop their land, but once the taxes begin to go up, he continued, then the owner is forced to do one of two things, to utilize his land or to sell it to someone who will. There are about one million acres of land in Massachusetts suitable for forestry purposes. Owners of woodland had been encouraged by the assurance that their taxes would not be raised over the regular tax on the land, no matter how high the timber grew. Under this system the owner registered his land with the local authorities, and when the timber was cut he paid, in addition to the taxes on the land which were paid each year, an amount equal to 6 per cent of the selling price of the timber.

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