Items of Interest January 6, 1917 Issue

Items of Interest

In the fiscal year 1916 there became operative twenty new water power projects which utilize national forest land. The Forest Service figures show that 42 per cent of the total developed water power of the United States utilize this forest land. The development of relatively small projects is particularly in evidence in the Rocky Mountain states, while California leads in the amount of power under permit and in operation. Mr. Graves, chief of the Forest Service of the United States, in his report on the ownership and control of water power sites, says that there is shown "a marked concentration of definite and complete control of a large percentage of developed water power by a very few companies. Data presented regarding interrelationships through common directors and principal officers indicated a marked tendency toward association or community of interests, particularly between the principal holding companies. The movement toward concentration in commercial central stations of all the primary power employed in the electrical industries and in manufactures was found in all sections of the United States, the rate of concentration during the period of 1902–12 being highest in the south Atlantic states and the extent of concentration greatest in the western states." He also says, "The report showed a considerable overdevelopment in nearly all the power centers of the western states,—California, Oregon, and Washington in particular showing installations far in excess of maximum demands."

Achievements of importance to navigation interests are recorded as a result of the wire-drag work of the past season by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Attention has been given to surveys of harbors and their approaches on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, and especially valuable work has been done in Alaska. The two wire-drag parties engaged in surveys of Alaskan waters have completed their work for the season. They began field operations during the latter part of April, 1916, and continued until about the middle of October. Both of them had a very satisfactory season. In addition to the wire-drag work, these parties have carried out an extensive scheme of triangulation and topography and have obtained valuable current and tidal observations. The total area examined by one party covers about three hundred and twenty-five square miles. In this area were found more than seventy changes from the charted depths, not a few of which constitute serious dangers to navigation. The other party dragged an area of about two hundred and fifty square miles during the season, and about one hundred and fifteen changes from the charted depths were found.

The plebiscite held in Denmark, Dec. 15, on the question of the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States, resulted in 283,000 votes being cast in favor of the sale and 157,000 against it. Both branches of the legislative body have since voted in favor of the sale. A treaty for the sale of the islands was concluded between the United States and Denmark in New York on Aug. 5, 1916, the purchase price being fixed at $25,000,000. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on Sept. 7. The Danish archipelago includes three islands. St. Thomas is thirty-eight miles east of Porto Rico and directly in the line of Panama Canal traffic. It has an area of thirty-three square miles and a population of about eleven thousand. St. Croix has an area of eighty-five square miles and a population of about eighteen thousand. St. John has an area of twenty-one square miles and a population of nine hundred.

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