State

Left — Л portion of the reservoir basin of Glenville Dam, Jackson County, showing dam construction work in the background. Right— Just across U. S. Highway No. 23, at Hazelwood, Haywood County, where the Dayton Rubber and Manufacturing Company will begin erection of its plant within the next two weeks. Industry Steps Out In Western North Carolina AS total war raged over Kuro|>c, in- £\ dnstry, directly or indirectly / \ allied with national defense, moved into the gently rolling hills and the not-so-accessible valleys of West¬ ern Xorth Carolina. Early last July const met ion was started on gigantic Glenville Dam on rugged beautiful Tucka«cigee River, almost a score of miles from Sylva, in Jackson County. Л little later in the year an expansion pro¬ gram at which an estimated $2,000,- 000 will be spent was launched hy the Kcusta Paper Corporation, the plan of which covers several acres of Da¬ vidson River bottomland in Tran¬ sylvania County. At present the Ecus- ta corporation manufactures the world’s supply of cigarette paper directly from raw American flax. Sometime during the latter part of this month the Dayton Rubber and Manufacturing Company will begin erection of a synthetic rubber plant on the outskirts of Hazelwood, near Wavnesville, ami just off IT. S. high¬ way No. 23 leading to the heart of the Smoky Mountains. A shoe manufac¬ turing plant will be established there in the near future in connection with the rubber industry. The Glenville Dam is being built for the Nantahala Power and Light Com¬ pany, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America. More than half a million tons of solid earth and rock are being poured across the canyon¬ like stream bed of the Tuckaseigee where her water- rush seaward at scenic Onion Skin Falls. And. while figures are oftentimes l*or«mme. here are a few that may belt» in an imagi¬ native construction of just what a tremendous undertaking the Glenville project is : Approximately 1.000 men have been employed from the beginning, including those engaged in actual construction and the various related jobs. The dam reservoir will cover almost 1,500 acres of the fertile Ham¬ burg farming section, one of Jackson County’s most productive agricultural areas. The main dam is almost 1,000 feet long and 150 feet high. The “ad¬ dle dam is 600 feet long and 100 feet high. The base of the dam is around 900 feet from the upstream and to the downstream end. More than half a hundred families have had to move from their home sites to make way for the waters that will spread quickly over the reservoir basin when the diversion tunnels are closed. The little town of Glenville hud to be moved, along with cemeteries and churches. The power plant which is Iwing rapidly completed three miles down¬ stream from the dam site, will receive water for its whirling turbines through a huge pipeline and from a series of three tunnels that are being driven through the very "belly” of By KIN MeXEIL seemingly impregnable mountains. The three tunnels make up a com¬ bined distance of 13,000 feet. The fall of the water from the dam to the |M>wer plant will Ik* slightly more than 1,200 feet, thereby giving the water 500 pounds of pressure |>cr square inch at the turbines, and lending the project the distinction of having the highest bead-fall east of the Rockies. A roadbed 30 feet wide will extend across the top of the dam when it is completed. It will carry the trallie of a state highway which i“ being re¬ routed because of the area to he under water. Plans call for having the proj¬ ect in operation early this fall. Kill¬ ing of the giant basin will begin, however, when spring rains begin swelling the eager waters of the Tuck- aseigee. The Aluminum Company of Amer¬ ica is planning further expansion in this area, where its subsidiary already has in operation a number of projects. Aluminum will play an increasingly important role in the national defense program, and continued expansion by the company may I . xpectod. author¬ ities say. The Aluminum Company has large plants already in operation at Alcoa, Tennessee, and Rndin, 50 miles cast of Charlotte. The Kcusta Paper Corporation, which began operation in the high- lying valley of Davidson River in 1939, launched a $2.000,000 expan¬ sion program late last summer which, (Continued on j<ige thirty-two') 9 I