Show electricity for a million farms A 4 I 1 A A A 4 U aw N shown in the inset Is morns morris L cooke d rector of the new rural Elec electria cation authority and around him are illus grated some of the tasks REA hopes electric ty will soon be do ng on a m 11 II on more farms mothering chicks lighten ing household work and f filing silos by WILLIAM C UTLEY light for a million E ELECTRIC farm homes A whole new set of hired hands ft iho ho never get tired and who work for very little wages for each beach of these farms emancipation from bael breal ing tasks for a million farmers wives these are the ambitions of the new ly formed rural electrification author ity which I 1 as been cretter by the fed eral government to extend to farms throughout the nation the benefits which are being enjoyed by only out of of them today but the ambitions if they are real iced will have consequences reaching far beyond their own limits for bring ing electric power to a million farms w will ill create tho sands of jobs in city factories manufacturers of light bulbs washing mach nes refrigerators irons radios and ather appi ances will voll have to keep their factor es humming to beep keep pice with the demands of mrs airs farmer and mr farmer will want motors mill ing mad macl ines ere creim im sep suitors sri a tors and other electrical I 1 ired hands before e ther of tl ti ese de mands can be satisfied I 1 nes will have to be built and N ring completed farmers will be able to buy these appliances for the government has et ex ten led the electric home and farm authority to a national scope the eura has enabled farmers in the tennessee valley to buy appliances on easy payments financed by the recon st ruction finance corporation the government under this scheme arranges arran es for manufacturers to sell standard standa rd quality to con turners sumers at low prices tl TI e p ir chaser has to make a cash donn down a kayu ent but the EWA remits the remainder of the cost to the dealer in cash appliances may be purchased from recognized dealers in any comman ties where the power company cooperates by deduc ing prices for current what charges remain after the down payment are spread out over three or four years and are added each month to the cus tomer s bills for electricity the pay ments are turned over to the as they are made for jobs the rural electrification authority tinder under the direction of morr s L cooke has been assigned to use in the next jear or two even a vast sum I 1 ke that would not riot go very far if it were used in constructing lines to farms which are now a comparatively long way from the lines of any power po ver company cr municipal plant but there are some farms in america today which are without electr city in its campaign compa ign to elec talfy farms the accord lagao director cooke will attempt to bring service only to those in areas where no new generating plants v will vill ill be rec essary where lines can be built economically from a source of power which already Is working the REA hove verwill not even in vesti gate the appi leat ons of farms where there Is service in the immell ate ste neighborhood it will be interested in projects where new sectional lines can be built to electrify whole farm farn areas but not where a mere axtens on of an already existing line is asked by a farmer who ho lives close to it such cases as these it will leave tor for the local power company to develop As an example of a case that Is ell eligible able to get REA help take of a group of ne be gh boring farmers who want electric service there is a plant in a city a few miles away but the power compain t js as refused to bull 1 lines out to them for the very good reason that the he potential business does not teem to warrant it power corn com panics despite the feelings of crana s and unreasoning people are not in business lu elness siness for their health feeling that bat this is a fair attitude of the company the farmers who want electricity and are willing to pay for it band themselves together in a little operative cooperative group go to the company officials and offer to buy power to be delivered at the nearest point on the company lines heres one difficulty Diff culty the farmers themselves will vill build lines to their farms to finance the construction fl tl ey will borrow the money from the REA who theoretical ly investigates the group from every angle to make male sure that the loan is a sound one there is nothing very complicated about tl is says mr air cooke it is not ill e launching a great new power project involving millions this whole operation will not exceed 1 ah ali but only part of the story has been told the REA plans for these co cooperative operative groups suggest that the farmers shall lily b ly power from the corn com pany at wholesale rates to be fixed by or by the states pub lie ile service comm aslon th s does not set very ery uell with many of the util ity compan es who have farm cus bomers ly y not Is the natural question glancing at the case only superficially these farmers who are operating cooperating have paid for the installation of the line are they not ent tied to son e sort of extra consideration for what they have done it rt so happens that the oti ott er farmers nho are already receiving curren from the same power com company ny at re tall rates will in effect hive have paid for their lines too why sl t they get vl rates actually tl ey have not or have paid only in part here is the vay 4 ay it worl s although this must be taken as a hypothetical case for all power companies do not have the same agreements with ther the r farm customers who pays for the line let us say that the cost of a line I 1 allt out to a farm Is the farm er supplied for the sake of example by a middle western estern Nv utility company which aich has been outstanding for its aural electrification work Is given so 80 n antl s in which to pay for the cost of the line he pays for it by guaran to ise i se a monthly minimum of electricity equal in cost to one eightieth f the cost of the line which in this dee ae bould be 10 until the 80 months aie up if he actually uses less than 10 borth of juice during a month his hl bill is 10 just the same but he Is en titled to all of the benefits every month thit 10 worth of electricity will bring to tn him so he might just as well ue it I 1 t up it its s like going to a metropolitan theater restaurant where there Is a PI nira nim im charge of 2 50 a head you cin pat eat juat jut a sandwich if you want to but sour bill Is just the same if you re hungry you might as well eat a full dinner for it isn t going to cost ou any more and farmers today are really hungry for the benefits of electric power to ease their daily dally tasks if iou sou take away my electricity you can just take the farm too Is the way I 1 arnier armer gus guanson of fountain county indiana puts it actually a farmer buying power from a utility company on such an agreement Is paying for the cost of his line only if he fails falls to use 10 worth of electricity each month if his bill Is 10 he gets back dollar for dollar in electric power but if such a customer has pas a cousin or a friend oer over in the nest next county who Is a member of one of the RI A operative cooperative groups and Is getting pow er at a lower rate power company officials offic cals als would have about as in ich chance explaining the reason for that to him as they would hare have of maling making him under stand the einstein theory he ile would insist that he was vms plying tor for his line as surely as his cousin only in a different way the women want it this then Is one of the obstacles that confront the REA ambitions they are ambitions however that are worth struggling to atta n ask any farmer farmers s wife the worker in the city puts in 40 hours of labor every week she works 64 hours if she has a large family she probably worl 9 longer than that if she has a small baby she works even longer he ile gets paid she doesn doean t if she barnt t electricity to assist her she has to do everything the hard wa vaa the tiring way that puts lines in her face long before before she should have them yet housework isn t all she has to do about 20 per cent of her time Is taken up with actual farm work eighty nine out of a hundred farm wives manage the hen houses sixty six out of a hundred make butter do you think their lives be heaven if they only had vacuum cleaners washing va shing machines electric ironers and the possession usually dearest to the heart of an electrified farm bouse housewife wife electric electr lc refrigerators I 1 in the state of wisconsin it has been found that the farmer spends an aver age of ip 0 a year on his bissenger pis automobile in a census of more than halt half the firms of the country five years ago it was found that on the farms counted there were ger automobiles per farm that would indicate that the farmer Is able to pay for modern comforts if he wants them badly eno ish it must be re that these were passenger cars not farm truels s the RI MA A wonders why if there are cars on 5 farms it cant can t put electricity on a large share of them it has been said that the avenge firm income Is 00 a year but the REX RE will of necessity not be looking to electrify ahe average farm but the one that Is above avers average e for it Is the above average farm as a rule that Is located near power service bathtubs are luxuries one survey made by the government showed that 85 per cent of all the farms of the land have neither bath tub nor shower yet more than half the farms have an ie I 1 the reason for this antiquated bathroom equipment Is the d in pump na n enough water to provide for modern equipment seventy per cent of farm women today have to carry water from a well or spring if this could be done with electricity the situation would be much d efferent to supply all the american farms with modern bathroom equipment the manufacturers of the country would have to work without stopping tor for seven years it has been estimated I 1 chis Ms Is perhaps the most elemental of all needs for electricity on the farm there are others four out of ten farms are still lighting with kerosen lamps there are ar e perhaps 8 6 or 7 per cent which either use candles candies or go without any artificial jig light gh t at all shades of lincoln studying by the light of the fireplace we wed d hardly think that was vas necessary at all today of course the REA Is not going to correct these conditions on all farms or even on halt half of them there are farms in neighborhoods too sparsely settled to afford power sais mr air cooke there are farmers too poor to pay for it after all fare tere are ile plenty of people in the cities who do not use electric power yet if ve ne can bring wires into the homes and barns of farms within the next year or two we think that is not too much to hope for and we think tast will ill be a useful job with of government funds to sa s1 sieni en aibe art can car co 40 it if it so n n I 1 jre ou 11 boive FOL ve the r run u n note noie p ier cr to I 1 I 1 A C we e n new ew paper L ln n on |