THE SALTON SEA—NEWELL. 339 
In its course from New Orleans to Los Angeles the Southern 
Pacific system, passing through southern Arizona, reaches the Colo- 
rado River at Yuma, which it crosses on a bridge leading north. 
It then swings westwards and, climbing over a low ridge, descends 
into the depression occupied in part by the Salton Sea. When 
it reaches a point about 250 feet below sea level, it begins to climb 
out northwesterly through the passes which lead to the valleys in 
which are situated the prosperous towns of southern California. 
The Salton Sea had only a few feet to rise before it seriously 
interfered with traffic on the Southern Pacific. The wind driving 
the waters toward the railroad imperiled the track, and it became 
necessary to rebuild it rapidly at a higher elevation. This was done 
several times in succession, and temporary track after temporary 
track was laid down out of immediate reach of the waters in the 
hope that the floods would subside. Popular attention was drawn to 
this increase in water in the sea, and without seeking the cause 
many statements were printed to the effect that the ocean had broken 
through a crack or fissure in the earth and was coming up through 
the bottom of Salton Sea. The very simple explanation of the flow 
of the Colorado River into the lake was not accepted by the seekers 
for the miraculous and many profound theories were promulgated, 
defying the laws of geology or of nature in general. 
The Southern Pacific officials, however, were well aware of the 
cause of the difficulty under which they were laboring, and finally, 
finding that the California Development Company were unable to 
control the floods, they, by an agreement dated June 20, 1905, vir- 
tually took possession of the company, loaning it sufficient money to 
begin the attempt to close the break. They also rebuilt 40 miles of 
track on the 200-foot contour below sea level and for possible future 
use graded another line on the 150-foot contour below sea level. 
CLOSING THE BREAK IN THE COLORADO RIVER. 
The history of the attempts to close the break are exceedingly 
interesting from an engineering standpoint and the successive failures 
are highly instructive to one concerned with the control of alluvial 
streams. An excellent description is given by Mr. C. E. Grunsky 
in the Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers for 
December, 1907. 
In all, seven or eight distinct attempts were made with almost as 
many failures. In each case success was nearly attained, but through 
some inadequate preparation or sudden rise of the river the works 
were swept away. It seemed as though the river were taking a ma- 
licious delight in thwarting the efforts of the engineers. At first it 
was assumed that the expenditure of a small amount of money would 
