THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



95 



ities of the trade in ten years no one can 

 even approximate. 



The hundreds of lumber and shingle- 

 mills of Puget Sound are now in active 

 operation, in spite of the apparent advan- 

 tage of British Columbia mills in supply- 

 ing our market, which indicates that the 

 American lumbermen either overestimate 

 the advantage the Dominion government 

 gives its loggers, or that the demand is 

 great enough to prevent this advantage 

 from closing American mills. The foreign 

 demand for "Oregon pine, " which means 

 Washington fir, is good, and the harbors 

 are full of ships awaiting cargoes for 

 China, Japan, Hawaii, and the South 

 American as well as South African ports. 

 The output of shingles is heavy, the profit 

 depending much on the experience and 

 economy of the manufacturer. 



NEW IRRIGATION ENTERPRISES. 



PP. SHELBY, assistant general traffic 

 manager of the Great Northern, and 

 other citizens of Seattle have organized a 

 company for the purpose of developing 

 the large waterless area along the line of 

 the Great Northern between Wenatchee 

 and Spokane. The plains stretching out 

 in that region comprise more than 100,000 

 acres of land that is in every way desir- 

 able for farming, save that it has not an 

 adequate water supply, and this supply is 

 to be obtained by sinking artesian wells. 



Following out the same general idea, 

 still another company has been organized, 

 with John D. Mclntyre at its head. This 

 company will operate in the neighborhood 

 of Adrian, twenty five miles further east 

 on the line of the Great Northern, or 225 

 miles east of Seattle. The plan of this 

 company is to put in a canal which shall 

 gather up and utilize the water from 

 Crab creek and several other creeks in the 

 vicinity of Adrian. 



An irrigating enterprise is being inau- 

 gurated at Strumpp's Eapids, six miles 

 above Pasco, Wash., in the Columbia 

 river, by J. E. Vangordon, Edward 

 Clarke and J. C. Stelm, all citizens of 

 Pasco and vicinitv. They will irrigate 

 1,000 acres. 



The first application for the setting 

 aside of arid land to be redeemed under 

 the Carey act in Idaho has been made by 

 a big Wisconsin company, of which Charles 



T. Palmer is president. The company 

 has located at American Falls, on the 

 Snake river, near Pocatello, and asks to 

 have 100,000 acres set aside for reclama- 

 tion under the Carey act. They propose 

 to settle the entire tract with colonists, who 

 will pay but fifty cents an acre for land 

 and cost of water rights. The cost of irri- 

 gation works is estimated at $200,000. 



Secretary Smith, at Washington, took 

 up and considered the bids for the irriga- 

 tion work at the Fort Hall Indian reserva- 

 tion. He considered all the facts presented 

 by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 

 and his final conclusion was to authorize 

 the commissioner to enter into a contract 

 with the Idaho Canal company to construct 

 the works at their bid of $90,000 accord- 

 ing to the government specifications. 



The American Falls Irrigation & Power 

 Company have applied for the control of 

 109,680 acres of land, located on Snake 

 river, in Blaine county, Washington. The 

 company proposes to take the water from 

 Snake river, and carry it to the east to re- 

 claim a large section of land that is now a 

 desert waste. Another irrigation enter- 

 prise is to be put in next June, near Lewis- 

 ton, Idaho. The company expect this 

 project will cost $10,000. This water 

 will be procured from Asotin creek, and 

 will be 1,000 miners' inches and when 

 needed will be increased 2,000 miners' 

 inches. 



Wyoming papers say Chicago and East- 

 ern cattle kings are conspiring to get hold 

 of the 1,000,000 acres of land granted to 

 the State under the Carey law, to the ex- 

 clusion of the numerous small cattle owners 

 and sheep owners, and every other indus- 

 try. It is said that the cattle kings ex- 

 pect to get these lands under leases from 

 the State. 



Arthur P. Davis, hydrographer of the 

 Geological Survey, has been detailed as an 

 expert, at the request of the Indian bureau, 

 to investigate the water supply and to 

 plan a system of irrigation for the Gila 

 River Indian Reservation, in Southern 

 Arizona. 



Several towns and cities in Oregon and 

 Washington have lately obtained an ex- 

 cellent and adequate water supply in an 

 inexpensive manner by the use of wooden 

 pipes. The pipes are made from common 

 pine logs, ten inches in diameter, hollowed 



