THE 1RR1 GA TION A GE. 



147 



Onr War 

 "Heroes" 



ever irrigation is practiced 

 All of the irrigation districts of the 

 country contain more or less alkali and are 

 subject to the evil effects of over-irriga- 

 tion/' 



Since this is true, and since so much 

 valuable information may be obtained rel- 

 ative to this subject from reading the re- 

 sults of Mr. Whitney's researches, we 

 would urge all our readers to send for a 

 copy of this Bulletin. No. 14, "The 

 Alkali soils of the Yellowstone Valley," 

 which is intended for general distribution 

 among farmers who apply for it. It was 

 found impossible to supply the great de- 

 mand with the limited number of the illus- 

 trated bulletin, so a simpler one has been 

 prepared which may be "had for the ask- 

 ing.'' so long as the supply lasts. It is 

 something every irrigator should read. 

 Send at once to Milton Whitney. Chief of 

 Division of Soils. 



The press throughout the 

 country is unanimous in con- 

 demning the disgraceful war 

 scandal that is bringing discredit upon 

 our army. As long as the Commander-in- 

 Chief of the army, and the War Depart- 

 ment are not on good terms, it is folly to 

 hope for better discipline in the service. 

 Instead of increasing' the standing army 

 the wiser plan would be to de crease it by 

 getting rid of some of the inefficient offi- 

 cers. If Gen'l Miles is not capable of fill- 

 ing the high office which he holds, he 

 should be promptly relieved of the respon- 

 sibility, but if he continues as commander, 

 then he should receive the hearty aid and 

 support of the War Department, and those 

 under him in authority should be taught 

 the duty of subordination to a superior 

 officer. If Alger is at fault, as many al- 

 lege, then his place should be given to one 

 more competent. As for Eagen. Chief of 

 the Commissory Department, the univers- 

 al opinion is that, no matter what might 

 have been the shortcomings of Alger and 

 Miles, his conduct is ungentlemanly and 

 inexcusable and the court martial, or- 

 dered by PresidentMcKinley. was the only 

 course Eagen has been "his own worst 

 enemy." By his attack on Gen'l Miles, in 

 language so gross as to demand revision 

 before it would be received by the Army 

 Investigating Commission, and his subse- 



quent "crawfishing'* from the same, he 

 proved conclusively that he is unfit to 

 hold any position of responsibility. If his 

 charges were not true, he never should 

 have made them: if true, he should have 

 "stuck to them." As the JV. T. Journal 

 remarks. "Eagen is of no importance in 

 himself, but he is of immense importance 

 as a symptom. He exhibits the appalling, 

 unspeakable rottenness of our army organ- 

 ization. " Congress should take such steps 

 as would prevent in future the disgrace- 

 ful bickerings among the war officials that 

 at present makes our standing army the 

 laughing-stock of Europe. 

 "Harnessing The leading article in the 

 The Nile." February Century is an ac- 

 count, by Frederick Courtland 

 Penfield, of a proposed dam across the 

 river Nile in Egypt, for the purpose of 

 giving water to the Nubian Desert. The 

 Pyramids of Egypt, the monuments of the 

 engineering and mechanical skill of other 

 ages, will have a rival in the stupendous 

 project now proposed, that of creating in 

 "the heart of an African desert a lake 

 having from two to three times the super- 

 ficial area of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.'' 

 The dam. which is to be built across the 

 Nile at Assuan. is to be seventy-six feet 

 high in places and nearly a mile and a 

 quarter long: the top of the structure will 

 be from thirty to forty feet wide giving 

 bridge facilities, and in the reservoir, it 

 is claimed, two hundred and fifty billion 

 gallons of water can be stored. As it will 

 be impossible to hold the Nile in check 

 during flood-time, the dam must be so ar- 

 ranged as to allow the water to run 

 through it several months of the year. 

 It is therefore planned to divide the 

 structure into a number of piers, with 

 openings which can be closed by gates. 



The contractors who are to undertake 

 this great project are to receive $800,000 

 a year for thirty years from the Egyptian 

 government, and so confident are they 

 that the dam can be successfully built, 

 that they have agreed to wait until the 

 work is completed and accepted before re- 

 ceiving their first payment. The author 

 of the article says: "As an object lesson, 

 this Egyptian enterprise should have no 

 more interested observers than in America, 

 especially in Colorado, Nevada. California 



