THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



87 



teams, and worked direct from the bank on a New De- 

 parture mill. This mill makes large tile as well as 

 small, which is fortunate, as there is a growing de- 

 mand for drains of large size. Doubtless a much more 

 convenient factory, and a better one in every way 

 could be built now after twenty-five years' experience. 

 Though the modern tile factory is far in advance of the 

 one built several years ago, yet it is but the develop- 

 ment of those primitive affairs which have served the 

 people well. 



Mr. Record lias apparently acted upon the advice 

 once given by an experienced tilemaker when inquired 

 of regarding the best kiln to use. Said he, "Learn to 

 burn the kilns you have." The practice of doing the 

 best with what one has has laid the foundation of 

 many a fortune and is often the best course to pursue. 

 This factory at Charleston enjoys a good trade. It 

 is in the broom corn belt, which is noted for its fertile 

 land and well-to-do people. The farms are being more 

 highly improved each year, requiring the addition of 

 drains to complete the systems which in many instances 

 hare only been outlined. All this adds to the produc- 

 tiveness of the land and the consequent wealth of the 

 broom corn belt of Illinois. 



Pulse ihe Irrigation Industry 



Supervisor West, who has been up and down the 

 Colorado river the past week, says that fully 150 men 

 are with the government surveying parties, which are 

 running lines preparatory to the building of the im- 

 mense Government canals, which are to spread the 

 waters of the Colorado river over the desert lands and 

 make them blossom. One crowd of surveyors has been 

 along the river north of Needles, as far as the Bull's 

 Head and has taken soundings and run lines along both 

 banks between the Bull's Head and Fort Mojave. From 

 present appearances it would seem that the Govern- 

 ment intended to build canals on both the California 

 and Arizona side of the river. At the Bull's Head a 

 wire cable has been stretched across the river and very 

 complete soundings and measurements have been taken 

 at that point. It is believed that at that place the big 

 diverting dam will be built, as it affords unusual nat- 

 ural advantages and is above the head of steam navi- 

 gation. 



There is evidence that the surveyors have done 

 much work along the river, below Needles, as the sur- 

 veyors' flags are to be seen at various points. It is 

 reported at Needles that another crowd of surveyors 

 are working north along the Colorado from Yuma. 

 San Bernardino Sun. 



On his return to Great Falls, President Hill spoke 

 freely to the newspaper men concerning the development 

 and growth of Montana. He pointed out that with 

 irrigation this State has just as good possibilities as 

 Washington, where thousands of new settlers are locat- 

 ing, and said when the Montana lands are reclaimed 

 "the Great Northern will see that the settlers are brought 

 here to occupy them." The "Great Northern will lend 

 every assistance in securing irrigation, for we are as 

 much interested in the upbuilding of the State of Mon- 

 tana as you are." Mr. Hill asserted that the reclamation 



of the arid lands is too large a proposition for individual 

 effort ; "it must be done with national aid and will be if 

 the proper spirit is shown in this and other parts of the 

 State." When the arid lands are reclaimed Mr. Hill 

 said the question would be "How quickly can we build 

 railroads, not when?'' "There are in the Middle West 

 thousands of homeseekers, ready to move to any western 

 state just as soon as they know they can get land fit for 

 agricultural purposes. Develop your agricultrual re- 

 sources and other things will be cared for accordingly." 

 This is good advice for the people of Montana. It is 

 true that the irrigation bill has been passed, but much 

 remains to be done to make it effective. There is a vast 

 area to be reclaimed and but little money for the work 

 at the start. To secure early advantages under the law 

 the people of Montana must work together in harmony. 

 When the lands are reclaimed and ready for settlement 

 the settlers will come, and with the increased settlement 

 and development the railways will quickly follow. They 

 will go where there is business for them, and the settle- 

 ment of the country will make more business than could 

 be secured in any other manner. Northwest Magazine. 



J. M. Johnston, missionary among the Navajo -In- 

 dians, has secured an appropriation and authority from 

 the government to experiment in the irrigation of desert 

 lands now occupied by the Indians. Mr. Johnston was 

 in Chicago recently, and stated that he had secured 

 authority to .spend $5,000 at once in his. experiments, 

 and declared that he believed the dawn of better times 

 and of a complete independence was at hand for the 

 N avajos. 



Mr. Johnston is located at the mission where the 

 Little Colorado crosses Canon Diablo, and his plan is 

 to irrigate from that river by means of wells sunk in the 

 bed of the river. The present plan is to sink several deep 

 wells in the river's bed near Canon Diablo and to run 

 pipes from these to the adjacent lands, and by means 

 of the supply thus obtained to irrigate them sufficiently 

 to produce grazing grass. 



Mr. Johnston expects to demonstrate to the Interior 

 Department the practicability and value of the plan, 

 and to show that it is the only way that the Navajos 

 and other Indians now occupying the great Red Desert 

 of Arizona and New Mexico can be kept from being a 

 constantly growing charge upon the government. Ex- 

 periments have already been made, and have elicited the 

 fact that water flows underground and close to the sur- 

 face in many portions of the desert, so that irrigation 

 by means of wells, both in the bed of the river and in 

 the desert, would provide an abundance of water for 

 irrigation purposes. Mr. Johnston said : 



"I expect to prove to the department that it will 

 cost very much less to make the lands of the desert 

 fertile than it does to supply the Indians with food and 

 clothing. Every year the desert Indians are becoming 

 more and more destitute and more and more of a charge 

 upon the government. All that the Navajo, for example, 

 needs is a little water to make the grazing grass grow 

 on his lands, and he will become more than self- 

 supporting. The Narvajos are now self-supporting, but 

 their condition is fast becoming poorer and poorer, and 

 their flocks are yearly dying out for want of sustenance. 

 I believe, however, the government is awakening to the 

 facts, and that the irrigation plan will prove the solu- 

 tion of the Indian question so far as the desert red men 

 are concerned. 



