280 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



obtained from the office of the Reclamation Service at Wash- 

 ington, D. C., or Salt Lake City, Utah. 



In response to a request from the Secretary of the 

 Interior the Postmaster General has issued orders requiring 

 the carrier on Star Route 63,382, Glendive to Mondak, Mon- 

 tana, to provide box delivery and collection service for the 

 office of the Reclamation Service at La Mesa, Montana, and 

 on the road leading thereto. He has also directed that the 

 present mail facilities be continued at Ft. Shaw, Montana, on 

 route 63,325, Augusta via Ft. Shaw, Sun River and Sunny- 

 side, to Vaughn railroad station, and extending the service 

 to six times a week so as to begin at Ft. Shaw instead of 

 Sun River. 



Proposals are asked for the construction of about four- 

 teen miles of canal for the diversion of 850 cubic feet of 

 water per second from the St. Mary River, Montana, at a 

 point about thirty-five miles northwest of Browning. The 

 work involves the excavation of about 1,700,000 cubic yards 

 of material. The bids will be opened at Browning, Montana, 

 on July 31. Particulars may be obtained at the office of the 

 Reclamation Service, Washington, or from C. C. Babb, 

 engineer in charge of the St. Mary project, Browning, 

 Montana. 



An extension of forty-five days has been granted to 

 Wood, Bancroft & Doty in which to complete their contract 

 for the construction of embankments 3 and 4, Hondo project, 

 New Mexico. Owing to the adverse weather conditions and 

 the scarcity of labor, it was impossible for the contractors 

 to complete their work as required by their contract, but 

 as the embankments have reached a stage where the delay 

 will not interfere with the placing of rip-rap, no loss will 

 be occasioned the Government by the extension. 



During the month of May work progressed rapidly on 

 the Gunnison tunnel, about 1,300 feet having been excavated 

 during that period. On that date the total excavation was 

 12,454 linear feet, or five-twelfths of the whole. Work was 

 begun on the tunnel on January 11, 1905, and has been main- 

 tained without interruption ever since, having been carried 

 on by the Government under force account since May 27, 

 1905, when the work was taken out of the hands of the con- 

 tractors. 



A contract has been executed on behalf of the United 

 States with the Utah Fire Proofing Company, of Salt Lake 

 City, Utah, for the construction and completion of the work 

 provided for in schedule 1 of the dam, main canal and em- 

 bankments under the Payette-Boise project. This contract 

 calls for 15,000 cubic yards of concrete masonry, 5,000 cubic 

 yards of concrete, 10,000 pounds of steel for reinforcement, 

 325,000 feet B. M. of lumber and other material, and for 

 28,000 cubic yards of excavation. The contractors' bid was 

 $158,950. 



Bids are being solicited for the construction of the Cor- 

 bett dam, located on the Shoshone River about eight miles 

 northeast of Cody, Wyoming. These bids are to be opened 

 on July 10, 1906. The dam will require about 10,000 cubic 

 yards of excavation, 5,000 cubic yards of concrete, 9,000 

 cubic yards of earth and gravel embankment and the placing 

 of 250,000 pounds of steel reinforcement. Particulars may be 

 obtained from the office of the Reclamation Service, Washing- 

 ton, D. C., or from the project engineer at Cody, Wyoming. 



After a careful investigation of conditions connected with 

 the Lake Desmet project, Wyoming, it has developed that the 

 conditions are more favorable for irrigation by private enter- 

 prise than by the Government. The Secretary of the Interior, 

 therefore, has restored to settlement a tract of land which 

 was temporarily withdrawn in connection with this project, 

 such land not to be subject to entry, filing or selection how- 

 ever, under the public land laws until ninety days after 

 notice by such publication as may be prescribed by the 

 Department. The tract thus restored consists of the public 

 lands within an area of about 400,000 acres. 



Bids are solicited for the installation of steam and elec- 

 tric pumps, electric generating and transmission apparatus, 

 including three pumping stations containing centrifugal pumps 

 of 20 and 30 cubic feet per second capacity under heads of 

 from 50 to 60 feet, driven by steam engines and electric motors 

 aggregating 1,200-horsepower ; also two 300 K. W. steam tur- 

 bine generating units, a 1,000-horsepower boiler plant and 

 accessories, the necessary buildings and three-mile transmis- 

 sion line. These works are to be located in the vicinity of 

 Williston, North Dakota. The bids will be opened at Willis- 

 ton on July 9. Particulars may be obtained at the office of 



the Reclamation Service, Washington, D. C, or from the 

 engineer at Williston. 



A reconnaissance survey will be made to establish the 

 practicability or impracticability of the construction of the 

 proposed works for securing an adequate water supply for the 

 city of Lawton, Oklahoma. The records obtained by the 

 Geological Survey in a previous examination of the water 

 resources of the vicinity of Lawton will materially reduce 

 the expense of this work. The engineer in charge has been 

 instructed to investigate the various sources of water supply 

 that are capable of development, the nature and cost of the 

 work and material to develop the same, the quantity and 

 quality of water which can be obtained, and whether the 

 supply would be permanent and continuous or liable to fail 

 in times of drouth. 



Surveys and investigations in connection with the pro- 

 posed Silver Creek project, Oregon, have been carried to a 

 point where it is deemed advisable to restore to entry all 

 lands not necessary to the development of the project, and 

 the Secretary of the Interior has directed that all the follow- 

 ing lands, the title to which has not passed out of the United 

 States, be immediately restored to settlement, but such lands 

 shall not be subject to entry, filing or selection under the 

 public land laws until ninety days after notice by such pub- 

 lication as may be prescribed by the Department: 



Willamette meridian, Silver Creek project, T. 24 S., Rs. 

 26, 27 and 28 E., all. T. 25 and 26 S., Rs. 27, 28 and 29 E., all. 



The bid of the Billings Construction Company, of Bil- 

 lings, Montana, for the construction of Division 1, Garland 

 Canal, Shoshone project, Wyoming, for sections 2, 3 and 8 

 only, and also the bid of Hughes & Olson, Butte, Montana, 

 for the construction of all of sections 2 to 8, except section 

 5, have been rejected. In the opinion of the Director of the 

 Reclamation Service the bids are high, and as they are only 

 for detached sections of the canal, he recommended their 

 rejection. A readvertisement for bids for this work has been 

 ordered. 



The Reclamation Service has received orders to proceed 

 at once with the work of construction on the Umatilla irriga- 

 tion project, Oregon, for which the sum of $1,000,000 was 

 set aside from the reclamation fund by the Department on 

 December 4, 1905. The Umatilla project embraces 20,000 

 acres immediately south of Columbia River and east of 

 Umatilla River. The engineering work in connection with 

 this project consists of a feed canal from Umatilla River to 

 the Cold Springs reservoir, and a distribution system. The 

 works are of simple character and capable of being con- 

 structed in a short time. The irrigable area under this 

 project lies below 500 feet in altitude, is rolling in character, 

 and the lands are of high fertility. The climate is warm and 

 the soil adapted to orchards, small fruit and vegetables. 

 Transportation facilities are excellent, the lands being within 

 200 miles of Portland, Oregon, of Spokane, Washington, on 

 the main lines of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Com- 

 pany. 



The towns at both ends of the Government line of the 

 Lower Yellowstone irrigation project, Montana and North 

 Dakota, are to be connected by telephone. The present tele- 

 phone line extending up and down the river, a distance of 

 about sixty-five miles, was constructed as a necessary part of 

 the project for the conduct of Government business in 

 construction work and also in the operation of the irrigation 

 system, but it is not connected with the railroad at either 

 end of the line and can not therefore be used in connection 

 with freight shipments and other important features in the 

 management of work on the project. Connections will be 

 established therefore with the town of Glendive on the south 

 and Mondak on the north by use of existing lines, a switch- 

 ing charge of 10 cents being made for each message. It is 

 proposed also to allow the contractors and residents the use 

 of the Government line by paying to the Government the 

 nominal switching charge of 10 cents, the moneys collected 

 to be covered into the Reclamation fund as receipts obtained 

 in connection with the operations under the Reclamation Act. 



The Conconully Lake Reservoir Company, Conconully, 

 Washington, has agreed to give the perpetual and exclusive 

 right to occupation, use and control of the reservoir and all 

 the lands, right of way, privileges and appurtenances used or 

 owned by the company in connection with the reservoir for 

 the consideration that said company shall receive a water 

 supply for the irrigation of the lands of its stockholders, 

 being the water rights now vested in them, to the extent of 



