THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



315 



There is some rejoicing and much sorrowing among the 

 farmers under the tirst forty-five miles of the Interstate canal, 

 North Platte project. The cause of this paradoxical situation 

 is that the month of June saw the completion of this section 

 of the great ditch, the successful passage of water to the 

 end of the constructed canal and its delivery for irrigation 

 purposes, and that like the foolish virgins a large number of 

 settlers were not ready for it. On June 17th the water in 

 the canal had reached a point at about the forty-first mile 

 and on June 18th it had reached the end of the forty-fifth 

 mile. The Whalen Falls Canal Company is drawing at all 

 their headgates a maximum of about five cubic feet per 

 second, with an average of probably not to exceed three 

 cubic feet per second. There has been coming into the 

 headgate a maximum of about 130 and a minimum of about 

 30 cubic feet per second. Some 1,200 acres of land are in 

 crop and have been irrigated from the canal; the balance 

 of the 20,000 acres is not prepared to receive it. The lateral 

 systems under the Whalen Falls canal, and through which 

 water is to be taken from the Government canal, are not 

 built, with the exception of one at the twenty-fifth mile, 

 which was opened about the middle of June. 



The Secretary of the Interior has appointed Mr. Caleb 

 Jones, of St. Anthony, Idaho, to serve on the board of ap- 

 praisers of town lots under the Minidoka project, which now 

 consists of Mr. Jones, Mr. J. H. Lowell, Caldwell, Idaho, 

 and Mr. Gerard N. Matthes. of the United States Reclamation 

 Service. This board has been directed to assemble at the 

 townsite of Heyburn at the earliest possible date after hav- 

 ing executed the oath of office, and at once proceed with the 

 work of appraisal and continue same until completion. The 

 lots to be appraised at Heyburn are those in the NW % 

 sec. 10, T. 10 S., R. 25 E., 3~ M., and number 480. Upon the 

 completion of the appraisal at Heyburn the board will pro- 

 ceed at once with the appraisal of the lots at Rupert, the lots to 

 be appraised at this point numbering 371. The board will report 

 the cash value of each lot as agreed upon, the character of 

 land, whether grading is required, etc. ; character and value 

 of improvements, whether improvements are permanent or 

 such as may be easily removed, and estimated cost of re- 

 moving them. Where improvements are considered perma- 

 nent the total valuation of the lot will include the value of 

 improvements. It is expected that the report of the board 

 of appraisers will be received by the Secretary of the In- 

 terior very soon, and the date of sale will probably be 

 definitely settled at that time. 



There is good news from Gunnison tunnel, Colorado, to 

 the effect that the headings 3 and 4 have finally been brought 

 together, and the most disagreeable part of the work is now 

 over. This is the portion under the broad valley of Cedar 

 Creek, where the tunnel has been for nearly a mile in river 

 sands and gravels, clay and soft shale. Heading No. 4 was 

 driven from the outlet in the valley and No. 3 from a shaft 

 a mile away, under conditions such that it was very diffi- 

 cult to give directions so that the tunnels driven toward each 

 other would exactly meet. The completion of this portion 

 of the work leaves it possible to concentrate work on the 

 headings Nos. 1 and 2, which are under the main portion 

 of the mountain. In No. 1 the material is a hard, reddish 

 quartz or coarse granite, changing to a mica shist. In this 

 portion the progress has been upwards of twelve feet a day, 

 while in the softer black shale in heading Xo. 2 the progress 

 has been over twenty feet a day. 



The latest news from southern California shows that 

 the inflow of Colorado River to the Salton Sea has fallen 

 off about one-half of the flood stage. There are now less 

 than 40,000 cubic feet per second pouring through the new 

 outlet of the Colorado River into Mexican territory and re- 

 turning to the United States, inundating land in San Diego 

 county, California. That is equivalent to an amount sufficient 

 each day to cover 80,000 acres one foot in depth. The Salton 

 Sea during July has risen a little less than one-half foot a 

 day, and will continue to rise with diminished rapidity owing 

 to the fact that the inflow has dropped off and the area 

 of land to be covered is increasing with each foot of rise, 

 the water spreading back for long distances over the nearly 

 level desert. The Southern Pasific tracks and property are, 

 however, threatened in such a way that the company is making 

 elaborate preparations to stop the flow of the river in Mexico 

 and return it to its former channel on the international bound- 

 ary. Instead of resorting to temporary expedients as was 

 done last year, the company, now realizing that conditions are 

 far more serious, have gone to work systematically and have 



built a spur railroad leading from the main line of the 

 Southern Pacific near Yuma and extending south to and 

 across the international boundary to the point where the 

 Colorado broke over its banks. By the use of this railway 

 it will be possible to transport men and material to the 

 place and to procure rock in great quantities for use in rein- 

 forcing the structure to be built. There is every reason to 

 believe that with the experience attained by past failures and 

 with the realization of great dangers in the future, the com- 

 pany will pour in sufficient money and men to check the river 

 and stop for all time the threatened overflow of the hundreds 

 of farms and thousands of homes in the Imperial Valley. 



The work on the Gunnison tunnel, which is being built by 

 the United States Reclamation Service in Colorado, is being 

 delayed by a curious condition. The tunnel, now more than 

 a mile underground, has been driven with rapidity through a 

 hard black shale. The heading has now advanced to a point 

 where it is passing through a great accumulation of sea shells. 

 Thousands upon thousands of them imbedded in the rock are 

 being dug out, some of them of gigantic size upwards of 

 three feet or even more in diameter. The process of ex- 

 cavating the shells is easy, but for the fact that they render 

 the ground exceedingly treacherous. A few of these large 

 shells imbedded in the roof make a point of weakness, and 

 without warning a mass of a hundred pounds or even of 

 several tons of the black shale carrying the shells may be 

 precipitated upon the workmen. It is therefore necessary to 

 support the roof of the tunnel with timber for every foot of 

 advance in order to protect the workmen from injury or 

 death. It is curious that these shells deposited in the ocean 

 millions of years ago are now being brought to light and are 

 endangering the lives of creatures hundreds of centuries 

 younger than they. Each of the shells at one time held a 

 living organism whose bulk would be sufficient to make a 

 meal for a dozen men. 



The United States Reclamation Service has just passed 

 its fourth birthday, and that it is a very vigorous infant is 

 shown by a summary of the work accomplished during its 

 brief existence. Work is now under way on twenty-two 

 projects and 13,600 acres of land have been actually irri- 

 gated. Up to July 1st, 241 miles of main canal, 116 miles 

 of distributing system, and 388 miles of ditches had been 

 constructed, including dams, headworks, etc. Tunnels hav- 

 ing a total length of more than five and a half miles have 

 been driven, including over two and a half miles of the great 

 Gunnison tunnel in Colorado. More than 521 Miles of tele- 

 phone lines have been installed and are now in operation ; 

 233 miles of wagon road, many miles of which were cut in 

 solid rock in almost inaccessible canyons, 110 bridges, and 

 300 office and other buildings have been constructed. The 

 works above mentioned have called for the excavation of 

 17,403,213 cubic yards of earth and rock, the laying of 134,- 

 446 cubic yards of concrete, 124,901 square yards of rip rap 

 and paving; 42,947 linear feet of piling have been driven. 

 There haye been purchased 1,873 tons of iron and steel, 

 7,347,312 feet B. M. of lumber, and 159.623 barrels of 

 cement. The Government cement mill at Roosevelt, Ariz., 

 erected at a cost of more than $100,000, has turned out 

 43,000 barrels of cement, and Uncle Sam's saw mills have 

 cut 2,889,000 feet B. M. of lumber from the Government 



All bids for the construction of 135 miles of laterals 

 for the irrigation of lands under the Interstate canal, North 

 Platte project, which were recently opened at Mitchell. Neb., 

 have been rejected. The bids were rejected on the ground 

 that they were greatly in excess of the estimates, and new 

 proposals will be asked for unless the bidders promptly sub- 

 mit lower bids. 



The Secretary of the Interior has restored to public do- 

 main the following described lands in the State of South 

 Dakota, which were reserved in connection with the Belle 

 Fourche irrigation propect, and has withdrawn the tracts 

 from public entry for townsite purposes in connection with 

 this project: Black Hills meridian, T. 8 N, R. 7, E, 

 sec. 7 ; T. 9 N., R. 4 E., NEJ4 sec. 14. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 vesvr, and the Primer of Irrigation 



