THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



355 



dent by a premature explosion in heading No. 1, and the 

 quantity of water flowing in at the latter heading. This work 

 is being watched with a great deal of interest by engineers 

 throughout the country by reason of the fact that it is the 

 longest and largest underground waterway of its kind in the 

 world. Its total length will be 30,000 feet, its cross section, 

 lO l / 2 by ll 1 /, feet, and its capacity, 13,000 cubic feet per sec- 

 ond. It is to be cement lined throughout and completed in 

 1908 at an approximate cost of $2,000,000. For the greater 

 part of its length the tunnel is in solid granite, in some 

 places 2,000 feet below the surface of Vernal Mesa. This 

 tunnel will carry water from Gunnison canyon over into the 

 valley of the Uncompahgre river, where it will be used to 

 irrigate about 150,000 acres of fine agricultural land. 



Authority has been granted to the Reclamation Service 

 to construct a temporary dam at the outlet of Jackson Lake, 

 Wyoming. The reservoir thus created will be used in con- 

 nection with the Minidoka irrigation project, Idaho. It is 

 probable that in 1907 from 8,000 to 16,000 acres of land under 

 this project will be ready for irrigation, and the plans of the 

 project contemplate that the normal flow of Snake river shall 

 be augmented by the water stored on the headwaters in Jack- 

 son Lake. It is proposed to erect a temporary dam from 

 10 to 15 feet high by which sufficient water can be impounded 

 to irrigate practically all the land that can arrange to receive 

 it during the next six to eight years, and this structure will 

 serve as a coffer dam when permanent works are built. The 

 estimated cost of the dam is $30,000. 



There was a surprised lot of farmers in the neighborhood 

 of Malaga, New Mexico, a short time ago, when the Reclama- 

 tion Service engineers turned the water into the Black river 

 canal, under the Carlsbad project. The work on this project 

 has been pushed rapidly in order to serve as large an acreage 

 as possible during the season. The Black river canal was 

 completed in May, including about 4,000 feet of concrete 

 lining, and a full head of water is now being delivered to the 

 farms in the vicinity of Malaga. The work was finished in 

 double-quick time and the farmers got the water before they 

 expected it and a larger quantity than they counted upon. 

 Consequently they did not prepare and plant all the land that 

 could have been cultivated. The old ditch leaked out three- 

 fourths of the water it diverted, but this fault is not found 

 in the new canal. The Black river ditch diverts directly from 

 Black river, a tributary entering the right bank of the. Pecos 

 river, about eighteen miles below Carlsbad. The earth work 

 on the first three miles of the main canal of the Carlsbad 

 project is practically completed and another force is busy 

 tearing out the old spillway at Dark canyon, removing the 

 present bank and making excavation for the 7-foot concrete 

 pipe, and building new embankments. The large storehouse at 

 Avalon dam has been completed and the stone crusher is in 

 place and nearly ready for operation. The bridge has been 

 repaired and excavation has been begun for the core wall of 

 the dam at the east end near the canal heading. Tools and 

 machinery are arriving every day and the force is being en- 

 larged and organized for rapid and effective work. 



A report has been received at the office of the Reclama- 

 tion Service from the supervising engineer of the North Platte 

 irrigation project, Wyoming and Nebraska, stating that the 

 Pathfinder dam site is practically uncovered and shows an 

 excellent foundation. Very little excavation is now required 

 to prepare the bed rock for the masonry. The erection of 

 this dam will be watched with a great deal of interest all over 

 the country. It will be one of the largest dams in the world, 

 being 210 feet high and 130 feet long on top. and costing 

 $1,000,000. The storage capacity of the reservoir will be 

 43,560,000,000 cubic feet, or more than ten times that of the 

 great Croton reservoir in New York. Water in excess of all 

 demands has been flowing; in the first forty-five miles of the 

 great Interstate canal. Work is being pushed on land surveys 

 under laterals and on the classification and subdivision of 

 land. Small parties under force account are busily engaged 

 on maintenance work, erecting small structures, etc., con- 

 tractors are taking advantage of the fair weather, and the 

 whole valley presents a scene of activity that gives promise 

 of early agricultural prosperity. 



The Secretary of the Interior has approved the contract 

 entered into by John E. Field on behalf of the United States 

 Government, and the Platte Valley Telephone Company, of 

 Scottsbluff, Neb., whereby the above named company agrees 

 to furnish telephone service in connection with the North 

 Platte irrigation project. Nebraska and Wyoming. It was 

 found necessary to establish telephone connections between 

 the headgates of the Interstate canal, located at Whalen, Wyo., 



and the various headquarters, camps and stations of the 

 Reclamation Service, in order to expedite the work of con- 

 structing the irrigation system. Eleven stations will be 

 installed at the various camps and the company will place 

 additional wires on the poles of its lines now in operation or 

 to be constructed between Whalen, Wyo., and Camp No. 8 

 in Nebraska, and construct and maintain such new lines as 

 may be necessary to connect the telephone stations with each 

 other and with the various exchanges in the district lying 

 between Guernsey, Wyo., and Bridgeport, Neb. Long dis- 

 tance service may also be had with the Pathfinder dam site 

 located above Alcova, Wyo. According to the terms of the 

 contract, unlimited service will be furnished over the lines 

 of the company until July 1, 1909, for the sum of $110 per 

 month ; and additional instruments will be installed and paid 

 for at the rate of $3.00 per month, if desired. The business 

 of the United State Reclamation Service shall take precedence 

 over the lines when possible, but not to the extent of inter- 

 fering with the use of its toll lines for toll business; but 

 between the hours of 8 and 9 p. m., of each day, the business 

 of the Reclamation Service shall have right of way over all 

 lines. 



DELAY IN WORK. 



At noon, on August 9th, the Secretary of the Interior 

 took possession of the work and contractor's outfit on the 

 Corbett tunnel on northern Wyoming. This contract was 

 awarded to Charles Spear, cashier of the Billings State bank. 

 He in turn made arrangements for carrying on the work 

 under the Western Construction Company. The difficulties 

 of securing labor and the high cost of material resulted in 

 such delays to the work that it apparently became impossible 

 to finance the operations, and on August 3d the Western Con- 

 struction Company was unable to pay the 400 or more men 

 then employed. It will be necessary to carry on the work by 

 force account under the Government engineers until some 

 further arrangements can be made. The bids on Corbett 

 tunnel were opened September 6, 1905, and awarded to Charles 

 Spear on an estimated basis of $594,325. The next lowest 

 bid was made by J. G. White & Co., of New York, at 

 $599,750. 



About the same time the Government officers took pos- 

 session of the work and outfit of Prendegast & Clarkson on 

 the Shoshone dam, one of the largest structures in the West. 

 This firm also has not been able to secure necessary men and 

 financial backing to carry them through the many discourage- 

 ments incident to construction on a large river. The bids 

 for this work were opened September 5, 1905, and award 

 made on an estimated basis of $515,730. The next lowest bid 

 was that of J. G. White & Co., of New York, at $558,855. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE, 1 year $1.00 



THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION, a finely illustrated 



300-page book 2.00 



1! both are ordered send .... 2.50 



Address, IRRIGATION AGE. 



112 Dearborn Street, Chicago. 



PROBABLE IRRIGABLE LANDS. 



In response to requests from the residents of Carbon 

 county, Mont., the United States Reclamation Service recently 

 made a reconnaissance of the elevations and approximate 

 areas of irrigable lands on the east side of Clarke Fork, near 

 the Montana-Wyoming State line. It has long been the 

 belief of settlers in that locality that large bodies of land 

 are so situated as to be irrigable from Clarke Fork. 



It was found that a tract of land, known as Chapman 

 Bench, lies along Pat O'Hara Creek for a distance of twelve 

 miles. This bench has an average width of one and one-half 

 miles and contains approximately 12,000 acres of good land 

 which lies well for distributing water. Owing to its high 

 elevation above Clarke Fork canyon, however, and the long, 

 rough country through which the canal would run, any scheme 

 for irrigating the land from the waters of Clarke Fork is not 



