116 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Savage Talks. 



"The scarcity of labor and the difficulty of getting satis- 

 factory proposals is compelling the Reclamation Service engi- 

 neers to undertake a number of the larger work by direct 

 force account, employing laborers and teams," said Mr. H. N. 

 Savage, supervising engineer of the Reclamation Service for 

 North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, who is in the city on 

 a brief visit. ''While the policy of the Reclamation Service 

 is to advertise all of its work and to award contracts wher- 

 ever practicable, it is frequently necessary to take over a num- 

 ber of the contracts and carry them out to completion. 



"The St. Mary canal is one of the well-known features 

 of the Reclamation Service work. Construction was begun 

 by the engineers last summer, and an additional plant, 

 steam shovels and steam excavating machinery are now being 

 transported to the site of the canal and assembled for carry- 

 ing on the work as soon as the season opens up in the 

 spring. It is expected that some of the deeper cuts can be 

 excavated during the winter. The canal crosses the Black- 

 feet Indian Reservation, and the engineers employed the local 

 Indians with their teams so far as available during the season 

 of 1906. Two hundred and eighty teams were on the work 

 at one time. It is expected that an equal or larger number 

 will be available for the work during the coming season, 1907. 



"The Reclamation Service will consider informal pro- 

 posals from contractors who desire to take small sections 

 of this work. The nature of the canal is such that there is 

 opportunity for small contractors with steam machinery or 

 with teams to get satisfactory contracts. 



"Work on the Huntley project is progressing quite rap- 

 idly. It is expected that some water will be available for 

 irrigating the land in the summer of 1907. An effort will be 

 made to open the land to entry next summer, thus enabling 

 the entrymen to get their lands broken up and their houses 

 and barns erected during the summer and fall. 



"The work on the three tunnels is being carried on by 

 contractors working three shifts continuous time, and the 

 contractors report that they will finish this work and one 

 section of the main canal on schedule time. The engineers 

 are building the pumping plant for this project by force 

 account, no satisfactory bids having been received. A large 

 force of teams and men are now at work. This is a unique 

 factor in, that the water of the main canal is dropped 33 

 feet and the power thus created is utilized to lift water to a 

 height of 85 feet, covering an additional 3,000 acres of land. 



"Arrangements have been made to open a school on 

 January 1st and twenty-five pupils are already waiting to 

 attend. These are children of people employed by con- 

 tractors who are prospective settlers under the project and 

 who have already moved their families to Huntley. A Sun- 

 day school has been in operation for three months with an 

 attendance of from twenty-five to forty. The school house 

 is practically completed. The Sunday school is held at the 

 cottage of the supervising engineer. 



"The first unit of the Sun River project, near Great Falls, 

 is approaching the construction stage very rapidly. Drawings 

 and specifications have been completed for the distribution 

 system, and for the structures for the first unit of 17,000 

 acres, which includes the Fort Shaw military reservation. It 

 is expected that proposals will be received about March 1st 

 for this work. Drawings and specifications have also been 

 completed for the Willow Creek dam, and advertisement 

 will be made the first week in January. This reservoir will 

 store water to supplement the low flow of Sun River. 



"On the Lower Yellowstone the contractors are carrying 

 on the work as rapidly as climatic conditions will permit. 

 Work on the big dam across Yellowstone River is being pros- 

 ecuted by the Pacific Coast Construction Company, and the 

 deep cuts on the main canal are being excavated with clam 

 shell steam excavating machinery of large size." 



The Secretary of the Interior has granted an extension 

 of time to May 1, 1907, to the Burke Construction Company 

 of St. Louis, for the completion of their contract to construct 

 a section of the Interstate canal, North Platte irrigation 

 project, Nebraska- Wyoming. According to the terms of the 

 contract the work was to have been completed January 1st, 

 but the contractors found it impossible to obtain laborers, 

 though they shipped in men at their own expense again and 

 again. The work was further delayed by the fact that they 

 were not able to obtain machinery promptly. 



Masonry work on the Pathfinder dam, North Platte irri- 

 gation project, Wyoming-Nebraska, has been suspended on 

 account of cold weather. The total amount of masonry laid 

 to date is 5,519 cubic yards. A channel has been let at 

 the southerly end of the masonry to take care of water 

 which seeps through the temporary dam, and it is expected 

 that by the time high water appears in the spring the dam 

 will be at sufficient height to force the water through the 

 tunnel, the 36-inch pipes and the channel at the southerly end. 



The men who were taken from the masonry work were 

 immediately engaged removing loose rock from the walls of 

 the canyon, and cutting recesses to take the thrust of the 

 dam where the walls do not give suitable bearing. Work on 

 the quarry will be pushed during the winter preparing material 

 for the masonry work. 



Operations were greatly hindered during the month both 

 on the dam and on the canal by inclement weather and the 

 scarcity of labor. The winter work will consist mainly of 

 completing such structures and excavating as the weather will 

 permit, and in preparing to push work rapidly in the spring. 



The Secretary of the Interior has executed a contract 

 with Jesse W. Crosby, Jr., of Cowley, Wyo., for the construc- 

 tion and completion of the Corbett tunnel, settling basin, 

 dam and spillway, Shoshone irrigation project, Wyoming. 



The work is located about ten miles east of Cody, and 

 includes more than 28,000 cubic yards of excavation. Mr. 

 Crosby's bid was $23,740.50. 



The Board of Consulting Engineers of the Reclamation 

 Service, which convened in Chicago on the 20th, to open 

 bids for the manufacture and installation of high pressure 

 gates for the Shoshone and North Platte irrigation projects, 

 Wyoming, received but one proposal, that of the New Jersey 

 Foundry & Machine Company, of New York. 



The bid of this company for constructing the gates for 

 the Shoshone reservoir was $59,166, and the gates for. the 

 Pathfinder reservoir was $78,567. The time required in which 

 to manufacture and ship the gates was two hundred and fifty 

 days, and the time required to complete the installation of the 

 gates was five hundred and fifteen days after the signing of 

 the contract. 



The papers will be forwarded to the Secretary of the 

 Interior for action. 



THE NORTHERN HOTEL, Billings, Montana 



The leading hotel of the Queen City of the Yellowstone Country. 

 Steam heated, electric lighted; headquarters for tourists, irrigation men 

 and all who enjay good service. A. F. McNABB, Manager. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 year, and The Primer of Irrigation 



