334 



THE 1HKIGATION AGE. 



Mr. F. A. Wadleigh has been ad- 

 Wadleigh vanced from general passenger 



and Lornax agent of the Denver & Rio Grande 

 Receive Railway to the position of passen- 



Promotion. ger traffic manager of the Denver 



& Rio Grande and Western Pacific 

 Railways, and Mr. E. L. Lomax has been appointed 

 assistant passenger traffic manager for both sys- 

 tems. The numerous friends of the gentlemen 

 will be glad to learn of their advancement. 



We are publishing in this issue an 

 Fort illustrated article on the Ft. Peck 



Peck Indian Reservation, which will be 



Indian thrown open for settlement Septem- 



Reservation. ber first. It is stated that there are 



over eight thousand farm holdings 

 to be obtained on this reservation. This territory is 

 traversed by the Great Northern Railway and that 

 company is exploiting this project with the hope 

 that with quick development that system may be 

 lergely benefited through the increased freight ton- 

 nage as a result of all of this land being put under 

 cultivation. This is probably the last great land 

 opening that will take place in the western country 

 under government supervision, and our readers 

 who are looking for opportunities should not fail 

 to visit this tract between September 1st and 20th, 

 when the entries are to close. 



Secretary Franklin K. Lane, of the 

 Appoints Interior Department, has appointed 



Supervisor I. D. O'Donnell, of Billings, Mon- 

 Over Farm tana, to have charge of the reclama- 

 Work. tion work of the government in 



three great states. This is the re- 

 sult of careful thought and investigation on the 

 part of the secretary. Mr. O'Donnell will have general 

 supervision of the farm work in the states allotted 

 to him and will be in a position to advise with the 

 Secretary of the Interior as to what moves are 

 necessary to better the condition of the farmers on 

 various irrigated tracts in Montana, Idaho and 

 North Dakota. The idea is a new one and whether 

 it originated with the secretary or not is of no 

 particular moment so long as the results obtained 

 are beneficial to the farmer. The unanimous opin- 

 ion of the people of these states is that Secretary 

 Lane has not only acted wisely in appointing such 

 a representative to look after the reclamation work 

 in these states, but that he could not have made 

 a better selection if he had considered the appoint- 

 ment for a year. Mr. O'Donnell is known as the al- 

 falfa king of the Billings district and is a high grade 

 farmer who will be able to look carefully into all 

 of the needs of the settlers in the states named. 



Mrs. Fred Osborn, manager of the 

 Prior Varsity City Celery Company, Ann 



Rights of Arbor, Michigan, writes us and re- 



Artesian quests information concerning su- 



Wells. preme court decisions as to the use 



of artesian wells and the abuse of 

 the same, and wishes to know how flowage from 

 these wells is apportioned to each and the right of 

 appropriation ; in other words, she would like to 

 know how the appropriation is determined. Mrs. 

 Osborn lives in a section where artesian water is 

 used for supplemental irrigation and is desirous 

 of learning what right people have who own flow- 

 ing wells where the subteranean stream is tapped 

 above them and the flow diminished thereby. IF 

 any of our readers have information on this sub- 

 ject, we will be glad to receive it from them so 

 that we may publish it for the benefit not only of 

 Mrs. Osborn but others who are similarly situated. 



Acre 

 Cost 

 of 

 Water. 



We are presenting elsewhere in this 

 issue, an article by Mr. C. J. Blanch- 

 ard, statistician of the United States 

 Reclamation Service, regarding the 

 cost of water per acre. The 

 Reclamation Service is making a 

 number of studies of relative costs of water under 

 private and public projects and wherever these fig- 

 ures are available find that the cost of the govern- 

 ment work is usually less than that of the private 

 work executed with the same degree of care for 

 insuring complete water supply as is done under 

 the government works. The Reclamation Service 

 is now trying to bring together actual costs of op- 

 eration and maintenance under comparable works, 

 but it is stated that it is very difficult to secure these 

 because, while most of the private projects show 

 a small expenditure for what they term "operation 

 and maintenance," there is usually behind this a 

 large expense account which, to be compared with 

 the government figures, should be distributed to op- 

 eration and maintenance. We hope to present fur- 

 ther studies of this character which may be secured 

 from Mr. Blanchard for future issues of THE IRRI- 

 GATION AGE. 



Secretary Lane of the Interior De- 

 Lane partment, has been traveling 

 Talks through Montana recently as well as 

 With other western states and has made 

 Farmers. it a point to meet the farmers, and 



visit with them. He has been mak- 

 ing inquiries concerning their condition and has 

 promised radical reforms in operations under the 

 Reclamation Service. He states that he wants to 

 help the homesteader, the man with a family, who 



