CARRYING WATER THROUGH A DESERT 579 



rock at a total cost of more than $40,000. 

 They laid 180 miles of water mains from 

 springs far back in the mountains to the 

 line of the aqueduct. These systems are 

 four in number, and with reservoirs at 

 high elevations insure a copious supply 

 of pure water for domestic use and for 

 the mixing of concrete. They staked the 

 course of a standard gauge steam railroad 

 125 miles in length with the expectation 

 that the city would construct, own, and 

 operate the line. The Southern Pacific 

 stepped in, however, and in return for 

 the handling of the 1,000,000 tons of 

 aqueduct freight took the transporta- 

 tion problem off the city's hands. The 

 new road is completed today from Mo- 

 jave to Owens Lake, and by fall will be 

 in operation to the mouth of the Owens 

 Valley. The railroad parallels the aque- 

 duct as far as this is feasible. 



Materials and supplies are stored in 

 warehouses along the tracks and thence 

 are trucked by mule-team freighters or 

 caterpillar traction engines to the places 

 where they are required. For long 

 stretches the aqueduct lies at an elevation 

 of 1,200 feet above the desert, and at 

 points where road construction is not 

 feasible aerial cables serve as carriers. 



With the questions of water supply 

 and transportation out of the way, there 

 yet remained the problems of communi- 

 cation and of power for the mechanical 

 equipment. The difficulty in the first 

 instance was disposed of by the building 

 of a copper wire telephone system from 

 the headquarters in Los Angeles to the 

 intake, 250 miles north. From the main 

 line branches ramify into each of the 100 

 or more camps, so that the chief is always 

 in touch with his engineers. 



The energy of two mountain streams 

 have been utilized to furnish power. 

 Three hydro-electric power plants gener- 

 ating a total of 3,300 horse-power have 

 been erected, and the electric fluid is 

 carried over high-resistance transmission 

 wires as far southward as Alojave. By 

 this means the three dredges are driven, 

 many of the power shovels, all the tun- 

 nel equipment, half a dozen machine 

 shops, and a cement mill, not to mention 



the lighting of all the camps. The ex- 

 pense has amounted to one cent per 

 horse-power per hour. To have em- 

 ployed steam at the high cost of fuel, not 

 to consider the scarcity of water, would 

 have cost ten times this amount. 



The sandy waste that for centuries has 

 felt only the light tread of the skulking 

 coyote today crunches under the wheels 

 of heavily laden lumber freighters, and 

 canyons that had heard only the wailing 

 cry of the mountain lion resound with 

 the tattoo of hundreds of hammers. The 

 sometime path of the aqueduct through 

 the silent desert became a scene of trans- 

 formation. Barns, warehouses, laborers' 

 quarters, mess-halls, power-houses, and 

 hospitals went up as if by magic. Where 

 there was immediate need, white tents 

 arose over night like mushrooms in a pas- 

 ture after an April rain. Eight months 

 saw 500 wooden structures erected and 

 600 temporary canvas shelters. 



the: city manufacturing its own 

 material 



In the estimate of materials required, 

 1,200,000 barrels of cement was the prin- 

 cipal item. Cement is a mixture of 

 limestone and certain clays rightfully 

 proportioned, burned, and ground to an 

 impalpable powder. Mixed with sand 

 and gravel and water, it forms a concrete 

 that, after being allowed to set, has the 

 hardness of rock. 



Almost midway between the intake and 

 the outlet of the big watercourse, and 

 on the main line of the Southern Pacific 

 Railroad, the city's engineers discovered 

 excellent deposits for the manufacture of 

 cement. 



No city previous to this time had en- 

 tered into the cement-making business, 

 but Los Angeles, undeterred, purchased 

 the lands and began the erection of a 

 plant. Los Angeles today owns the vil- 

 lage of Monolith, is the sole employer of 

 the 250 laborers and skilled artisans 

 dwelling therein with their families, and 

 every 24 hours ships out along the aque- 

 duct more than 1,000 barrels of cement. 

 Even at this rate the mill cannot keep 

 pace with the unprecedented speed of 



