[77] The Water Power of Texas. 31 
sand, mud, or gravel, to solid rock. At no place was any solid rock 
encountered as near as eight feet to the “low water” mark in the area of 
soundings, which covered a space of 18,000 square feet. 
The. condition of the foundation, the detached standing section (BD, 
Pig. 12),. and the condition and position of the other broken section that 
occupied the gap and which disappeared soon after the break, all preclude 
the theory that the dam broke at the level where it was thirty-one feet in 
thickness. This. level was twenty-five feet above “low water” and thirty- 
five feet below the crest. If it broke on this level, then there was a sec- 
tion only thirty-five feet high that broke off and moved back. The broken 
sections moved down the stream about sixty to seventy feet, and rested 
Figure 12. 
Plan of Dam and Power House. 
in a’ position practically parallel to the original positions, and in the tail 
race of the dam, the bottom of which was lower than the foundation of 
the dam. If the dam had broken at the level of thirty-five.' feet above 
“low water,” then, when the upper thirty-five feet of the dam moved off, 
three things would have occurred: (1) The upper part would have 
turned over as it slid off of the lower part, which it did not do. This 
is shown by the section BD, still standing (Pig. 10), and by the other sec- 
tion that was carried bodily down stream, and which remained upright 
forty minutes after the first break. (2) When the 35-foot section 
moved down stream, if by any miraculous intervention it could have slid 
off, then fallen a distance of thirty feet, and landed in the fail race in an 
upright position, its crest would have been thirty feet below the crest of 
the standing portion. All this is disproved by the facts. The crest of the 
standing section (Pig. 10.) is only four feet (instead of thirty) lower than 
the original crest, and that of the portion which stood for a while was as 
high or higher than the original crest. (3) The crest of the standing 
section is now fifty-three feet above ordinary flow, where it would have 
been only about twenty-two if the darn had broken at the 25-foot level 
above low water. (4) That section of the dam carried down stream 
and still standing can be examined and the 25-foot level will be found 
