126 GRAVEL AND PLACER MINING IN ALASKA. [bull. 263. 
150 feet in the center, and the difference between the ends is 4 feet 
vertically. The allowance for friction made in this siphon was for 
3,000 miner's inches of water. At the upper end the water discharges 
from a penstock 12 by 12 by 14 feet. Another inverted siphon line 
300 feet in length, of 21-inch, 11-gage, riveted steel pipe, is laid across 
Dorothy Creek. 
Around Cape Horn there was a considerable stretch of rock work, 
1,300 feet in marble. This had to be blasted with powder, and cost 
$12,000. There are 5 miles of rock work in all along the ditch line. 
Between Snow Gulch and Glacier Creek a tunnel 1,800 feet in length 
has been run through the divide to carry the ditch water. Its dimen- 
sions are 4 by 6 feet, and it is timbered in places. The top of the 
tunnel is level with the top of the water on the entrance side, the bot- 
tom of the tunnel being run at a low level so as to completely fill the 
tunnel. All the rock work in the tunnel was done by hand drilling, 
and in the winter. The rock was found to be frozen 90 feet vertically 
below the surface. The elevation of the penstock for ' c No. 1 Below Dis- 
covery," Glacier Creek, where the bulk of the water was used in 1901, 
is 113 feet, the surface of the water being about 2 feet lower, the 
available head at No. 1, below Glacier, being 330 feet. The greatest 
head of water attainable by this ditch on ground now being worked is 
said to be 360 feet on No. 2, below Glacier Creek. 
The complete cost of the ditch and all accessories, including main- 
tenance for four years, is stated to be upward of $300,000. It is the 
practice to keep 15 men on the whole length of the ditch system dur- 
ing the four months of the working season. This company, besides the 
use which it makes of the water for its own mining operations, sells 
some of its water to the miners on Glacier, Anvil, and Dexter creeks 
at the rate of $1 per miner's inch under pressure, and at 50 cents per 
inch for water that has been once used/' According to measurements 
made with a Price current meter August 23, 1904, the Miocene ditch 
afforded 1,074 miner's inches above the No. 1, below penstock on Glacier 
Creek, and 1,752 miner's inches at a point on Glacier Creek above the 
tunnel leading a portion of the water to Anvil Creek, the inch equal 
to 1.5 cubic feet per minute. 
In the whole of Seward Peninsula there are approximately 175 
miles of water conduits, for the most part ditches actually con- 
structed, and fully 100 miles more are reported as under construction 
or in contemplation. It is safe to say that the work has averaged in 
cost over $4,000 to the mile, although it is undeniable that with the 
advantage of experience the operators can build their ditches for less 
money in future. 
Ophir Creek, in the Council district, has been the scene of the great- 
est activity in ditch construction, as may be seen by the table. There 
«The miner's inch in this case is reckoned as equivalent to 1.2 cubic feet per minute. 
