142 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1905. 
and is smaller, being 8 feet across the bottom and having a 3-foot hank. Work on it was 
begun in the middle of the summer and about S miles were constructed before (he season 
closed. 
The Penny River ditch has its intake on Penny River one-half mile above the mouth of 
Willow Creek and lias a length of about miles. It ends on the tundra one-fourth mile 
north of the beach and one-half mile from the mouth of Jess Creek. The tundra por- 
tion has a width of 15 feet and a depth of 1 foot, but is expected to increase to a width 
of 20 feet and a depth of 2 feet. It has a grade of 3.12 feet per mile, and is intended when 
enlarged to its full size to carry 3,(XM) inches of water. Very little ice was encountered in 
the course of const ruction and no pipe or Hume was necessary, so that the cost of the ditch 
was unusually low. 
A second ditch was built on Penny River by the Pioneer Mining Company. It has a 
length of 11 miles and is intended t<> carry 1 ,500 inches of water. It begins one-fourth 
mile above Little Nugget Creek and ends at Sunset Creek at a point 250 feet above Snake 
River. The width on the bottom is 7 feet, the depth 3 feet, and the grade per mile 4.22 
feet. No solid rock and very little ice were met, but 2,200 feet of pipe line were required. 
The Cedric ditch, in the ('ripple River drainage basin, was constructed under unusually 
adverse conditions. It i^ 2 1 miles long and has a capacity of 2,700 miner's inches, though 
not more than 1,800 inches have been run through it yet. It heads on Josie Creek and 
will collect water for more than 20 miles along the line, supplying it to Oregon, Trilby, and 
Arctic creeks, at which latter st ream it ends. Fifteen miles were constructed in limestone 
and 15,000 yards of canvas were used in making the ditch tight. The canvas was sewed 
together, seven widths wide, and laid on the bottom of the ditch, buing weighted and sodded 
to hold it in place. An inverted siphon of 38-inch pipe 2,800 feet long was required 
to carry the water over Oregon Creek, where a head of 235 feet is available. 
The Independent ditch, on Osborn (reek, has its intake on Eldorado Creek 1,400 feet 
above the mouth and crosses Bonita Creek, from which water is also taken, 900 feel above 
its mouth. Continuing down the west slope of Osborn Creek is crosses Willow Creek and 
has been advanced to a point three-fourths mile below that stream. When completed it 
will have a length of about 9 miles and will furnish water with a head of 210 feet. The 
width of the bottom is II to 10 feet and the height of its lower bank 3 feet, giving a capacity 
of 2,500 inches. No ice or frost has been encountered so far and there is no rockwork. 
The Flambeau-Hastings Ditch and Mining Company has constructed 4£ miles of ditch, 
beginning at the upper fork of Flambeau River and continuing south along the west bank 
of the stream. When completed this ditch will have a length of 2!) miles and a capacity 
of 2,000 miner's inches. The water, taken from various streams which the ditch crosses, 
will be conducted through a long pipe line across St. Michael Creek to the south side of 
Osborn or Army Mountain and thence south and east to Hastings Creek. 
The Solomon River Ditch Company constructed a ditch 6| miles long, on Coal Creek in 
1905. Its intake is about 5 miles above where the ditch now 7 ends at the mouth of Coal 
Creek, and a head of 240 feet is available for mining purposes. It is proposed to carry 
this water south along the easi side of Solomon River to East Fork. This ditch makes 
the fourth large ditch in the Solomon River region, three others having been built pre- 
viously. These include the French ditch, carrying water down the west side of the river 
from John Creek to Ea.st Fork; the McDermott ditch of the Solomon River Hydraulic 
Company, which carries water along the south side of East Fork to a point about a mile 
below its mouth; and a ditch 8^ miles long on Big Hurrah Creek, belonging to the Midnight 
Sun Mining and Ditch Company and carrying water to Solomon River. 
The Moonlight ditch, north of Solomon River across the divide on the Casadepaga side, 
1 mile of which was constructed in 1904, was lengthened by 4,000 feet last year. This 
ditch has its intake on Moonlight Creek one-fourth mile above Arctic Creek and receives 
much the greater part of its water from large springs in the limestone. It is proposed to 
extend the ditch down the Casadepaga to Dixon Creek, which would give it a length of 
about 22 miles. 
