Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1883-05-19
THE Big DITCH.
RI WILL BE COMPLETED IN ABOUT
TWO WEEKS.

vXOO,OOO Worth Of Tools, Mules, ETC.,
Employed to Do a SIS, 900 or $4,000
Job-How This Happens.
Bradbury & Reinhardt have now
been at work for week on the ditch,
or canal, that is to supply Haley will,
water for all purposes. They have on
the ground l25 men, lCO mules, 10
plows, 100 scrapers, and correspond.
ing number Of picks, shovels, and 9th.
er tools. II is force is kept in a camp
which is at present established at q
point about three miles above Haley,
and constitutes about half of the effec-
tive strength of Bradbury g. Rein
hardt's forces, the other half being at
work on grading contract OH the
Oregon Short Line, west of Shoshone.
About one and half miles of the
ditch is completed, and it is expected
that in two weeks more water will be
flowing to the southern extremity of
the town company's property-a dis
lance Of four miles from its initial, or
starting point. Tie company are still
undecided as to whether they will con-
tinue the ditch. as originally intended.
to the valley below. Before the ditch
is completed to Haley, they will doubt
less have reached conclusion on this
point.
The ditch, as at present ordered, is
to be FIVE and half miles long, ten
feet wide at the bottom, sixteen at the
top, and three feet deep. 1t will have
an average grade of about three feet
to the mile, but in places of much
more, and will have a capacity of about
10000 miners inches.
The initial point of the ditch is on
the east side of Wood River, about a
quarter of a mile above the mouth of
Deer Creek, at the base of bluff, or
bench, through which the river cuts
its way. In order to get the ditch on
to the bench cut mile and II half in
length, eighteen feet deep in places,
and twenty six feet wide, had to be
made in gravel-the very hardest kind
of ground to work. But tlis-the
most difficult part of the works. now
nearly completed, and from this time
on good progress will be made until
the point Of rocks just north of the
smelter is reached, when blasting will
have to be resorted to. From the
smelter the new ditch will follow the
line of the old one to the town limits,
and will be in easy working soil ali
the way.
The ditch will, as before stated, sup
ply water for all purposes in HALEY,
and irrigate all the adjoining lands
some 5000 acres. If continued to the
valley below, it will irrigate about
10000 acres of good, productive land
that cannot be successfully cultivated
without irrigation.
The way in which these bitches arc
made is curious one. Tie pick and
shovel Of our forefathers are almost
entirely discarded, and instead plows
and scrapers are used. To break the
ground deep burrows are made by
plows drawn by four or six mules;
the plows are withdrawn, and scrapers
drawn by single horse remove the
loose dirt. When this dirt is all out
of the way, the plows are brought in
again, then the scrapers. and so on
At times it is necessary to blast; but
when it is not the scrapers and plows
do the business
1t is seldom, however, that such a
heavy outfit as Bradbury & Reinhardt',
can be secured for work compare
lively SO unimportant. The capita
invested by these gentlemen must ex
coed 100000 (he mules alone are
worth $500 apiece, and the great ia
cilities which they have for doing worl
expeditiously could not have been Sc
cured had they not been at work O,
the Wood River Branch Railroad, ant
had their forces on the ground. Il
the ordinary way, the making of tn
ditch would have been an all sum
mer's work. AS it is it will not re
quire one month.