The Columbus journal., 1885-06-17
-Hon. Guy q. Barnum spent a

Hon. Guy q. Baruum spent q
month in Idaho and in an interview
with him the other day gave a num-
Der Of items that will doubtless b.
interesting to many o! our resders
His main visiting place was Salmon
Falls on Snake river, where hia son,
Guy, jr., is located. He found him
all right and about ready to start ur
his placer mining. He has worked
hard, and has great faith that bis en-
terprise. will prove successful. There
10 . new process for washing gold, by
what is. called % grizzly" iron plates
with numerous smsll holes in them
through which the gold dust drop:
onto aprons made of .burlaps. The
machine tskes 200 minerb inches o.
water to run it, and will wash 800 to
500 cubic yards of gravel every "a
hours. The water there eau be used
continuously, day and night, at all
seasons of. the year, coming warm
from the. earth. Guy has . ditch q
mile and . half long, and forty acres
of gravel, 10 to 80 feet deep. supposed
to contain from 5 to Is cents worth OF
gold to the cubic yard. Mr.. Hunt, q
neighbor, has two machines in oper'
alton, the best one paying $1,000 to
$1,4OO . month, with q ditch three
miles long which. cost 5000 or more.
Other parties are making $500 to $500
. month. Mr.. .Barnum visited .sev-
ersl other places In the near neigh
borhood, and the gravel has the same
general appearance, which is that of
IN ancient river bed. As. to other
matters, Mr.. Bsrnum says. that is a
fine agricultural section wherever
water for irrigation can be obtained.
Rye grass was three feet high May lat,
makes good feed early in the spring,
and frst-clsss hay il cut at the proper
season. Without irrigation, it is q
bunch-grsss, sage.brush country, the
latter, (the main fuel) growing as
high as 7 to 8 feet, and being 6 to 8
inches thick. With irrigation, they
raise the best Of crops of grain, vege-.
tables. and fruit. A. fine wheat as
grows anywhere, Mr. Barnum found
in Idaho: At Mr.. Riley's rancho, he
Jaw apple. trees and grape vines, in
good trim, eat new potatoes, as big as
hens eggs, and MI. Riley gave him a
sample of wheat which we must say
10 very nice indeed--lsrge berry and
fine light color. Mr.. Barnum speaks
very highly of his friend Riley and is
unhounded in praising his hospitality
to . stranger, but cannot refrain from
telling him that ell he lacks now to
make his home complete is q wife to
help him take care Of bis chickens.
Guy tells us, in answer to queries,
that water rights along the Oregon
Short Line within fifteen miles of the
track, will, in bis opinion, be of great
value to those who secur them ; that
oil stock look in fine condition; that
butter 10 good ss anywhere, of fine
favor and color is made there; that
winters are rather mild that fish OF,
all kinds abound, surgeons being
caught as heavy as 500 pounds; that
there r plenty of salmon and speck-
led trout; that the Oregon Short
Line is q fine road, good track, and
opens up q big section Of country to
settlement that the nights are cool
and pleasant; that the water is the
finest, clearest and purest ; that, as a
sample of what is doing IN mining, a
New York man by the name Of Nc
Lean lie digging bis bitches, has con-
tracted for $4,000 feet of lumber, and
will put into operation twenty "griz-
zlys" for washing gold. The future
of Idaho, with her rich mining Sec
lions, and her fertile valleye, which
irrigation will make very productive,
10 certainly bright. Any man, under
the Desert Act, can take $40 acres,
Is cents an scre down, and 81
an acre in three years, when the land
is to be reclaimed from "the desert"
by irrigation. Az to mineral claims
60 acres) they are to be had with an
outlay Of about 500. On bis return
home Guy stopped at Lodge Pole and
visited bis so~n.in-lsw, G. w. Barn
hart, d Of the owners of the Club
Ranch on Rush Greek, about fifteen
miles from the station. This range is
six by eleven miles 10 extent along q
stream fed by syringe, which keep
the water from freezing during the
coolest weather. Grsss is abundant,
aud there is hsy-land sufficient for
their needs. By . little expense. Guy
says, the ran &c all along the stream
for . half mile on each eide, could be
irrigated, but cattle men don't
take kindly to rsising wheat, &c. The
Club Ranch has about three Thousand
head Of cattle, which Guy says are in
fine condition. While there, our
friend attended q wedding, and, like
the gallant man that he is, kissed the
fair bride. Barnhart had the courage
to say that Bsrnum was the only man
in the crowd who was accustomed to
kissing other mems wives--which
was probably the case because he was
the only grandfather present,--we say
this. ourself, in Guys defence, like.