Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1890-02-26
TIE WALNUT GROVE DISASTER.

The disaster si Walnut Grove in this
 county, ey which S, DOC. .oea or $4. sso.-
 DOC worth of property was destroyed in
 few minutes, and upwards ef sns bun
 dred lives lest, adds another ,s the iens
 iiS, et horrors of the past twelve months
 lks blew 10 this county is serious one.
 The less st life under the circun-
 stances IS appalling in the extrems-bs-
 ysnd ths power Of tAe pen to describe.
 Aside from this, the blew is q very seri-
 oss enc to the industrial interests Of the
 county and affects act only Yavapai
 county and the terri,cry of Arizona. but
 the entire arid belt of the great ssuth-
 west, The question st water storage for
 agricultural purposes, as wsii as fer other
 purposes, has become a national one
 having received the favorable attsntien' as veil as tks favorable action os con- gresS The immense dam which cen tinsd ise waters ef the Hssssysmpa river and it's tributary streams forming g lake of water covering an area of over
 i,reo scrss of an average depth ef sixty
 feet has been cited as an illustratisa cf
 the possibilities sf such enterprise.
 The destruction of ths dam. however. should by no means be used as an srgu- nent against the feasibility asd complete practicability of water storage. The builders ef the dam were pioneers in thi. particular line. Their work, was, 10 a great extent, experimental. Thc defects found ts exis, in this enterprise are of such nature as to be easily remedied in construction of such dams iu the future. The principal detects were, an made quate waste water way ts carry eff the surplus water in case of aosds and an entire lack of protection ,s the dam iu case of an overflow. The dam vas buih of loose rocks without any apron or covering CD the lower side te protsc, i; in case of an overhsw of the dam. The idea ef the company was that they could prevent any overflow and deeming the precantion lsr such an emergency un- necessary.
 The loss of the dam not enIy stops the intended enterprise sf the company, bat will probably Prevert tbe carrying out of the plans of the Electric Placer company, which depended fer it's water supply on the the big dan ef the Wal nut Grove Water Storage company. At the present writing |, is impossible te | ascertain the views of the officers sf tac l company ste whether they ~lll rebuild or not. With their pas, experience. a much moro substantial dan, and one l that would withstand fisod of even ssv- ersl times the power of this ene-ihe ! greatest known in this territery-csuld | be bull, at less cost Thc company swns rich placer mines winch would jus ElfJ tce resuioing Sf the dam out vhs.Ast thss sill take this vies Of the matter remains te bs segn.
 The disaSter vas an awful iemonstra- ton of the power of water. So far as the force and effect of the water was concerned. it rivaled even the Tohnstswn feed. The enly difference be- tween ,he two was that this did not have ? pcpuisus country belsw it to dsvssta,e, although 1t made pretty clean sweep of everything its track. The fsct that fish and debris was fouad at height of eighty feet above the ordinary level of the river. gees to shsw the immense vel. uue os the wzseF, which carried death md dss tructisn in i,s line.