Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1890-05-08
The United States Irrigation
Commission Went West
This Morning.
They will! Return Here Tuesday
and go into the Mani
tOba Country.
Investigating the Extent OF the
Basin and Source OF Ar
teSian Supply.
What They did While in James
tOWn-Reslllt OF the City Well
Investigation.
OFF for GlenlliVe.

Or for Glentlive.
The irrigation committee mapped out
it's work in North Dakota Friday.
The investigation in jamestown has been
completed, for the present, and the COM
mission went west this morning on No.
l. They will go through to Sims without
stop. 1t was not decidedly settled that
they would stop there, but they will
probably inspect the coal mine at that
place in their search for points. Rail-
road Commissioner Underhill has ar
ranged with Superintendent Phelan, of
the Missouri division, for a special car
and engine to take the commission from
Sims to Glendive, which is as far west as
they will go on the Northern Pacific.
The time of the commission is limited
and the object of this arrangement Is to
permit them to stop off along the line
10 examine local formations and move on
again without having to wait day each
time for train. It will greatly expedite
the work and is appreciated by the COM
mission. They will examine rock ex-
posures, the bearing of strata on the
basin and anything that will throw light
on the source of water or the extent of
the artesian basin.
The commission will not stop at Bis
marck or Mandan going out, but will
stop at the latter place on the return.
Prof. Culver will visit Bismarck later and
investigate the 1.5O0 foot dry hole sunk
there several years ago. Col. Nettleton
says he IS just as much interested in dry
holes as in flowing wells, because he
wants to learn why they were failures
and must report upon them.
Col. Nettleton says the commission
will return to jamestown Tuesday morn
ing and will then proceed up the James
town 4 Northern to Devils Lake. They
will go west on the Manitoba as far as
Ft. Berthold, and then move southwark
again.
The object of these westward trips
is to locate the artesian basin definitely,
establish It's boundaries, and ascertain
the source of the water. 1t is of the
utmost Importance that this knowledge
should be gained, as it will form the
basis of the report. If the source is
found to be such that the supply will be
inexhaustible, as will most likely be the
case, then arteslan lrrgation will only
be question of expense and the recon-
mendation of the commission such as to
secure us liberal government appropri-
tion. This Is not official; it is simply
what must result in the logic of events.
The commission is making hasty trip,
as it needs must do to complete it's work
in the time specified. Prof. Culver will
go over the ground again and complete
the geological survey. He expects toput
in day or SO examining formations
about Jamestown.
What They did Here.
The commission tested the city arte-
sian we'll yesterday. 1t showed a pres
sure of 95 pounds to to the square inch,
a flow of 537 gallons per minute and the
Of the water was found to
be p degrees. The measure of the vol
ume of water discharged from the we'll
was not made under the most favorable
and several of the COM
mission were heard to remark that the
flow was probably nearer 600 gallons in
reality. The test was made with weir,
the water flowing from the hydrant at
the corner west of the we'll. Col. Nettle-
ton thinks we have a wonderful we'll
here. Considering tho fact that the we'll
at the bottom is only 3ss inch hole, he
thinks the flow remarkable. If the we'll
were as big at the bottom as at the top
he said, "the flow would be nearly 1000
gallons per minute"
At the asylum the commission did not
discover as much as they expected to-
Mr.. Cowan did rot keep a written record
of the formations gone through with in
the city we'll and could not give the ex-
act figures of the depth of different
strata. This was disappointment to
Col. Nettleton, who states that mathe.
matical exactness in such matters Is alb
solutely necessary to give such data
value for their purposes. 1t Is under
stood, however, that Mr.. Cowan promised
to keep a record Of the asylum we'll for
their benefit.
Personal Taxes Must be Paid.
Mandan Pioneer: Quite number of
the people of this county don't seem to