Arizona weekly citizen., 1894-08-18
AI lCEQlIIA. Important Irrigation Work
 In Sonora. DITCH THIRTY MILES LONG. It Will Probably Cost About Half a Million Dol
 lars at Least.
DITCH THIRTY MILES LONG,
Clos Angeles Times.)

F. RI. French of the firm of French & Reed, contractors, returned yesterday from Sonora where the firm is engaged
 in executing large contract for putting in a water ditch and plant for the So-
 nora and Sinaloa Irrigation Company
 The contract will aggregate of s5OO,OOO, and the canal was intended to irrigste 350,000 acres of iaHd in the Yaqui River Valley. Water Is to be taken from the
 river at a point about fifty miles
 above it's mouth ir the Gulf of Colorado.
 The canal will be thirty miles
 long, seventy feet wide at the bottom, and
 will carry depth of water of eight feet.
 The contractors have 200 teams now at work, which number will be increased
 to 500 by November. It is gigantic and important enterprise, and was be-
 gun by the company year ago. The
 company has large end liberal conces-
 sions from the Mexican government, and
 is operating upon most advantageous
 terms. The president of the company
 is Walter s. Logan of New York. and
 and the general manager is Don Carlos
 Conant of Sonora, man standing in
 close relations to President DiaZ, whose
 partiality for American enterprise is
 known. Gov. Torres of Sonora stands
 in like friendly relations to American citizens and American enterprise, and stands ready to furnish military pro lection to the contractors and their workmen, whenever necessary, against possible interference from the hostile Indians.
 The land IS represented to be of the very finest quality, ard will be offered for sale, water rights included, at 5 per acre. The scene of operations Is about one hundred miles from Hermosillo, the capital of the State, and seventy 1 miles from Guaymas, from whence the mail is carried on horseback, and MT. 1 French gets hls Times regularly in five | days from Los Angeles.
 The company, in the outset of it's | operations, did some heavy work ID rock | at the point where the water is taken | out of the river.
 The ladd is described ss extremely l fertile and well timbered. There Is | found growing there lignum vitae, rose- wood, palos verdes, mesquIt, and many | other varities of timber, all hard, sub- | stantial, and good for many uses.
 Game is abundant. Geese, ducks, l quail, pigeons, deer and peccsries are | found in the greatest abundance, but | are little hunted by the native people.
 The climate IS fine for nine months | in the year. but the heat is intense dur | ing the months of July. August and | Septen Der, being ameliorated, however, | by the cool nights.
 The primitive character and simple | habits of the native people both Sono-
 ranians and Yaqais, IS something difi- | cult for an American to comprehend. ! MT. French remarked on this point: | If Noah should wake up in Sonora in | 1894, he would think that he had not been asleep over a fortnight" The Yaquis are fine specimens of physical | manhood, and make excellent labOrers. | Their wages are 75 cents day, Tn Mex | ican money, and they board themselves. l The food of the Yaqui lsborer is slm-
 plicity and frugality itself, consisting of | a handful of pinole (parched corn, ground and mixed with water), at | o'clock in the morning. a tortills and possibly little meat at noon, and some | more of the same sort at night. The valley people are docile and friendly to- ward Amerlcans, but "sgin the govern ! meut." aud the mountain tribes general | ly occupy an attitude of hostility toward | Mexican troops, who are kept in the | country for their subiection, but who have frequently been worsted hy "los Indios."
 The last conflict that occurred be- l tween the troops and YaquIs was oD l Sunday, the 29th of July. The light | was between forty soldiers of the Four
 teenth Mexican Infantry and body of
 Indians, said to have numbered l50 near l A place called Wasamus, about thirty | five m les from Guaynas. The Mex | jeans were ambushed by theIr cunning | Yaoui enemies, twelve of the soldiers | killed and a number wounded. A wo- man and child were also killed In the | melee. The wife of one of the Mexican | lieutenents was taken prisoner, but | after a good deal of dispute as to what | should be done with her she was re- leased upon the order of the Yaqul chief. Tebviate, who said to bis follow CTS: Let her go; we uon't fight women,
 but men," The soldiers, though sur prised ip ambush, returned the fire and subsequently, reported that they infect
 ed a loss upon the enemy of five or six
 men killed.
 Mir. French will return to Sonora in | the course of month, and will stay | there until the completion of hls con trac,, about the 9th of April next. He has a very high opinion of the resources
 and natural advantages of that part of l and considers it great field | for A merican enterprise. The country | is healthy, the soil exceptionally fertile, | and crops grow with wonderfully rspldl- | ty and luxuriance. He tells story | about the growth of some corn, winch sprang up where he fed his teams, ar d attained the height of foot in a time so fabulously short that if named It would discredit the tsllest California yarn ever told. The Times refralns from going into details for the sake of MT. French's reputation for veracity.