The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-13

years ago by the San Joaquin Land and
Water Company, a corporation composed
of Stockton capitalists, who organized Tor
that purpose. Among the stockholders
were II. w. Cowell and N. S. Harold, the
wealthy rancher. The company spent
$27O, 900 on dam and portion of one tun-
mel, and work was suspended in 1894. Har-
rold and Cowen were always loyal to the
enterprise. however, and the present cor
poration was formed at once and work was
begun anew.
The dam which will be used temporarily
by the company is located at Six-mile
Bar and was built in 1856, when that place
was thriving mining village. 1t, to-
gether with the old Schel ditch, was built
for mining purposes, but of late years it
has supplied the vineyards and orchards of
Knights Ferry with water. A mile below
is the new concrete dam of the company,
which will be completed next fall. This
dam will be 300 feet wide, 60 feet high and
10 feet broad on top, with an S0-foot apron.
1t is now complete to height of 80 feet.
Two thousand barrels of cement were used
in its construction.
The mountain division of the canal, ex-
tending from the dam to Knights Ferry, a
distance of six miles, is now practically
completed, only the fumes and one.tunnel
remaining to be finished. The heaviest
work on the entire system is in this divi-
sion, and owing to the roughness of the
country it is extremely difficult to get the
material on the ground. However, the
lumber is nearly all on hand for the re-
naming fumes, and only 200 feet of the
upper tunnel is yet to finish. This upper
tunnel is said by experts to have the hard
est composition of any tunnel known in
the State. 1t was begun by the old COM
pany, which for three years had gang of
Cinnamon working on it. During that
time they made distance of less than 700
feet
The work now is being pushed from both
ends night and day by force of fifty men
all told. The material is serpentine and
gneiss, and it is SO hard tibet less than one
fourth of an inch can be made with one
drill. At the opening of the tunnel at
each end is blacksm1th-shop where stand
three expert drill-sharpeners working like
machines, without q moment to spare. Out
of about thirty drill-sharpeners who have
been tried only three or four have been
found who could temper the drills to stand
the work required of them. One man at
each end goes to and fro with dull drills
for the blacksmiths and sharp ones for the
miners. The progress made averages
about lao feet in month. The length of
the tunnel is 1887 feet. This work is under
the direction of J. A. Robb, formerly of
the Spring Valley Water Company and
the Shasta Lumber Company. He states
that in all his experience he has never seen
rock which would equal that in which they
are now working. The lower tunnel, HOO
feet in length, which is connected with its
| companion by 1900 feet of flume, is through
a stratum of cement-gravel and conglomer-
ate. This tunnel is finished.
| The canal on the mountain division is
twenty feet across the top, twelve feet on
the bottom and eight feet in depth. The
banks the entire length of the section are
walled on the outside with rock, and where
curves are made the inside walls are rip
raped with heavy rock to prevent wash
ing. The work is thoroughly substantial
] The dimensions of the canal with its heavy