The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-01
CITY creek is booming.

City creek is booming.
That accounts for the muddy water
that has been served to customers of
hotels. restaurants and bars, and even
at ones own table during the past few
days.
1t also accounts for the fact that
Waternraster Wilcken, for the past
fifty-six hours, has not had time to
either change his boots or swap lie.
OLD-TIME SCENES.
The scenes of twenty. years ago are
being repeated and with emphasis.
Down the North Temple street via
duet-the outlet from City Creek can
yon to the Jordan river-great boulders
are crashing, the noise resembling, al
most the booming of cannon, and
carried with the water also are tons
upon tons eff gravel, which. passing
the rocked-up portion of the viaduct.
are deposited several blocks further
west
The trouble commences a few rods
east of State street, where the dam
has been washed away.
A MIRACLE.
''It is miracle" said Watermaster
Wilcken last evening, that the dam
was caught in time. for had it been
swept down to the mouth of the COW
cred viaduct, which extends from State
street to the gate house on Main and
North Temple, State street would have
been torn UP by the volumes of water
that would have rushed down that
thoroughfare, long before the obstruc-
ton could have been removed, and
there is no telling just how much
damage would have been done to prop
erty in that section. The mouth of the
viaduct is entirely too small. and in
case of sudden rise, as we now have,
it is necessary that man should be
stationed there day and night in order
to guard against the possibility of the
orifice being stopped. Once stopped,
and the water rising as it now is, it
would be but
A FEW MOMENTS
until thousands OF dollars of damage
would be inflicted on State street prop
erty."
Mr.. Wilcken believes that the via
duct should be opened the length of
the btock, and will bend his energies
to that end.
Passing the gate house and for sew
eral blocks to the west, the water
TuS0eS d1OINS LII d NiOlClEL way, OS4li5
at certain portions of the day very |
nearly on q level with the banks. Until
Third West is reached, however, the |
fall is quite rapid, and as a result the
miniature river clears it's own course as
it passes along.
Between Third West and Seventh |
West, however, the flume is compare
lively shallow, and in order to control
the stream at all it has been found !
tO +13o ip+ y,
old channel where it flowed for many |
years before the flunle was built. Here
it stretches out over wide area, the
GRAVEL IS PRECIPITATED
and couple of blocks further on the
liquid enters the fume again, COM
paratively free from sand, stones or |
gravel, and later on finds its way to
the Jordan and thence into the Great
Salt lake
Where the water spreads men and
teams and Iscrapers are kept at work,
and the gravel removed as fast as il
is deposited. A day and night force
is employed
In some cases it has been found
necessary to build a levee from three
to five feet in height in order to keep
the water from flooding private prop
erty and doing incalculable damage
But all this has been successfully ac-
complished, and at an early hour this
morning the danger had not been
augmented, save at the bridges of the
Union Pacific, over which the water
was boiling and bubbling furiously,
while the northern portions of the yards
were well flooded.
1t was at this point that Mr. Wilcken
and assistants found considerable
trouble, owing to the small space be-
tween the bridge timbers and the bot
tom of the creek, and had it not been
that the bridges were solidly built and
reinforced by the rocky walls of the
viaduct, they would have long since
been carried away.
INTO THE SEWER.
About one-third Of the stream was
yesterday afternoon turned into the
gravity sewer, and this has materially
leSsened the work of the men who are
guarding the viaduct below, or west, of
the Union Pacific depot, but the rail
way people keep gang of men on
both night and day, forcing the water
under or over heir,'bridges
Mr.. Wilcl1en does not believe that the
trouble is over by any means, and it
is fair to presume that he is correct.
The heavy rains, followed by warm
weather, has swelled City creek to
enormous size, and in several places in
the canyon yesterday gangs OF men
were at work endeavoring to keen the
stream in its proper channel. The next
few warm days will see raise of
several inches. and this will mean a
flooding Of several blocks in the south
western portion of the city, unless
some good work is done The surplus
canal now relieves the viaduct of !,
much Of the high water, and were it
not for the fact that nearly all the
canals in the southwestern
part of the city have b, h filed up.
out little danger need be anticipated.
AS 1t is. however, the tortuous Jordan =
viii soon be over its banks and much
damage must result
COMING CLOSE.
The heavy rains have obviated the