The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-18

they are cut. but one hardly likes thei
thought OF sleeping in an atmosphere where4
tnat is possible. The surveyor works witIIs
man to hold an umbrella over the Instruct
ment; optical instruments have to be conf
stantly wiped to remove the moisture Asj
tpr tne men,, they simply have to work.
through the showers, which are usually mott
ably frequent.
This constant wetness is no doubt one OF
the influences that make the men homesick.
light SHOWS 1t becomes almost impossiblei
10 Keep them. They get to thinking THAI
me snow may come so deep that they canli
not get down at ALL and will have to live
or perish through the mountain winter mi
the fall, when work was continued latest.
tne handful Of men that stayed until thal
END were almost desperate in their anxietvt
70 get away. The morning fixed for goinRt
down, although 1t was bitter cold and tho
snow Two feet deep, no trouble was expert 4
enced In getting the men out of bed IrlI
tact they were all up by 8 o'clock and thG
COOKS had stayed up all night to have break4I
Iast at that hour. This was the culminatioIE
OF r tne insomnia brought on by altitude.
TWO devices used for the protection Of theN
canal deserve notice. One Is to keep it FROM
stopping over. little spill on the lower
sue might speedily wash gully that would
not only empty the canal but might soon be
so much OF a canyon that it would give new
engineering problem to get across it. Wherel
tne lncnne Is so nearly perpendicular ndl
chance of break must be left. Accordingly Il
an automatic sptllway is provided so thak
when the water reaches certain height in thai
ditch the rise of the water alone raises a
water gate and the surplus goes careening
down channel prepared for it.
The second device referred to is that where
by stream crossing the path of the ditch Is
led harmlessly over 1T, but contributes water
In so far as such contribution is needed The
commonest way of arranging matters would
have been to take the ditch straddlina
across the ravine on high trestle-work. This
would have had two disadvantages The water
OF the cross stream would have gone to waste,
and, second, the drift landed against thu
foot Of the trestle-work would eventually
nave come to exert pressure that might
have wrecked the entire structure The
method adopted was to lead the stream over
| the ditch instead Of leading the ditch over
the stream. The ditch follows the side Of the
ravine until 1t intersects the watercourse,
| Then fuming is pushed back to bedrock in
| the streams course, and it Is made to Jump
| the ditch. Right over the ditch Is placed a
| grating of heavy timbers, inclined that
| rocks and driftwood do not lodge, but ara
| washed over without resistance, while the
| water flows through the grating into the
ditch. This lands the debris far down the
mountain side, but saves the precious water,
or so much of it as the canal is able to carry
at a given time
When, after more than two years OF work,
the canal was finished on the 4th OF July,
1894, 1t was found to deliver into Chamberss
lake constant flow of water Of 1872 cubic feet
per second. The value of this water was SO
great that the canal paid for itself the first
season after its completion. When such re-
suits are achieved 1t is not strange that in
vestOrs and engineers are on still hunt for
more rivers to kidnap.