The herald., 1897-03-07

The people mostly fought for inoorpora-
tion and the water company fought
against 1t, but the cky was incorporated.
and the supreme court said the work
was well done.
In 1856 the Citizens Water company
was incorporated for the purpose Of op-
posing the further spread Of water down
the valley to unimproved lands, until
the company should obtain more water
and improve the system so as to save
the then scant supply. This company
wae composed Of the leading and most
Influential citizens Of the valley. inciud-
Ing such men as H. B. Everest, George
Crawford, o. T. Dyer. T. H. B. Cham
blin and others. This move eliminated
in a compromise between the people
and the Hvans-Felton Water company
whereby the water rights and canals
and half interest in all the unirrigated
lands were sold to a new company to be
formed, the stock of which company
should be purchased by the people at
the rate Of $50 per share with two shares
per acre. Bonds of the company were to
be issued to the extent of $3.50, 900. A
portion Of these bonds was to go to
Evans & FELTON, for their interest in the
water and land, and a portion was to
be sold for money with which to i'm
prove the canals and develop more
water. Water was not to be spread over
the unirrigated lands until the people
said there was enough to spare for that
purpose.
The water controversy being settled,
unparalleled prosperity followed. The
water system has been improved, until
1t is one of the very finest in the state.
Al piped system of pure artesian water,
under heavy pressure, furnishes domes-
tic water to the people of the valley, en-
ablfng them to cultivate lawns and erect
fountains. The canals have been ce-
mented to great extent. and to large
portion of the valley the water has been
conveyed in pipes from the canals, thus
doing away with many OF the insight
ly and unhealthy open ditches
In doing this work the company has
incurred a heavy bonded debt, amount
ing to about 100000. The interest on
this debt and the running expenses of
the system must be met annually to the
extent of about $4,000. and to meet this
expense the company has recently fixed
the water rates at 10 cents per inch, with
an additional charge Of $3.50 per acre.
They took this course instead Of levying
an assessment on the stock of the COM
pany. which they might have DONE
Some OF the people propose to take
this question into the courts, whereas an
assessment on the stock of the COM
pany would not have been subject to
such an attack.
The company has sold but little Of its
unimproved land. If times should i'm
prove so as to bring the price of this land
up to where 1t was nine years ago. they
could sell their 5000 acresi for $3.50 per
acre, and nearly pay their bonded debt,
but they do not expect to see prices
reach that point again, because 1t is
now known that most of these unsold
lands are too cold for citrus fruit cul-
ture. But who knows what the future
has in store for us? Many people who
are in the habit of looking on the dark
side of pictures will be very pleasantly
surprised before the close of the CEN
tury.
There are now about 5000 acres Of land
under cultivation, mostly to fruits un-
der the flow of the Riverside canal sys-
tenn.
THE GAGE CANAL
In 1883 Matthew Gage inaugurated
work ON what has since been known as
the Gage canal system. He had no
money, but he had energy, and his kind
Of energy seemed to be q legal tender.
He contracted for the purchase Of q
large tract Of water-bearing lands on
the Santa ANA river, between San Ber-
nardino and Redlands. He purchased
some small water rights and developed
large amount Of water by means OF
artesian wells. He surveyed a canal line
extending along the foothills, covering
about 4oeo aeres = choice land en the