The Red Cloud chief., 1897-07-30
THE BIDS ARE LOW.
FIGURES FURNISHED BY
ARCHITECTS PLEASE
The Authorities of The Trans-Mississippi
Ex Josition-OTlciais Think Cost OF Con-
structing Buildings viii Be Less Than
Contemplated.

The authorities of the trans.Missis
sippi exposition are congratulating
themselves upon the very favora bl,
showing made by the bids received for
the construction Of the manufacturers
and liberal arts building. the first of
the large buildings on the main court
for the construction Of which bids have
been asked. The figures furnished the
architects before the plans were made
for his building fixed the limit of eos,
at So, 1000. The lowest bids received
for the carpenter work and the staff
work amounted to S3s.4s3. These bids
do not cover the cost of the building.
sculpture II other finishing. the total
OF which is estimated at about $40. 900
or $4,000, making the total cost of the
building ready for occupancy, about
$4,000, or about one third lower tbs .
the estimated cost.
Taking these figures as n gri&'
exposition officials argue that the Jst
OF constructing the entire exposition
buildings and identifying the grounds
will be much less than was originally
estimated, and it is believed that the
income from stock subscriptions and
all other sources up to the time of
opening the gates will be sufficient to
pay all the expenses of preparation,
which Is the greatest bug-bear to all
eNpositions. II this reasoning proves
good the trans-M Mississippi exposition
Will be the first of recent cxpositions
in this country to open its gates with
out being heavily in debt.
President Tuckey of the board Of park
commissioners says that drilling in the
artesian well at the exposition grounds
has boon stopped for good. The drill
reached Il depth OF slightly more than
LOO feet Saturday night and struck n
layer OF very hard lime rock. which
etfectually dispos-s of the expectation
Of getting any more water. 1t is be-
lieved, however, that the flow already
secured will be sufficient for the pur-
pose. President Tuckey says that it is
at least amply sufficient for the park
and lake, but whether it can be made
to answer for all exposition purposes
is a question. At present the flow is
ioTbS bdiiOuS IL minute. MS a1IOruS
e,4O0 gallons an hour. or 3 1900 gallons
a day. This would keep the lake full,
but would leave scarcely any surplus
for other purposes.
1t is also possible that shoot n e the
well with dynamite will increa Sc the
flow. The drill has passed through
three layers of water bearing sand.
A charge Of probably 100 pounds OF
dynamite will be shot off at each layer,
This will tear big seams in the sur.
rounding rock and open up cavities
which may more than double the flow.
Sometimes the dynamite shot shuts oil
the flow altogether, but the board will
take chances on that.
In case the flow is not increased there
is some talk of putting In n pump. The
idea is thatthe supply of water reached
by the well is practically inexhaustiblc,
but that the pressure is not strong
enough to bring it to the surface in
sufficient quantities to answer all the
requirements of the exposition. But
IL the water is there. it could be
pumped ont ia almost any quantity de.
sired and it Is thought that this would
prove much more economical than any
other source of water supply hat has
been suggested