The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-04-23
II is to Force Water to
Climb Over a Range.
Will Go Down to Valley Where
Before it Was Stranger.
Daring Engineering Enterprise in
Northern Colorado.

Denver. Colo, April 23. To make a
river climb It's own watershed and So
down valley that IL mover intended %
traverse would seem, at first thought To
be no easier than to construct perpetual
motion machine. The schoolboy that has
to give his teacher long account of where
the drop OF water that falls on the west
side Of a house goes 90, and the very
different course taken by drop falling on
tho east side, assuming the house 10 stand
on the crest OF an important watershed,
would have his carefully conned lesson all
spoiled by such prcpostorous engineering.
II the hypothoticl house whose bridge
pole divides The hypothetical drops Of
water were located on the great Contipen.
tai Divide some nine miles northwest OF
Longs Peak, in Northern Colorado, the
natural course for tho drop On the eaStcrn
incline would be into the Cache ~ poudre,
into the South Platte and shence through
the Platte, the Missouri erG tho Aiissis-
sippi into the Gulf of Mexico. The drop
that fell on the west sido would naturally
go inlo the North Fork oi The Grande, and
thence through tho Graude and tie
Colorado into the Gnlf Ct California. Bul
the farmers and landowners Oh he eastern
slope of ;he range are not satisfied with
the number nt drops az water thut come
their way, and are proposing 30 ny IN the
face of uptaro by KIDNAPPING the upper
waters Of the Grande, iuvoiclipg '!cm
over the Continental Divide ard down the
eastern slOpo % tho alfalfa and wheat
lands in the valley OF the Poudre. III
feasible it viii DO an excellent thing 10
do, for in the valley of tho nrande there
Is more water than arabic land, While In
IL. a = In .In In 1rn nd
South Platte there is more arabic land
than water to irrigate it, Natures proof
sheet seems to need rowling and correct
ing. The only question scan 1t be done
as planned!
The roof Of house differs from nat
ural watershed in that its ridgC-pole IS
horizontal, while the crest Of watershed
is not The crest of the Continental
Divide rises into peaks IA 600 feet high
and descends into passes as low as 1oUOO
feet 1t thus happens that, whilc some
If the tributaries of the Grande have
their rise Mt AN elevation of ii, 900 Feet Cr
more, the Lulu Pass on the Continental
Divide is only 10, 900 feet abovo sea level.
1t is thus clear that If the riygr can 90
tapped st any elevation considerably
above the height of tho Lulu Pass tho
waters can be led crafrily along the
sidc-hill bitches and ultimately across
the divide and down the eastern slope IF
the range. This is whaG 1t IS proposed 20
do, the surveys have already been made,
and the work Will probably be undertaken
next summer
What it is plauued to do with the
waters of tho Grande has already been
done with the waters of tho Laramie
river, which have been taken across the
watershed Of the Medicine Bow range
and turned into Chambers Lake, from
which they pass down To the arabic lands
of the Poudre Valley. This enterprise Is
in the same general district as the one
now proposed, and serves as model.
The head waters of that branch of the
Laramie which has been diverted como
very near having their rise in n glacier.
They start in n canyon SO deep, so shaded
and located at such an altitude that the
SHOWS of one winter are hardly melted
out before those of another come. From
the ridges on both sides the winds sweep
the SHOWS into this narrow gorge until
they lie 200 feet deep or more. Solidi-
fled by pressure and partial thawing the
mass of snow becomes mass OF ice, and
the sun has an all summers work before
him to convert that ice mass into water.
Water from such n source Is particularly
valuable because IL is what they call
"lato water" IL comes at time of the
year when many of the lowland streams
are dry, and yet when water Is still
| one cubic foot per second through the en-
| tire season is worth not less than $1,000,
| and as this br inch of the Laramie often
| runs 250 cubic feet per second at the
| time When water is most in demand, II
| will he seen that the flow was we'll
worth capturing.
To abduct the Laramie, at this point re-
| quired ditch five miles long circling
| about the two sides of the Medicine Bow
| range, which it crosses at an altitude of
| $500 For three-fifths of the distance the
side hill along which the ditch was led
was SO nearly vertical that the material
excavated could not be held TO form the
] lower bank of the ditch without crib
work. In surveying the route the ordinary
clinometers had TO be discarded, and the
common surveyors loving rod had t.
| he extended to an instrument 30 feet high
The way was so broken and difficult anC
the timber I'm places 50 dense that IL Otter
made there, as it has since on the Grandc
! very hard days work for two men tC
chain half "a mile Streams crossing Tn,
course of the canal had 10 be so provided
| for that they cmptied themselves into 4
| when their reinforcement was needed, bu
| flung themselves over or under IL in tor
| rental seasons when they would have
otherwise destroyed IL. Along some Of TN,
| line the forest is so dense that no goOt
picture Of the works can be obtained b,
ordinary solar photography, and at place
the incline Is SO steep that the man will
"A camera can find no place 20 stand whill
taking his view. lt Is like trying To photo
graph a particular row of shingles on
steep rooted house when there Is no plac,
to stand on but the roof Itself
The altitude is great difficulty to h
encountered in the prosecution of such
piece OF work. a large number Of mei
can not do heavy work at that altitude a
all. Any one with heart trouble Is barre,
To- begin with. The air has q third les
oxygen per cubic foot there than at soi
level, and so work that would make
man puff ON the sea coast causes hin
60 collapse at 5000 feet above. The strong
est of the mon can not do more than hal
work at such AN elevation During th
two years ana morc-that the work was II
progress Che company was sending I'm
constant stream uf men who were as con
stuntly leaving with or without notice
\ large number were physically unab
to endure the work. but even those tha
did not get positively sick hccamc hom
sick. Nostalgia was epidemic among them
Idle men who jumped 40 the chance to Y
a.. ." -