The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-16
Prospective Enterprises Calculated to
Increase It.

Last week The Herald alluded to the
fact that Will Kelly was perfecting ar
rangements for the formation OF a COM
pany whose object would be to pipe the
waters of Kelly springs into the camp
of Mercur, and it seems there are others
who desire to go into the water bust
ness as far as Mercur is concerned, as
the Mercury, in speaking of the wants
of the camp in this direction, says:
The recent rapid growth of the camp
has caused q great deal of speculation
in relation to the water supply, and
while the Gold Belt Water company
has been able to meet all demands so
far it is evident that with the new
mills being, built, the old ones increased
in capacity and the consequent increase
in population, that source of supply Will
soon have reached its limit.
AS development progresses it is be-
coming more evident that there are
subterranean bodies of water in differ
ent parts of the district. Veins have
been tapped in the Gladstone, Hillside,
DAYTON & Douglas. oakland and a num-
Der of others, and it is probable that
with a Slight expenditure these streams
could be increased and utilized. Neither
is it at all improbable that other
streams will be tapped in the future
as the workings in the various mines
reach further below the surface.
But the district will not be compelled
to rely on the chance of finding subter
ranean streams to supply all the neces-
sary water, even though the camp
should far outstrip the dimensions pre-
'dicted by its most ardent admirers. AL
ready a plan has been studied out and
considerable work performed towards
its accomplishment. Mr.. Hill, architect
of the county court house, has been
on he
that large proportion of the water
from the melting SHOWS sank into the
ground and followed the surface of the
solid formation. To test his theory
he sank a shaft in one of the canyons
above Tooele, and from the bottom
commenced to run a drift across the
canyon. He had not proceeded far be-
fore he found a stream of water so
large that work in the drift had to be
suspended, and tunnel has been COM
menced at a distance low enough to tap
the stream in the drift and find out by
actual measurement how much water
can be developed.
Besides the actual finding of the wa
ter, there is much to support Mr.. Hills
theory On the shore of the Salt lake,
below Tooele, are large springs which,
from their situation, must have their
source in the mountains near Tooele.
Estimates of the annual fall of. snow
in the basin drained by Toeele creek
and careful measurements OF the
stream demonstrate the fact that but a
small percentage of the water finds is
way into the stream and after making
liberal allowances for evaporation the
bulk of the water can. only be accounted
for on the theory OF a large under
ground stream.
We are informed that some of the
leading capitalists of. the state stand
ready to furnish the necessary capital
to put in the pumping plant and lay the
pipes to Mercur as soon as sufficient
water has been developed, and the
promoters are sanguine of success.
Other plans are being considered. but
the above seems at present to be the
most likely to succeed. In any case, it
IS evident that the growth of the camp
will not be delayed on account of water
and when necessity demands it, there
will be a sufficiency forthcoming.