El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-18
Government WORSTED
TContiuued From 1st Page.

"From Decent Der, 1872. to June, 1873,
1 was ~atchman on the side wheel
steamer San Roman, then running
between Brownsville and Rio Grande
City. The boat was light draft
steam boat; 1 do not remember her
tonnage, but do remember that navi.
CATION of the river was attended with
great difficulty on account of the
sandbsrs and shadows of the water.
Most of the time was spent In zigzaZ-
ging the stream in search of dead
water. The time in travelling from
point to point was Indefinite. The
daily speed was also indefinite. 1t was
impossible to run on schedule time.
We usually went down the river in
three or four days, but as a rule
we went light.
Zone years. diversion of the waters
of the Rio Grande for irrigation would
be more beneficial than five hundred
years. navigation OF the stream
NO FLOOD AT LAREDO.
F. b. Earnest, for the defense, de-
posed that he has known the Rio Grande
since 1882 and has lived atLaredo since
1894 He has not observed any changes
in the flow of the Rio Grande except
those produced by the drouth of the
past nine years. He was stationed on
1894 to 1898. He says:
81 think the waters of the RioGrande
can be more profitably employed for
irrigation than for navigation. The
perennial flow of the Rio Grande would
have no effect on the flow of the river
at Laredo and the flood waters are slight.
1 do not believe the Elephant Butte
reservoir would affect the flow of the
river at Laredo to any appreciable ex-
tent. During the time of the flood at
Ell Paso in the spring of 1897, noticed
in the columns of the daily papers that
there was great flood raging in the
Rio Grande at Ell Psso, doing q large
amount of damage to the city, and as q
matter of course I was looking for the
river to rise at this point Laredo.
But to the best of my recollection the
river did not rise over six feet at La
redo.'
Sheriff Pat Garrett testified for the
defense. He said he was acquainted
and lived in Uvalde from 1891 to 1896.
The stock interests down there
suffered severely from the drouth in
those years. He lost q good many
horses himself and finally removed the
rest of them to better pasture.
F. G. Barker, for the defense, testi-
fed that he has resided at Las Cruces
IOC niue years, ouo 10 krOWST huo
shipper of fruit and vegetables. He Ia
familiar with the bitches of the Mesilla
valley and prepared q governn emit
bulletin on irrigation in the Mesilla
valley. He testified that during the
season of river flow there was often q
great excess of water above the needs
of all the bitches.
Prof. L. G. Carpenter. director of
the Colorado experiment station at
Fort Collins and professor of engineer
ing in the agricultural college, testi
fed that his station Was carrying on
quite extensive experiments In the use
Of water for irrigation, and the loss of
water from bitches and streams. These
experiments are under his personal
direction aud control, aud have been
in progress for ton years. Measure
ments to determine the loss by seepage
have been made at different times aud
at gauging stations for q hundred miles
line between Colorado and New Mex
leo. The measurements made last year
at the upper end of this stretch showed
loss of SO cubic feet per recond in q
total of 423 feet In three miles flow of
the river. This loss of about one
eighth was attributed to seepage
alone, the evaporation being insight
6cant, and allowances being made for
all other chances for loss or diversion.
This year the recorded loss was about
81 feet in total of about the same
quantity of water at the same place.
The Rio Grande there is and from all
report always has been q perennially
flowing stream.
THE WATERSHED.