The Arizona sentinel., 1900-12-05
WATER
Will be Turned Into the Ludy
 Ditch by January Is.

SHS Is OuRB uO you uuUorSGanu They made fun of this canal proposition
 when first started in on it, but they
 don't any more, do you see? am go-
 ing to turn water into that reservoir in
 about three weeks, and by the 18th of
 January we will have water to burn, do you understand? The ranchers of this valley will have no cause to squeal about the lack of water any more; I'll make 'em 'holler' 'enoughn !"
 Thus characteristically spoke MT. J..
 k. Ludy to 6 representative of the SEN
 TINEL last Sunday while standing on the embankment of the great reservoir
 he refers to: and having traversed the
 big ditch from its mouth to the great
 basin, we are prepared to believe and corroborate his statement; if the farm CTS do not get all the water they need it will not be from the lack of opportu- nifty to secure it, for the Ludy ditch will have water ''for the millions"
 Including the American system the Irrigation Land and Improvement Co. by January 2Oth, 1901, will have in op- eration 34 miles of ditches and laterals, in the Colorado valley, west and south
 west of Yuma.
 This canal is familiarly called the Ludy canal for the very good reason that J. E. Ludy and his father were the original promoters. About two years ago father and son came here and after looking over the ground decided that an irrigating ditch would be paying proposition. Surveys were made, stakes set and the work was begun. They invested their own money in the enter prise and made a good showing, but owing to lack of sufficient capital were unable to prosecute the work to finish. Mir, Ludy consequently returned to his home in the state of Washington and was ultimately successful in organizing a company for the purpose of building the canal, and the result was that when he returned to Yuma he did so repre- senting the Irrigation, Land and I'm provement Company and had ample means at his command to push the work in earnest. The officers of this company are: President, John F. Green, of Harrington, Washington; Secretary, Will J. Green, of Earring ton; Vice-President and Superintend- ent of Construction, J. E. Ludy.
 H.C. Davis, of Yuma, is the compa- ny's attorney and also stOckholder. The Ludy canal heads about 33 miles down the Colorado river. Sunday in company with Mir. Ludy we drove to the ditch and were astonished at the work that had been accomplished. The only place where there is any quantity of dirt to be removed is at the mouth; this will not be taken out, of course, until the headgates are all in and the ditch ready to receive the water.
 The canal is loo feet wide at the top and 30 feet at the bottom, although at the bottom it has no defined width, the : ditch having a sort of cylindrical shape; the purpose of this and the long slope
 was wisely intended to prevent washing l as much as possible. The first head : gate is 700 feet from the river, though another will be put in at the mouth lat CT. The second large headgate is . (, ,500 and the third 2, 300 feet from the : river. These gates are substantially built and anchored to piling driven from l eight to ten feet. Bridges will be con- structed over these gates for the con- venience of travel wherever needed. } Check and waste gates will be put in } every two miles, so that the volume of water entering the ditch will be easily 7 controlled at all times.
 The canal is a very pretty piece of
 work and shows competent engineering
 and symmetrical excavation. For a distance of 8, TOO feet it is as straight as r1ine could be drawn; then there is a
 short curve and from here on to the reservoir it is perfectly straight. From the river to the reservoir it is nearly five miles, and with the eXcep- tion of two or three places where roads cross, this much of the canal is entirely completed. Altogether there is force of 80 men and 100 horses st work. These are divided into gangs and en-
 gagged in finishing, pile-driving and
 building headgates. .,-.,.
 At the first camp we met Mir. ris, who has done most of the excavat- ing on contract, but is now foreman for the company, with a force of 16 men and thirty teams doing finishing work He is very pleasant gentleman to ''meet up" with; and during few minutes stop in the camp, we had the
 pleasure of clearing the accumulated dust from our larynx by draught : from his proffered refreshments" One of the working members of the company is MT. De Berry, who has l charge of a gang of men throwing up ' borders around the reservoir. MT. De
 Berry is also manager of the American
 system, which is now owned and con-
 trolled by this company, and will be op-
 erated in connection with its new sys-
 tenn.
 At the reservoir camp was MT. T. J.
 De Long, MT. Ludy's assistant survey or, who has been with the work from the first. He is one of the men, MT.