The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-04-19
When Completed It Will Make
Thousands Of Desert Acre. as
Fertile as Our Prairies.
UNPARALLELED ENGINEERING FEAT
One. of the Most Marvellous Achievements
OF the Kind In the History of the
Notwithstanding IL Well
on Toward Completion.

London special: Very few people
appreciate the gigantic nature OF the
irrigation works which John Arid q.
Son are now carrying out in Egypt.
me Undertaking. unsurpassed in mag
nitude and difficulty by any similar en-
glneering feat of modern times, is al
ready well advanced toward compile
tion. When completed 1t Is hoped that
thousands of miles Of what is now
Egyptian desert will be transformed
into smiling pasture land.
At present the cultivated soil OF
middle and upper Egypt consists of q
pelt OF land on either side of the river
extending as far as and no farther than
the line reached by the waters of the
nlgh Nile. The rest is arid. unproduct-
I've sand. : I.
Now, the Nile waters are peculiarly
rlcn IN a sediment invaluable for agri-
cultural purposes. and yet every year
enough Nile water and soil to create
several Egypts are allowed to run into
the Mediterranean. It is to impound
TINS water that great wall of gran
lite is being built on the southern side
of the First Cataract at Assuan.
Ninety Feet Above Low water.
The wall stretches from the rirht
bank of the Nile to the left, a distance
or mile and a quarter, and, when
completed, will rise ninety feet above
the leVel or low water. The top of it
VIII be as wide as Fleet street, and
Will accommodate as much traffic
me wall is pierced by sluices. They
number $50. The great steel doors with
which they are provided will be
worked by machinery, at once enor-
mously powerful and yet Sc delicate
that child could let loose millions of
gallons of this water which is to be
Egypts salvation. AT some periods of
the year 100000 tons OF water will rush
through the sluices every minute.
The dam will bottle up 1000. OO0. DOG
tons OF water; but the effect Of the wall
Will be apparent over 144 miles of the
river. IN other words lake IA miles
long will be formed.
The cost OF the scheme has been fixed
at 45,Ooo,ooo; but the Egyptian gov
eminent Will not be asked to pay a
sixpence until the work has been COM
pleted. The settling of this little bill
Will extend over a period Of thirty
years. SO that Egypt is getting her
colossal dam on the same system as
thrifty housewives get their sewing
machines-the deferred payment sys-
tenn.
A Present of s4o0,ooo,OOO.
1t will prove good bargain for
Egypt, for it is calculated that Eng
land is virtually making the land Of
the Pharaohs present of something
like RS0,00O,O0O.
In addition to the great wall at AS
suan, subsidiary dam is being built
at Ass:ut On the former 10000 men
are employed, the vast majority ma
tives. They receive between 8 and 4
piastres a day, or about 5s week,
which is twice as much as they usually
earn. On pay day the money is
brought in bullion on camels' backs
across the desert from the Assuan
bank, and it is an interesting sight to
see the patient bearers Of the gold
kneel down while their precious bur-
den is distributed among the eager
thousands Of jabbering, happy toll
ers.
The stone for the great wall is being
obtained from the quarries of which
the temples Of Philae are believed to
nave been built-the unhappy Philae
which, when the dam is completed,
will be submerged and partly disappear
from sight for the first time in its 3 1000
years of existence.
The granite blocks that are being
luarried for this, the first great engi-
aeering achievement of the Twentieth
century, bear the marks Of wedges used
thirty centuries ago.