Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1902-08-08
LAS CRUCES MAY
GET new RAILROAD
Rumor Says That the Rock Island Con-
templates Building It's Line from Ala
mogordo via Las Cruces to
Deming.
CONTINUED SCARCITY OF WATER IN RIO
CRANDE-..ACRICUL LTURAL EXPERIMENTS

cOnJeH pluJeS DultulHS Iho INV lioHi hIn
mogordo via the Organ Pass to thi
place and thence on to Deming, where
connection is to be aadc with th'
Bisbee road. This rumor may have
grown out of the heated Imagination o
some over-zealous boomer; but those
who profess to know something say thai
the report is not bit improbable. They
reason this way: There is a keen strug
gle on between all the great railroads
of the country to get the oriental trade,
present and prospective. In this strng-
gle distance is the controlling factor.
TO that end the Central Pacific has un-
dertaken, at an expense of 81, 800, 600 to
shorten it's line through Utah distance
of thirty miles, by runni g its line on
trestles, difficult engineering feat,
across the Great Salt Lake. To Il like
end the Santa Fe railroad will soon
build from Portales to connect with its
line at Iseta or Albuquerque, The
Rock Island, it is further argued, did
not build into New Mexico for the Mex
ican business alone; its undoubted am
bition is to get to the Pacific coast, and
the Bisbae road furnishes the means.
The latter road, it is said, Is now push
ing on to San Diego, where the best har-
bor is to be found south of San Fran
cisco, in the United States, and the ex-
istence of this road, paraleling, as it
does, the Southern Pacific for hundreds
of miles through New Mexico and Ari-
zona, is illogical, unless the purpose is
TO form an etstern connection. Now,
shortness of line being the controlling
factor in the transportation business,
the construction of a line by the Rock
Island from Alamogordo, by the route
above indicated, to Deming would save
not less than fifty miles, pass through a
good country and connect three of the
largest towns in the territory by direct
rail. Our quidnunc concludes his argu-
ment by asking why the Bisbee branch
to Deming was built, if the extension of
the Rock Island to that place was not
in contemplation.
The contin aed absence OF water in the
Rio Grande, the scarcity of rain and the
suffering crops, continue to force the
question as to a-snpply OF, water for irri-
cation by pumping plants to public at
tention. The Agricultural College has
continued its experiments since my last
letter. These experiments have demon
strated one thing, viz, that there is
great stream of water flowing under the
valley at short distance from the sur
face. This fact has been absolutely
fol run of 80 hours with
a pump throwing. out over 800 gallons
of water minute, failed to make the
slightest impression on the underground
supply. This body of water is found in
a stratum of gravel lying about 40 feet
below the surface of the ground. The
gravel is about 12 feet thick and rests
upon stratum of hard clay The pipe
has 15.foot strainer. with slots, three
of an inch wide by an inch
and q quarter in length, on the end and
is sunk through this stratum of gravel
until it rests upon the stratum of clay.
The water rises to within Is feet Of the
surface. In consequence OF these ex-
periments, Professor j. G. Carrera has
Just put in and completed pumping
plant with an eight horse power gasoline
engine, and Mrs. Boyer has entered into
q contract with the F. H. Bascom Com
pany to put in like plant, with 12-
horse power gasoline engine. upon her
farm. The contractors guarantee not
less than 700 gallons of water per min
ute. There are several other similar
plants in contemplation.
The many readers of the New Mex
lean are gratified to see it's stand in
favor of providing by law for the cleo
ton of county attorney for each
county in the territory. All of south
ern New Mexico is in favor of this
change. When the expenses of the
courts were paid by the territory there
was some reason for providing the APP
pontment of these officers by the Terri
torial executive, but now that all these
expenses are borne by the taxpayers of
each county, it is most illogical and un-
that the prosecuting at
torneys should have the expenditure of
other peoples money when in no way
accountable to them for the manner OF
the expenditure Give each county its
own attorney and make the office elect
i've.
Judge A. b. Fall came in from his
ranch on the east side of the Organs
the past week.
Pat f.. Garrett. the collector OF Gus
toms at Ell Paso, spent the first part OF
the week in Las Cruces.
Star-gazers we're startled one day last
week by the appearance of a brilliant
meteor in the northern sky.
Hon Martin Lohman received a tele-
yram on Tuesday, notifying him of the
death of his aged mother.
The directors of School District No. 2