Imperial press and farmer., 1902-03-29
PrehI.torIe canals ln ArIlona.

prehistoric fhnhlHs Whltn With tHeil laterals must exceed thousand miles in length: and ruins of many of them give evidence of the ex pendlture of vast labor in their con structlOn.
 One Of the largest of these canals took the water from the south side of the Salt River. about twenty-five miles from the present city of Phoe nix. and after leaving the river runs for several miles through a forma ton of hard volcanic rocks. Thus without explosives of any kind. and with the simple tools of the stone age. the aboriginal constructors of the ditch excavated a canal through a solid rock Of the hardest formation to a depth varying from twenty Co thirty feet. and to a width of about twenty feet: and with the ordinary amount of water in the river. having capacity of from ten thousand to fifteen thousand miners inches.
 The evidence of the vast amount of labor for It's construction by the chip ping process. which gradually wore away the rock through which the canal passes. is very plain upon the face of the rock Itself: while also for miles on both sides of the canal can be found enormous numbers of worn. out stone hammers and axes.
 Restoring an Ancient Canal.
 Convinced by the ruins of the ditch of the possibility of irrigating the surrounding country. within the last few years the work of cleaning out the debris and timber from the ditch that centuries of neglect had caused to accumulate. was commenced by a party of settlers. And so success fully was this work carried forward that at present. through the presence of the ruined canal. population Of twenty thousand inhabit tract of land that. previous to its restoration was but a barren waste covered by sagebrush, greasewood and cacti. The canal is at present known as the Mesa Canal. and supplies Mesa and vicinity with water for irrigation and other purposes.
 Another Prehistoric Canal.
 Two miles east of the above men toned canal. but on the other side of the river. Is the head of the Ari- zona Canal. This Is the largest in the southwest, If not on the Pacific Coast. carrying as it does nearly fifteen thousand inches of water. The construction of this canal was also suggested by the remains of a pre- historic canal that could be traced for many miles. and the promoter of the new enterprise. in the firm t,.3 bot Anwan gnutA be done again under like conditions. had the pleasure of seeing canal completed which reclaimed over one hundred thousand acres m and around the city of Phoenix.
 And Still Another.
 Forty miles west of the Arizona Canal. and a few miles below the junction of the Salt River with the Gila. and on the north bank of the latter river. is the head of another prehistoric ditch. which from traces found along its banks. is of even more interest. It is called the "Acequa of the Painted Rocks" and commences where 1t can take from the Gila not only the waters of that stream. but also the water from all the canals lying north and east of 1t as well. Portions of the canal have been reclaimed. but those parts which the hand of modern civilization has not touched are still so distinct that the remains may be traced without difficulty for fifty miles while be tween 1t and the Gila River. in the lands which were formerly irrigated from it. can he found the relics of ancient civilization in profusion. These are not only in the shape of