The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-24
A SCHEME TO SPINDLE.
MYTHICAL POWERS OF TEE
 SEWER RIVER. hV
Syndicate to Bring About the lrTi- gation of 76o 900 Acres With Water Sufficient Only
 for 6O,OOO.

Washington, Nov. z8.--(speciai. )--Over in Utah there is a revival of an old scheme which has lain dormant for . number of years to launch vast irr1- gation enterprise on the Gevfer River. The plans as set forth are most aliuFtng, and no doubt investors will Rock to boost the scheme along. This company proposes to store all the watefS-figoa and normai-of the Sevier River, and divert them upon 750;eeo acres of land. Water rights are to be sold at SIS per acre, with an annual assessment of q IS per acre. A new city is to rise in tahe desert to pro- vide a market for the 8y000 families who will rush to settle on the lands under the canal Factories, canneriee, smelters and mills are planned f0 follow the ecnstrue- ton of the canal. Meanwfsjis, bonds are to be hoaSed for building the reservoir and ditch, and the public will be cordially invited to invest. As these bonds will he 'unicaaed in the East, a brief sfateinent divssted of gIittertns seneralities con cerning the project may be appropriate. To irrigate 75O,000 acre of land fin the ex- tremely dry valley of the Sevlsr would require no less than I6o.eo0 acre feet of water 8 foot deep over every acre of ground annually. For nearly three years the Government has nlaantatBsa a gaug- ing station on this stream, right where this company plans to construct the res ervoir. Its measurements are particular 1y interesting and yaluable in this con- nection. The total estimated annual dig- charge in acre-feet for these years is as follows:
 For 1900 (from July to January l.. .. e,aSS 1b1.. ..........,r-...4.....-....A .ADs4bd 19Oz.. .......................... sSAsb11
 Allowing nothing for evaporation. the maximum volurne of water Hvaalafle for storage. under the most favorable cOndi- tiOns is Iess than 50.0o0 aere-fBet, yet this scheme contempiateg-and to be suecesS- fuI requires-759.D00 acre-feet. Instead of having an adequate water supply for three quarters of a million acres, the full capacity of the stream will not enf- flee for 5O,OOO acres. The question natur- ally arises, whence does this company expect to obtain the water required2 Will It sell its bonds and later squeeze the water from the stock? The enormous fig ures given out by the company are 80 erroneous that 1t seems a matter of ahso- lute necessity to make public the Govern IneHt report aa connection with the Be- v1er water supply. +..
 In view of the readiness with which the genus sucker bites at any heck baited
 with an irrigation scheme. 8 warning to go slow Is timely. Fraudulent water rights and irrigation securities have long been bane of legitimate enterprise, but the public does not seem to grow wise by experience. The present time is ex-
 ceedfngfy propitious for the floating of irrigation schemes and sllrewd pr0mot-
 CTS are taking advantage of the wide spread interest evineed throughout the country in the Government Reclamation Work, and are spreading abroad their al-
 turing prospectuses. inviting investment It is understood, too. that in the case of the Sevier River scheme. the normal How of the river is already fully appropriated by other parties.
 Down in Arizona. also, company forna- ed for the twin purpose of evangelizing the world and reeIaiming thousands Of acres of land has had no trouble in seIt- ing water rights to thousands Of people; yet the records of the Land ohlee show that this company possesses no rights to Iands nor water, and has not even title
 to right of way for ditch. Competent engineers have declared its storage reser- weir can never be built. and that the cost of canal construction is probably prohibitive. The land 1t proposes to re- claim has all been withdrawn by the
 Government and the water has been ap- nropriated A dozen times by the settlers in the valley. All of these facts were eas- ilv obtainable by writing to the Interior Department or to the Governor Of the