The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-29
IvAS''1C|':0||S'!''I.'Il|'''..0|:||lF|:;.
IRRIGATION
May Be Double Of Estimates.
MadeEto Congress.
HUGE PROJECT or u u j s.
TO Dam UP Rivers and ohanss The
Course lin Order to Make Desert
q Country Blossom IKE the
Rose Vary lnsxpsnslve,

wAeH1N0ToN, D. q, March N.-Ssd-
eral irrigation Of the arid lands Of the
West refuses 70 work out on the eoonoml-'j
Gal basis estimated when the Hansbroush
irrigation law was passed by Congress- y"
According to ! statement mAdo BY secrs.
tary Hitchcock the other day, the cost,
instead Of being y IN acre, a. has all
along been estimated, will not DO less than
III, % an acre, and It 10 by no means cer- Ger,
tain that the expense can DO kept within IN
that figure. AZ the cost OF lrr cation 70
to be added pro rata TO the customary
t1.i5 an acre charged for public lands, the
Western aettlsr viii not seoure the bar bar.
gain he may have expected,
1.-THE occasion For tho discrepancy boz
tween the es Inmates nnde whom the law
was under consideration and those now
mado BY tho government exports 70 SAID
to bo nttribu table to three causoa. First,
the cost OF IS was arrived at by averaging
tho expense incurred by private eorpo-.
rations, which had performed similar
private oompnnleS have secured posses-
sion OF al the sites where cheap lrrlga-
ton can be practicsd !, and those which
tho government will nave 70 Improve arc
al OF a more expensive and difficult char
acter, second, tho economical showing
made by private companies Us duo In
many Instances to the temporary chnrnc-
ter OF tho work. which II has been In
tended to replace !. wtth more permanent
aid expensive plants when the PROFITS be-
gan to accumulate: third, when Congress
passed tho irrigation law It lncorp ornted
therein q provision that all work should
be done under an elEht4hour labor con-
tract, ana that no Monaghan Dor should
Z. hau
suited IN materially Increasing tho cost OF
tho work to the Federal authorities.
According to the Instructions Of tho
escretary OF the Interior acting with
tbs advice Of the officials Of the geologt-
Gal survey, every portion Of tho engineer
Ing work ndertaken BY the sover ln,,.s :
viii be OF the highest grade and bui!t 70
last Tor centuries, No risks OF washed
out dams will be taken, and no errors
IN calculation will be permitted 10 frus-
trate tho original plans, At tho present
time itr is believed that the4w work on tho
tivo projects already selected can pc com
pleted for the average prloe an acre
named, but there is& stu 2 oosslDiilty OF
= ~ pzip a,st PRoJpCT. M
perha IA the most remarkable undertake
M ~ tho work thus Tar outlined Will be
whot II known as tho St; Mary's River
nro,ect, In ontanr. It lis here proposed
to divert the greater porto OF 1ne %.
Mary's River which rises IN tho ROCKY
Mountains. in ontnnn,f and flows through -
Canada to Hudson's Bay from its natl natu-
rni channel. and by means! 4. Of a canal
empty II Into tho Milk elyer. "a tributary II
81 tbs Missouri, 50 thatSits waters "a r. VIII
eventually flrd their way into the Gulf
~ Mexico. no accomplish this II will DO
necessary to construct q dam nifty feet
"a height across tho st.. Mary's River,
thus forming a reservoir, for which tho
st. Marry's Lake will DO tho basis twen-
ty-hve miles in length, ana having 2
conacity OF oSo. 900 ncre feet of water
that is, sum cient to cover $4,000 acres %
a depth OF one foot. "a canal twenty-seven
miles long Will connect tho reservoir with
tho North Fork OF the Mix River, and IN.
tho water thus obtained WILL it - =. eh ~
mated provo suf1icient TO irrisate $4,000
acres OF land along the Milk Rlver DO,
tween Iavro and Glasgow Montana. It
IS not expected to divert tho entire now