Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-09-22


become the great metropolis of the
state. Mr Linton claims to have made
the first doors and sashes in Duran
go, and to have helped build the first
house in Animas City. The doors and
sashes were for the building put up
| by James II. Luttrell, the Durango
pioneer real estate man. Mr.. Linton
has been located the last sixteen years
two miles north of Dolores. where he
has fine ranch and is able now to
| take life easy. He will spend a few
days in Denver and return with the
delegates after the convention.
The government surveyors to the
number of twelve or fifteen started out
this morning TO commence work below
town. Their work will be running
lines to determine whether or not II
is practicable to run water from the
Animas river over the divide into the
La Plata valley and store same in
large reseroir, to be used in the irri-
CATION of land in that valley. There is
no doubt but that the water can be
run from the Animas valley to the La
Plata. but the question to be deter
mined is, whether 1t can be done at
cost that will not be prohibitive. If
after the work of the surveyors is
done a favorable report is made, then
the government will go on and com
! plete the work, and the landholders
will have to reimburse the government
| for its outlay in a certain number of
years in the same manner proposed
| for landowners under the Gunnison
| tunnel irrigation scheme in the Un-
compahgre valley. 1t is roughly es-
| timated that should the Animas-La
Plata plan go through, the cost will
be $1.500.000.
Interesting news comes from the
lower country. between the La Plata
and San Juan rivers, where the gov
ernment survey is to begin within a
day or two to establish reservoir sites
1t is said that three big outfits are at
work to prove the existance of coal
under recent coal filings. One party
said to be the Rock Island railway.
has about forty men at work. an
other party, said to be tne Colorado
| Fuel and Iron Company has nearly
as many, and third party supposed
to represent the parties making the
railway survey south of Durango, has
| about twenty men. The work consists
of drifting on coal appearing at the
surface and sinking for it where the
coal lies at from twenty to fifty feet
below tha curfnna Tho lnwar cnnptrv
| with the government and coal hunters
at work this fall and winter. promises
to be very active. 1t is likely that
some of the recent coal filings have
been made since the government made
withdrawal of about eighty thous-
and acres of land for the purpose of
establishing reservoirs sites. but as
much of the land will be restored to
the public after the reservoir sites
have been established, it is probable
that the coal people will have pre-
cedent over subsequent filers or those
who may undertake to acquire sucn
coal lands.
There do be queer things going on
on the North Side. The fact that a
burglar is abroad has made people
suspicious. A day or two ago a woman
who lives in the district where the
burglar has been plying his vocation,
discovered a gunny sack filed with
something hidden behind home bush
es in the yard. She was puzzled to
know how 1t came to be there She
at once thought of the burglar and
was sure there was some stolen
booty in the sack. 1t was well hidden
and she only discovered it by accident
She looked and looked. and wonder
ed and wondered, and then she
thought 1t moved. Horrible stories of
Sruesome finds and foul murders
that she had read of in the cities rose
up before her with such vividness
that she ran to the house. She kept
turning the matter over in her mind
and watching the clump of bushes.
until her husband came home. and
then she told him the story and went
together to look at the sack. but 1t
had disappeared. She had seen no
one go in or come ont, and there were
no children in the habit Of playing
about the place. The husband con-
cluded that the burglar had made
raid the night before on some place