Arizona republican., 1904-01-31
PROGRESS AT THE DAM SITE
Interview With Engineer Hill, Who
 Arrived Here Yesterday.

MT. L. C. Hill, the engineer in charge of operations at the storage basin, ar rived here yesterday morning from Globe. by rail He expects to leave fo, the basin again about Tuesday, travelling overland and inspecting the telephone line now under construction.
 MT. Hill was applied to yesterday for information regarding the status quo of the cement question concerned in the storage enterprise. He said he had absolutely no knowledge of any change in former plans and has heard nothing except what he has seen in the papers All he. can say Is that the work of building the plant at the basin is proceeding rapidly and there never has been any stopping of operations. About 75 men are employed there now. There were a few more who were laid off at his instance for the reason only that he thought they could not be economically employed just at that time. But while the force was thus slightly reduced on that special work, the work itself was not delayed. The foundations of the mill are in and the building is now progressing.
 Asked to give general resume of what mas DEGH dCtGiIBllSuGu III lhe five months since work actively begun and how many men are actually enl- ployed, he gave a very interesting in terview. He says the force now is practically as large as it has ever been, yet not much larger than it has been for some time. There are ap- proximately 29O men employed in the immediate vicinity of the storage basin, exclusive of those who are freighting in supplies, and cutting and saving lumber in the mountains.
 There are about fifteen men at the saw mills, about ten a Ad. Farish's surveying camp, about thirty at the cadastral survey camp of MT. Hawley. south of Mesa, and about forty at work on the telephone line. These, with the freighters between the basin and Globe. bring the total to about 400 men that are now, and have been for a long time. employed on work con nected with the Tonto project in one way or another.
 MT Hill says he has heard nothing respecting the awarding of contracts Cn the Power canal, but it is a fore gene conclusion that as soon as the awards are made there will be several hundred more men put to work almost immediately Asked respecting a story from Mesa City that as soon as the telephone line is completed, which will be perhaps sixty days. construction Of the transmission line would begin for bringing power to the Arizona canal head and thence to Sacaton for pump ing purposes MT. Hill said he thought there must be some mistake about it for there is no power yet to transmit and cannot be till the power canal is finished
 Regarding the little camp at the basin Ar Hill says it is rapidly grow ing into a village Of importance It is named Roosevelt and the telegraph dispatches say that a postmaster has been appointed. which means that al an early day there will be a daily mail service. The camp or village, as it is now entitled to be called is less than mile above the dam site and down in tho basin. T. contains three general stores. 8 barber shop. shoe shop, livery stable. two restaurants, two lodging houses, a meat market. drug store, a government physician and a private physician. There is also town hall. put up by private capital. and in which the whole ncighborhood gathers every Saturday night for dance.
 There is another camp at Living stone the head of the basin. II miles up the stream. and a third camp of men engaged in road making d few miles below the dam site. He says that in a very short time the road from the dam site to Fish Creek can yon will be practically completed Reviewing what had been accom- | plished in the last five months Mir i Hill said over fifty miles of road has been built, the foundations and part of the superstructure of the cement plant have been built, a briclI-yard and lime kiln have been established water works have been constructed piping water distance of three miles, saw mill has been built, surveys have been run for canals and general typographical surveys have been made and the telephone line is well on the way toward completion. Altogether there is little ground for any rumor that work is likely to stop. on the other hand 1t has been going forward just as fast as possible from the very beginning.
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