Arizona republican., 1905-03-22
A GENERAL RESUME
Concerning River, Railroad and
 Weather Conditions.

It has no doubt been noted by read
 CTS of The Republican that this pa
 per has not yet announced the final
 ending of the wet season. It may not rain any more, but no chances will
 be taken. Mighty little confidence is placed in appearances and 1t will take
 more than three days of sunshine to | demonstrate successfully that the
 trouble is over. There were two days of sunshine preceding last evening but it was cloudy again last night and no conservative man would gamble on
 what may happen before daylight this
 morning.
 Yesterday was the vernal equinox and weather sharps generally antici- pate a storm in celebration of that event. Colonel A. r. Banta, who has been In Arizona ever since the equinox became an established institution, said yesterday that some kind of a storm
 had to follow, though it might be three or four days yet. It was contended that the last storm was intended for
 the ecuinoctial but he says 1t is i'm possible for that particular storm to run ahead of the schedule.
 There is nothing of startling inter- est to announce concerning weather, water. river and railroad conditions yesterday but the situation was slow ly bettering. Salt river fell a little during the day but is still a wild tor rential whirlpool. Late yesterday af- ternOOn there was 4.6 feet of water going over the Arizona canal dam.
 The bridge men of the S. F., P. G P. and P. & E. railroad companies are at Tempe ready to begin the construc- tiOn of a pile structure for the tenn pOrary repair of the P. & E. bridge as soon as the water falls sufficiently The wreck of one of the steel spans that fell the night before is directly in the way. however, and it will be q big task to remove it until the water gets considerably lower. General Man ager w. A. Drake is expected here this morning.
 Though 1t was not announced yes terday as arranged for. it is under stood the interested parties are con- sidering the building of a switch at Tempe, connecting the NJ. & r. and P. & F. tracks so the latter could run its trains into Phoenix over the former road.
 The Gila river has fallen several feet from high water mark and does not now interfere much with the driving of piles in the repair of the NJ. & P. bridge. Superintendent Bicknell said yesterday that this latest injury to the bridge consisted of one gap $50 feet long and two gaps each 12O feet long. One of the short gaps has been closed and pile drivers are working day and night at both ends of the zone Of trou- ble. He said also that unless there l was further interference he would be l able to get train over by Friday l night. Yesterday during the day the l g. 70 rnHn ., and Tempe was interfered with for a short time though the wire from Tempe ! to Gila was working all right The interference between here and Tempe ! gave rise to the unfounded rumor that the NJ. & r. bridge over the Salt was l gone. There was also a false report in ! circulation that nine feet of water was passing over the Arizona canal dam | yesterday morning.
 A Santa Fe train arrived here Mon l day evening and another about five ! o'clock yesterday morning. so there | were two mails for delivery yesterday . morning. It is expected that this | mornings train will reach here approx imately on time.
 Among the passengers that came to 1 Phoenix Monday night on the train . that crossed the r. x F. bridge at | Tempe just before the accident to it 1 was w. R. Norton, city building in spector of Phoenix. He relates an in- l cident that illustrates what an awful 1 force engineers have to contend with 1 when they seek to cope with flood wat CTS. He said that he and Engineer Fuller of Mesa City were standing on the south bank of the river near the butte for some time before the train crossed the bridge. They were not ing conditions and speculating on the security of the bridge, about which ! there had never been a question. They . noted that the river above Tempe had 1 cut away a wide area on the Miller ranch and eaten it's way clear up to the buttes. The current was then di- verted by the butte diagonally across the channel to the north side where it began roofing out the trees and . brush on the adjacent lowlands and i being again turned this time to the left. ran full breast against the pier that later succumbed. They saw the trees uprooted just above gradually accommodating in drift against the pier of the bridge and remarked to each other that while the bridge seemed to stand as firmly as a rock if the exist ing conditions obtained very long something would have to give way. A snort tune aIter MT. Norton boarded the train and crossed the bridge. He did not feel 9 tremor or jar or any thing else suggesting the weakness of the structure, yet his observation of the afternoon made him uneasy and q sort of a chill crept up his spine.
 -O-
 Glendale's one horse grocery store sells first class goods cheap. Cooper and Stauffer
 New York cream cheese just in. Me Kee's Cash Store.