Arizona republican., 1905-12-03

the younger engineers especially that
 a newspaper man was either present | or was informed by some one who was, | the matter was published, then dis seniinated by the Associated Press and featured more or less. There was no | stopping it, and what was intended for a bit of professional gossip became a | widely circulated story that brought down upon him the maledictions of | many who seemed to fancy he had a | desire to injure them when in reality there is no one who would do more if he had the power, to better the condi- tions.
 The Salton basin and nperial coun- try, says MT. Wisner, was originally beyond a doubt part of the gulf of Cal
 ifornia. The Colorado river began the formation of a delta or sand beds along its west bank and these were gradually added to until the Imperial country was formed. the Salton sea being the part of the old gulf that was cut off. As this new land on the west was formed the river gradually bore to the left, cutting the channel to the gulf now recognized as its nat-
 ural bed. The Salton sink being cut
 off from any great supply of water gradually evaporated, leaving in it's
 bottom a vast amount of salt which
 deposit was added to by the washing
 of the salt left on its sides, down into
 the basin, by the action of rains and
 torrential streams. The matter of
 elevations is the next thing to con-
 sider. The water service of the Salton
 sea, that is the water level, at the
 present time is about 260 feet below
 sea level. Imperial. the canal,
 which is now carrying almost the en-
 tire Colorado river, is about sixty feet
 below sea level, and the canal head is
 100 feet above sea level. Imperial.
 therefore is 160 feet lower than the intake, though yet 200 feet above the
 water service of the Salton sea. It Is estimated that it might take the river ten or twelve years, perhaps longer,
 depending on the annual precipitation in the southwest. to ultimately fill the sink to a point approaching sea level, but fill it is bound to do unless pre- vented by the enterprise of human agency. The certain ty of this result can be understood by the fact that the fall from the intake towards Imperial, is so much greater than the fall from the intake south to the gulf through the hitherto established bed of the riv- CT. So great is this difference that the service level in the canal just below the intake is five feet lower than the old bed of the river at a point just below the intake. and which latter channel was dry when MT. Wisner vis- ited the place in August. It should be stated here that just below the make is an island in the old bed and the channel above referred to is the one between the island and the California side. At that time there was only very few inches of water running through the channel on the eastern side of the island, a flow one could easily roll up his pants and wade across. Since then, newspaper reports have stated that this channel was al- most as dry as the other, at least un- til the recent flood.
 The reader can imagine the start a body of water like the Colorado would have when thrown almost abruptly into a channel five feet lower than it's bed. leading to a much lower country beyond and with a huge canal already dug as the beginning of a new channel. iSatur ally the intake was ground out and