Bisbee daily review., 1905-05-21
THE GREATEST DAM.

The most gigantic of the govern
 ment irrigation constructions in progress is the Salt River or ''Roose- welt" dam in Arizona, and considera- ble criticism has been mace of the course of the Secretary of the In terior in setting aside between three and four million dollars for this pro
 ject which will irrigate DO public lands, bat only those already in pri. vaUe, ownership, vastly increasing of course sfeir value The work which the government will do under this project will double and Quadrupls land valAes, and in fact make much land that is now practically useless worth from S30 to $100 an acre Some 100000 acres will be irrigated under these works, and the artificial reser voir to be formed by the Roosevelt dam will be far the largest in the Unibef States, with the incredible ca pacity of the great Wachusett res. ervoiT which is to supply Boston and twice that of the famous Croton dam of New Torl's water works.
 The criticism referred to of build ling government works to supply wa ter to such a section as the Salt Riv' Ter Valley where the lands are all in private ownership, instead of going 'out onto the dessert and retaining public lands is one which will not hold much upon second thought. The Salt River Valley has been a famous section of the arid west. Twenty years ago it was a vast, flat plain, sleirted by mountains reflecting the wondeosul colors and tints of the soTrt Invest. but nourishing only the cactus and other dessert plants. The Salt River cut it's center, a sparkling, life-giving stream, and private cap ital undertook to utilize it's waters for irrigation and build up a great community. Dams were built, ca nals were constructed, and thousands of acres were planted to oranges; lemons, figs, dates, raisins and wine grapes, almonds, pomegranates. and all the fruits and flowers of the semi tropics; not to mention broad fields of emrald alfalfa where fat cattle stood knee deep in the luxuriant growth. But the valley is today crp- pied and sick. The canai system laid out was based upon heavy an- nual rainfalls which prevailed ar mat time, and sufficient data had not been gathered to show that the period was one of the fat years and that the lean years of drouth would surely fol- low They came, however. over the whole southwest, as can be seen by study of the rainfall charts of that region, and the result has been that thousands of acres of orchard and farm have returned to aridity. The Old Man of the Dessert came in and claimed back his own. It is simply question then, in the Salt River Valley. and in some other sections, as to whether it is not as good or bet ter policy for Uncle Sam to save the homes of several thousand pioneers, who are perishing for want of water. as it is to reclaim new lands, and put new settlers upon them.
 From a Brook to a Torrent.
 The flow of the Salt River Valley is vs-iable in the extreme. At low water periods it runs something like 100 cubic feet per second. In one Freat flood the river swept down the valley at the rate of 1000 cubic feet per second. The 18th annual re- port of the Geological Survey de- scribes the flood of 1891 as follows, all of which ran useiessly to the sea for lack of storage.
 "On February IT, the discharge was S35 cubic feet per second, increasing the next day to 154,000 cubic rect. This was followed by second great CT swell. until on the 24th maxi mum of 300 900 cubic feet was reach ed"
 and store such floods. About GO