Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-01-02
THE LOCAL OUTLOOK

Fort Lewis. and is 32 miles long. Th,
line to Bayfield, is 26 miles long ant
farmers all along between here ant
there have availed themselves OF thi,
great modern convenience. Durango
office has been made district Office
for Aztec and Pennington. Bayfield,
and Mancos and this has added great
ly to the work of the office and made
an increase in the force necessary
Fifty telephones were put in at Bay
field, 45 at Mancos and the number In
Durango was increased so. which is
considered a very fiattering showing
and is better than is reported from
any of the other districts on the west.
ern slope
Sidewalks.
One feature of improvement worthy
OF mention In connection with Duran.
30 is the sidewalks and crossings. A
force OF men have been kept constant
ly at work all season tearing up old
sidewalks and replacing them with
new ones. as well as building new
walks on many Of the less used and
isolated streets And besides that.
stone crossings have been made
throughout the business district. These
walks will last for years While the
expense at the outset was high. in
the long run the walks will be cheap
er than the city has ever vet had.
Government irrigation.
| For some months past government
surveyors have been engaged in maxi
| n haf ar In. h..
Of diverting water from the Animas
| river to the La Plata valley. where II
can be stored in capacious reservoirs.
so that something like 100000 acres
| more of the fertile lands of that val.
ley can be brought under irrigation.
There Is sufficient water in the Ami.
| mas for this purpose, the land is there
waiting to be reclaimed. the govern
ment has the money to put the
scheme through, and all that remains
is to determine the most practical
route and estimate the cost Of con.
struction. so that ii can be known
how much the farmers will have to
eventually pay back to the govern.
ment for their perpetual water rights
The government will advance the
money to do the work with and the
settlers will be allowed to pay for
their water on easy installments, the
same as the farmers In MonrrDse
county under the Gunnison canal will
do. This one scheme alone will add
hundreds OF thousands OF dol
lars Of values to this sec
tion. will make great Increase
in population and swell the output of
fruit and farm produce and all kind
red industries
Orc Elmo Road.
Ever since the early days the need
OF short road of easy grade has
been felt by miners and prospectors
located in the Orc Fino section. The
great Neglected mine was compelled
to close down on account OF the high
rates of transportation because of the
lack OF such a road. At last we have
the road started. Men are working on
1t now and it will be finished early
next spring, nothing now being in the
way except the winter weather, the
money for the road all beigg availa.
BILE. This road will cheaper transpor-
tation Of supplies to Orc Fino and
ores from the mines down. to such an
extent that 1t Is expected several
properties In that district will be able
to ship regularly and at profit. thus
giving the district a new lease Of life
Mining.
While the number Of producing
mines in the La Plata mountains have
not quite fulfilled expectations for
1904. the year has brought forth one
very important demonstration and
that is that the ores in the La Plata
go down. The mines of this section
are not mere surface deposits, and
this has been demonstrated particu.
larly by the May Day. DEVELOPMENTS
on this mine have been anxiously
watched by every claim owner or any
one interested in these hills. for no
one ever had the nerve and the money
together before to attain any depth
to see whether the ore went down or
not. Many men before this mine was
heard OF, had the nerve to sink, hut
lacked the money, and those who had
the money lacked the nerve. The NAV
Day company sank nearly hundred
~ ~" eht 'tih anu lleH went to
stopping, taking out pay ore with every
shot. They went down the hill and ran
tunnel in distance of 700 feet and
cut the vein about 500 feet below the
surface. They found the vein as large
and as rich as 1t had been above. IT
is stated on what is believed to he
| good authority that the shipments
amount to from $4,000 to 500. 600
month. A four-drill compress.
sor has been installed, building erect.
ed, an ore washer was recently added
as well as an electric plant, which
viii light the mine and buildings and
furnish power to run the ore washer.
A tramway is now under construction
TO connect the tunnel with the wagon
road below It is said that ere long
another tunnel will be started lower
down the hill to cut the vein at the
depth OF a thousand feet.
Considerable development work
and improvements OF various kinds
has been done of the Chief, a yalua.
BILE property adjoining the May Day.
and 1t is believed the Chief will be
known next year as one OF the large