The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1906-03-28

AAr
a company that he former. 1t was
then hat w. NJ. Reed came to RIOS
well and first took up the work OF
which he is nov in charge. He made
surveys n plans and changed the
scheme materially. His plans were
practically ON the same lines upon
which the Government is now com
pleting the work. He proposed to dig
canal and increase its capacity by
building bikes across the gaps that
nature left in making the sides of the
bowl. The Hagerman company I'M
der Mr.. Reeds direction began the
work or the inlet and outlet canals
and then came the panic of 1893, and
the supply of money became short,
and the work had to be stopped. The
old canals are yet to be seen, the out
let ditch being quite an extensive
structure, an evidence of enterprise
that did not attain it's object and there
fore meant a large sum wasted. In
that same year the Avalon dam at
Carlsbad, New Mexico, washed away
and Mr.. Hagerman devoted his ener-
gies and means to its reconstruction.
concerned, that ended the work of Mr..
Hagerman, except for the little IAN
nual proof work that was done to
hold the rights in keeping with the
government laws, and to keep alive
the company that fathered it.
About the year 1896 the last of this
annual proof work was done. No
judgment was ever rendered taking
from the Hagerman company its
rights to the land and property, but
when the Government itself finally
took up the proposition, Mr.. Hager-
man and his associates gave up their
former rights without a dissenting
word. In 1904 the Government made
a legal purchase of the property from
Mr.. Hagerman's company.
In the fall of 1902 an Irrigation Con
gress was held at Colorado Springs.
This meeting followed the passing of
the Irrigation Act, OF June II, 1902.
When the Government showed it's dis
position to help the West in its efforts
to reclaim the desert, the men of the
West at once decided to do their part
ia getting the proper methods before |
the Government. Roswelrs citizens |
were as enterprising as the rest and |
a committee, composed of w. M. |
Reed, Fl. r. Morrow, G. A. Richard
son, l.. K. McGaffey and Jason w.
James, there to wait upon the conven-
ton, and particularly to wait upon
Frederick H. Newell, of Washington. |
Chief Engineer of the United States /
Service. So well did this /
committee do its work that Mr.. New
ell promised to come and look over
the Hondo proposition n he surpris-
them by coming n week after
their return from the convention.
With w. NJ. Reed, the Chief Engi-I
neer went over the ground, and PROM
would take charge of the work, and
stay with it until completed. This re-
quest was made or account of a short
age of men who could take such a
responsibility. Mr.. Reed made the
promise, and the preliminary surveys
were made in January of 1903 by w.
Wilson, who was under Mr.. Reeds
direction, of course. With these sur
veys, the Board of Consulting Engi-
neers, of h U. S. Reclamation Ser
vice, gave the project the stamp of
heir approval by recommending that
made to Secretary of the Interior
Hitchcock and in June of 1904 the
Secretary of the Interior approved
he work. The consulting engineers
IN the Board then were A. P. Davis,
J. Y. Wisner, w. H. Sanders and H.
Y. Savage. On December 5, 1904, the
for blasting and removal of
stone was let to the Slinkard Con-
Company, of Roswell. and
he contract for the removal and fill
of earth work was let to the Tay-i
or-Moore Construction Company, of
1illsboro, Texas. That same month
he companies began to move their
machinery to the site and Slinkard's
men were throwing rock and dirt by
New Year Day. The Taylor-MooreI
,eople began actual work in January. {
!
The inlet canal takes its water
rom the Hondo at a point about thir-
cen miles from Roswell. Thus it is
bout a mile JOY the reservoir, from
,ast to west. and about 25 feet above
t in actual altitude. This fall in the !
liver gives the canal sufficient alti- ]