Cañon City record., 1906-06-14

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1 by the perpetual SHOWS of the east
slope for some forty miles north and
south, and having a drainage basin of
$500 square miles, according to gov
ernment survey. During the spring
months there are from 200 to 800 cubic
feet of water per second of time pass
ign from this basin, which makes 1t
possible for an adequate supply from
that source by its being reservoired,
and this factor must be taken into con-
sideration There is not a mining
claim or mill which is emptying its
polluted water into this channel, and
the chance for organic matter or Nth
is not one per cent. of that of the Ar
kansas river. This canon is also a
worn chasm, and several places the
| gap is so narrow as If nature had thus
prepared 1t that man might bottle up
this sparkling water and appropriate
it to his use.
OF course, it must be understood
that in securing water from this
source that the interests of South
Canon and the DeWeese-Dye Ditch
and Reservoir Company, and other
prior water rights could not be inter-
fered with. Now l am sorry to say
that there are some few people in
Canon City who have not favored the
city getting water from Grape Creek
purely from a selfish standpoint. They
can only see a north side proposition.
but in an article which | wrote some
two years ago on this subject. and
as l have also mentioned in this, that
| am unbiased, unprejudiced and I'M
selfish in taking this stand for the
Grape Greek source. Let us all bury
the hatchet and work together on this
water proposition, which means so
much. not only to us but to our chill
dren's children.
/ make this stand for Grape Creek
because / know what l am talking
about. | have studied the water prob
lem here for twenty-five years, and 1t
has entirely absorbed me for the past
I fifteen, and during this time | have
ridden over almost every square rod
of this country for radius OF sixty
miles in these mountains.
When | began my surveys and con-
struction on the DeWeese Ditch and
Reservoir system to reclaim the great
er part of Lincoln Park ninety-five per
cent. of the people in this town ridi-
culed the idea, winked at 1t, and said
| 1t was a physical impossibility, and
were sorry to see me waste my ener-
gies in early life on hopeless pro-
J ject, and every week now some OF
them say to me, We'll, Dali, | did
not believe you could do it, but you
have showed me-
| | pledged the people who had faith
in me that If could live to get the
plans out of my head on the ground,
, that Just that sure 1t would be a sue
cess. l saw that fifteen years ago, and
not until two years ago was 1t pos
sible for me to finish this enterprise as
planned, and think that drive
through Lincoln Park last year and
this season has demonstrated, even to
those from Missouri, that | knew what
/ was talking about, and have proven
it. Some of you also know how many
obstacles had to overcome.
BY my present plan for getting an
adequate supply of pure mountain
water from Grape Creek l can see its
ultimate success as clearly and surely
as / saw the successful termination
of my Park enterprise fifteen years
ago, if my plan should be adopted and
carried out.
We have now a worthy, intelligent
and competent city council, and can
take them as body. or a committee
whom they may appoint, and show
them over my plan and | am confident
that after every other source is care
fully examined they will one and all
coincide with my views.
You say. We'll, what is this going
to COST" 1t will. no doubt. run up to
s225.OO0 or s250.000. Be that as 1t
may, the interest on bonds to that
amount will not be more than what is
now annually spent on the running
and maintenance of the pumping plant
and experiments connected herewith,
and when my plan would be finished
you would have a gravity system. 200
feet above the town, and an adequate
supply of clear, pure mountain water
for population of 10000 people.
The town can stand this, as it is
not as great as other towns of like
size have gone in debt Make the
bonds for thirty years. so that the next
generation will have them to pay, and
they will be glad to do 1t If they have
the pure water. But they will curse
us if we fail to do this when 1t is now
possible, as it then might be almost
impossible at four times the cost.
I My trip abroad was made half for
the study of domestic use of water
and irrigation q am not in pursuit
of big game all the time during my
oh from Canon uu1agS ypu call
this big game) What |. saw in Japan.
Corea, China and India in regard to
filthy water ! assure you was an eye