Arizona republican., 1906-03-08


 rivs.r. to the olG t,eadgatp or lower end cf the eAteuF.e1;eis the difficult part of the whole project. However, the lower end of the section is now practically down to grade, all of it is down from four to six feet and nearly all the rest of it is rock work or cement and con glomerate which requires blasting. This section is fully half completed Furthermore, the entire force of men and teams is concentrated on this sec tiOn at the present time. and during the three hours visit there was very noticeable change in the appearance of things. II is along this 1900 foot sec ton that it is necessary not only 10 eXcavate the canal but strengthen the bank on Che river side, for it is against this bank that the current of the river since the last big floods has been beating. While it was a reasonably solid bank before. the management de- sires to run no risk of the river eating into the canal as was done four miles below in various places. The canal line is therefore run a little more than the width of its channel back from the 1 river and practically all of the rock and dirt that is eXcavated is dumped i over on the river side, the large rock 1 boulders weighing from a pound to l two or three tons being first precipi- ! tated down to the waters edge and the 1 dirt and smaller rocks thrown on top. | This forms a dyke that should be ab- l sOlute assurance against any serious | washing by the river. A large derrick i is employed to hoist the heavy rock l from the canal tc stone boats when ce 1 it is dragged to the desirable dump l ing place. Alternating with the stone i boats are numerous scraper teams, | which remove the dirt and small rock l as fast as taken from the ditch.
 At this point it is very proper to i make a we'll deserved acknowledgment l to the rock men employed and who number several score. Going wages for that class of vorkmen, it is under stood. are from three to four dollars i per day but these men, desiring to l help the farmers of the valley as much as possible are most of them giving 1 their services at $1.50 per day. It's not "scabbing" bus just plain. honest 1 cooperation helping to pull the un- fortunate farmers out of hole. And it's an object lesson for. some of the 1 farmers who refuse to help them ! selves.
 A point in the management of the ! work that should not be overlookedt | 1 is that at the lower end Of the eXten- | sion. right in front Of the headgale, ] where the new canal will unite with 1 the old, the border of the riverside will l be left open for a hundred feet for the present and will be the last thing finished. This is done so that in the i event of any considerable rise of flood ] water during the next two or three weeks. say three or four feet, the flood waters may be turned into the ! nd a pf ms = was planned when the initial work of canal cleaning was done When the 'canal is Finished this gap will be clos ed.
 A criticism has been offered that an added force of teams and scrapers should at once be put to work on the upper end where no rock interferes and finish that up promptly This will be done very soon but the hour nas not quite arrived for the req son that it it were done this week and a big freshet came next week. it would simply fill up or creep away the new work at the upper end for there would be no outlet below. But when the time comes. and efforts are cOncen trated there it will be a short horse quickly carried.
 Still another point to be mentioned is that about 140O feet from below the new head the canal level is but li-tle , l higher than the river level which has a lively fall at that point and be tween the canal and the river there is reef of granite with some openings through it, forming almost nat ural waste gate.
 The sum total of the work to date is that the canal is at least half finished the work all planned and in execution by as large a force as can just now b. economically employed with the short half of the canai and the brush dan yet to make.
 Too much praise cannot be giver C. M. Etter, the general manager who takes more pride in his work than the president does in the Panama enter prise and who is as busy as a nest O hornets in the daytime and spending his nights in dreaming how to pusI things a little harder each following day. In Dan McDermott. who is di- recting the camp organization ant working force and Foreman Myers. ht has two lieutenants who could not bt more satisfactory if made to order The following is about the average ot the daily cost of maintaining the camp as made on estimates for the past few days: 15O men. including eighteen In-
 dians, who are working with
 out wages for water priv
 ileges for ther crops, all at
 an average of $1.33 per day. $199.5t Board per man at so cents per
 day. ....... 9O.OC 35 teams at $1 per day ....... 35.0C Feed for teams at 80 cents per
 day .. .............. 2S.OC . 1Oldl 900 /. 0t
 c. $. SCOTT.
 HAREAS CORpus