Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-07-12
ROOSEVELT DOOMED TO
LIE BENEATH THE FLOOD
Arizona Town Named in Honor of President Will be
Buried 200 Feet Under the Surface of Lake

strangely unlike the average new town
of the west. There are no saloons, no
gambling, and the bad man with ready
six shooter and bowie knife is con.
spicuously absent.
1t is government town, and the
rules laid down are simple and eff
fective. Uncle Sam owns the ground
upon which the town is erected, and
the people are there merely by suffer-
ance. No man may occupy town lot
which faces the main street unless ha
is engaged in a legitimate business,
and his continuous possession of the
property depends upon his own con-
duct. The results are in marked con-
trast with those which followed she iS-
cation of new towns on other projects
where the government could not ex-
erc1se any supervisory control. The
laborers are contented. They are de-
posting large part of their earnings
with the disbursing officer Of the Rec
lamation Service, who banks it for
them in Phenix.
Today the butcher, the baker, the
druggist, and general merchandise
dealer are represented. A knight Of
the razor is on hand to lay waste the
abundant hirsute adornments Of the
males. He is an enterprising chap, and
has sequestered hot spring flowing
out Of a canyon near by, and the in
naDlIanlS now ENJOY lHe luxury OI u
hot bath. 1t is an interesting spectacle
to view the population on Sunday
morning each equipped with towel, pa
tientlv waiting the call of next,
| Amusements are not wholly lacking;
baseball and quoits are popular, and in
the evenings the townhall, ablaze with
lights, Is given up to dancing. Males
predominant, so there are no lady wall
| flowers. Notwithstanding this ); dis
parity no personal encounters have re-
suited, the slogan of the camp being
n1ent are rigidly observed. Zach male
is given tag, and numbers / to 20
are accorded the first dance, those
from 20 to 40 the next, and so on.
Just across the river the tepees Of
the swarthy Apaches dot the plain.
| The warriors of old Geronimo. now
Uncle Sans faithful laborers, dwell in
| ly enemy the white man, each doing
| his full share of labor In constructing
| the engineering marvel of the age.
| And yet this city is doomed. Every
stone that is laid in the narrow arch.
which Is to restrain the foaming river
now rushing through the canyon,
brings nearer and nearer the day when
Roosevelt shall vanish beneath an in
land sea. When the great dam is
completed, in 1908, and it's massive
gates Of steel, weighing 100000 pounds,
are shut down, a rising flood will cover
the site of the city with 200 feet Of
water.
The ingenuity of man has been tax
ed in this work. Its isolated position,
the difficult physical conditions, the
| tremendous and unexpected floods,
have tried the metal Of the engineers.
| The en- 1rmous amount Of cement re-
CURED was in itself problem which
forced Uncle Sam to turn manufacturer
4 in order to solve 1t. Nature having
kindly furnished an ideal site for a
dam was thoughtful enough to pro-
i vide materials near at hand for maxi
ing cement. A cement mill was quick
ly erected at cost Of 100000 The
downward rush Of the river was util-
lied for electric power to operate the
mill. and many thousand barrels OF
first-class cement have already been
used in the works.
In acquiring the reservoir site Uncle
Sam bought a ranch or two and has
4 gone to farming. A lot of hay is put
garden sass" are furnished the camps
i of the government.
i So it is easy to see that the engineer
who bosses the job has got to have q
clear brain, broad grasp, and ready
/ adaptability to meet all kinds Of con-
ditons and difficulties.
i But while the city of Roosevelt, with
the homes Of its 1000 inhabitants, is
doomed, fair valley is to be redeem-
u ed. in which the agricultural possibili-
ties are not exceeded anywhere in the
world. Under almost tropical skies,
4 with a soil of wonderful fertility, the
farmer in Salt River Valley will cul-
tivate his orange groves, his fig trees,
his vines, while his broad meadows
) will yield him heavy harvests Of al
falfa six and seven times a year
The great lake which will be created
by the Roosevelt dam is to be tapped
| by canals hundreds of miles long and
extending all over the broad valley
around Phenix. Vast areas now abso-
: lutelys worthless will be transformed
quickly into poisoning orchards and
! purpling vineyards, and hundreds OF
, happy homes will dot a plain where
no wthe giant sahuarro rears its spiny
? head and the gla monster roams at
5 will.
the ADpanOose county district court