Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-04
THANK ROOSEVELT
FOR OWENS RIVER
DELEGATION FINDS PRESIDENT
THEIR BEST FRIEND
Messrs. Mulholland and Mathews Come
Back From East Flushed With
Vlctory-Ensineers Push
ing Plans

William Mulholland superintendent
of the water works, and City Attorney
| W. r. Mathews returned to Los Angeles
yesterday from Washington, d. c.,
where they went to assist in securing
| the passage of the owens river bill
through congress.
THE victory for Los Angeles has
| been a source of great satisfaction to
every one us" said Mr.. Mulholland and
! city Attorney Mathews Yesterday when
seen at the offices of the water COM
| pany.
I'VE met a score of different obsta-
Giles that under other circumstances
would have made it impossible for us
to get the bill through congress when
we did
1T is to President Roosevelt that
Los Angeles owes much of her victory"
said Attorney Mathews. He's a bully
good fellow. He certainly is a prince
We had no trouble in getting a confer
ence with him and the first thing we
decided when we met him was that he
was behind Los Angeles in the greatest
enterprise and engineering feat of the
twentieth century.
A "BulIy" Proposition
"When we came into his office in the
w mite HOUSE Ine IlTSl lnlllS ne Cl0 was
to tell us what bully proposition we
had in Los Angeles.
"I suppose you gfentlemen came to
Washington to have me veto that BILL
said the president laughing at us when
we filed into his office. But I'm not
going to do it, so prepare to get disap-
pointed. Perhaps you will think l
haven't given this matter sufficient at
tention and consideration, but when l
foil that lai 10 mic fhiy1lr-
ing about what an enterprising people
you of the west were, / made UP my
mind that If you came out here to get
that bill vetoed Id Illustrate you a lit
tie
I'VE found the president in his office
attred in a $3.50 suit of tan duck. He
wore no vest, but plain white negligee
shirt, a bow tie, and leather belt to
match his suit. He seemd cool as a
cucumber and transferred us back to
our own seashore.
Every obstacle that presented itself
to us in our mission was done away
with through the efforts of President
Roosevelt. Congressman Smiths fac
tion and himself were there with all
their reserve forces, but they would
have done better on a fishing trip up
Kern river or experimenting in new oil
fields near Bakersfield.
PRESIDENT to the Rescue
"When we came to Washington con-
gress was just about to close it's busi
ness for the session and we had to in
duce them to remain overtime. This
was accomplished through Teddy The
secretary of the interior was not wholly
in favor of the passing of the bill but
he likewise gave in to the suggestions
made by President Roosevelt. At every
turn we met some obstacle and Presi-
dent Roosevelt came to our rescue each
time. He was Teddy on the spot"
THE next thing for us now is the ap-
pointment of the engineers" said Mr..
Mulholland between breaths in the
draughting room of the water COM
pany's office yesterday afternoon. THE
forty or fifty names on the list have
been boiled down to six or eight from
which l hope the joint boards will
make their selections in the near fu
ture, With the exception of j. B. Lip
pncott, no one is a local man and
every one of them is big man as well
as the best.
From present indications it may be
that the engineers will not be ready in
one month, but we will be ready for
them by that time. There are more
than 100000 inches of water in the
Owens river, according to recent re-
ports, and I do not believe that this
immense volume or water Will cause us
any trouble.
Cleaning Up Needed
I'm order to retain our right of way
there has been considerable excavatng
done on the Owens river recently. With
in one month a great deal of necessary
cleaning up will have been accom-
plished and everything will be in shape
for the appointment of the engineers
by the joint bords I do not know when
the meeting Of the joint committee, the
water board and baord of public works
will meet, but it Yill no doubt be held
in the near futurE"
The trip to Washington, D. c.. was
in a sense a record run on the part of
the four men who left Los Angeles to
see that the bill was put through con-
gress. The party left Los Angeles on
Saturday evening on the Santa Fe
limited and arrived in Chicago at 2:10
o'clock the following Tuesday.
A hurried trip was made across the
city to the station of the Pennsylvania
flyer and on Wednesday morning the
party was in Washington, d. c., with
in few squares of the White House,
Discuss Bond Election
After the close of the session and
just previous. to the signing of the bill,
W. ]. Washburn and j. o. Koephi went
to New York city to consult with the
bond attorney firm of Dillon e. Hub
bard regarding a bond election this
coming winter to issue bonds for COM
mencing work on the owens river con-
duit.
The board is reticent in making any
statements, but it is regarded as very
probable that Mr.. Lippincott will be
one of Los Angeles chiet consulting en-
gineers. Mr.. Lippincott, who resigned
his position with the government recla-
nation service, has indicated his will
lingness to accept such an appoint
ment.
Mr.. Lippincotts resignation was due
wholly 10 the fact that much of his
time was taken up in distant fields and
1t became a question of giving up his
home or his work for the government
His resignation was informally ac-
cepted July l. Formal action has not
been taken by the department, said Mr..