The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-21

had simply opened a hole in alluvtal
soil forming the bank of the river
Floods in the fall of 1904 caused the
mouth of this third opening to wash
considerably. and at each succeeding
flood the conditions became more Sc
rious. The channel to the irrigation
canals kept growing larger until in
June. 1865, almost the entire discharge
of the river flowed into the Salton sink,
where a lake was formed which had
an area of about 400 square miles.
Slowly it began to back I'D and flow
back towards the Imperial valley
Farmers were compelled to leave,
farms were inundated, miles and miles
of railroad track and development went
under water The country became q
wilderness of water.
Heroic efforts were made to stop the
l1OCd. The railroads equipment and IA
cilities were used and considerable pro-
gress made. but the fall floods washed
out part of the work, only to have it
rebuilt.
90 Nov. 4, 1906, the break, which had
been $500 feet wide, was closed, and
on Nov. lis all leakage of water
through the dam had been stopped. 1t
seemed as if the battle had been won,
8 water worked its way under the le-
wees south Of the dam. By noon on the
following day nearly the entire Colo
RADIO river was emptying into the SAL
ton sink. The president of the United
States took hand. He and Mr. Harri-
man exchanged numerous kilograms in
a discussion as to the best course to be
pursued. 1t was a rather delicate task
for the government to undertake be-
cause an international question was in
vOlved. While the damage was being
done in the United States, the break
was in Mexico. The upshot of it was
that the Southern Pacific was pledged
to do the work
The question as to what sum shall
be paid to the railroad will be settled
IN the future" said the president in his
message of January, and with that I'M
Outstanding the work is being done.
The railroad took hold of things at
once. 1t seemed to the engineers as if
the entire river bank was rotten. The
entire bank of the river would have to
be leveed and strengthened. They
built a railroad and called for more en-
gineers and more workmen. They Or
ganized a corps of levee builders, of
men to build drain and muck bitches,
and, above all, they perfected the fly
ing squadron of break ciosers. Most
important were these break closers, as
has been pointed out-high- pressure
fully equipped fighting men, ready for
all emergencies.
They went at the breaks with fever
iSh haste, and there was neither night
nor day for them, just twenty-four-
hour periods. They studied the situa-
ton until they had every trick of the
old river, every whim and every arti-
fee at their fingers end. The bottom
of every break was soft. as Mr.. Harri-
man has said, soft and fine.
How the Work Was Done.
Epes Randolph, in charge of the
work. outlined a system of brush mat
tress work as the base for all his dams,
and into this ne threw his rock fill
First they would run a railroad
trestling across a break, then they
would put down their mattress, after
which trainload after trainload of
heavy stone would come along and
splash into the water.
Upon the big breaks they used two
trestles. just as in that break of Jan
20. The second track would go against
the thrush of water in the form of a
crescent, and this would form first an
outlying bulwark of stone, after which
they would fill in the intervening
space. There isn't much chance for
any river when they begin to fight it
with Notifications like that.
As rapidly as the closure work has
gone on, the other phase of protection
has not been neglected. Every day and
every hour sees the wall of levee all
along the entire course rising higher
and firmer Every day sees confidence
returning more and more TO the farm
ers and artisans of the peaceful val
legs.
Altogether it has been one of the
sturdiest duels ever fought between
American brains. push. energy and cap
ital combined against old Nature. Ma
ture has been in fighting trim this time
and has fought with all the resources
she possesses. She will lose, of course:
as matter of fact she has lost; but
the peace treaty has not been signed,
nor will it be signed until she is bound,
gagged and lying prone.
Garfield Excursion Sunday, SOC.