Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-09

J
needed Is apparent to common sense
everybody knows that snow melts II
the summer; everybody knows that ou
ury season is the summer season. L
the supPty is from the melting snow o
the Sierra Nevadas, then the snow will
melt in the summer and the water /!
then obtained in certain quantity a.
i opportune time.
Il quote the testimony of one wit
ness, man in whom every one ha:
confidence He testiies that many times
and during many years and at divers
times, and especially in the summer
and fall, he has travelled and campeo
in the valleys and on the mountains
through which and from which this
water will be obtained. He has drunk
of Owens river above the point where
! the aqueduct will intersect it-in
other words, of Upper Owens river
He testifies that 1t is pure, good water
and in abundance as represented. The
man is no less a person than E. H.
Owen, the clerk of your United States
district court.
IF the water is so strongly alkaline
/ as to be unfit for use, then this quality
alone should destroy the project. The
opponents should have rested their case
on this point alone, proved this point
and rested. 1t would have been so
easy to prove. They have not done so
nor can they prove it. The water from
the time 1t enters the aqueduct will not
come into contact with any alkali
whatever, but will be conveyed to Los
Angeles by an aqueduct into which no
alkali can be taken. Therefore, the
only question is, Is the water unfit
when 1t enters the aqueduct?
THE water does not come from Owens
lake. The only objection to this pro-
ject that 1 am able to conceive is the
name thereof What's in a name? Many
things, and especially opposition to an
abundant and good supply of water to
Los Angeles, because those who at
first advocated this project perchance
enormously called it the owens river
project.
1T is true that the water partially
comes from Owens river, and many
persons have confused this with the
lake, which is strongly alkaline, too
strong for any use whatever. AT the
point where the aqueduct intersects the
river and above it is only slightly aka
line, but not so much so as the water
of the Los Angeles river now used.
At all events only a portion of the
water will come from Owens river.
and the other portion will flow direct
from the mountains as melted snow
down creeks and canyons and be in
tercepted and taken up, by the aque-
duct and thence conveyed to this
city. In fact, the melted snoV is col
lected by means of canyons and
streams and branches, the waters of
which are not alkaline and which makes
up Owens river, and is taken direct
into the aqueduct.
No AlkaIi in Water
"The erroneous impression prevails
that Owens river is entirely alkaline. |
This is untrue. The great Salt lake and
the Dead sea, together with Owens
lake, are bodies of water having no
outlet. 1t is a well known fact that |
bodies of water which have no outlet |
and which lie above mineral salts, such |
as alkal, become impregnated with the
salt, because they are stagnant or
standing waters. Running or flowing |
water cannot become impregnated from
the bottom by alkali or other mineral
substance, so as to be unfit. TIE water
from the Sierra Nevadas may be
brought the entire length of Owens
river and through Owens lake and |
thence to Los Angeles, and yet, would |
be as pure as the water you are now |
drinking from the Los Angeles river. |
Flowing waters come in contact with |
the alkali or mineral substances only
at the bottom and sides as they run
IUTOuSH Iut USuSf anu OHly a otIloll
percentage of alkali is taken up.
Owens lake, being without an outlet, |
is standing water, and the strong al |
kali backs from the lake a long dis |
tance into Owens river and to the |
point in Owens river where this water
is backed the water is strongly aka
line and unfit to drink-but this does
not obtain in the river at the point
the aqueduct to Los Angeles will begin.
1T will be impossible for that portion
of the water of Owens river which is
unfit to drink or for the waters of
Owens lake to flow into the aqueduct,
as they are below the level of the
aqueduct, and beyond any doubt there
will be less alkali in the water pro-
posed to be brought than there is in
the water which our people are now
drinking. When this statement that |
there will be less alkali in the water
coming through the aqueduct than
there is in the water of the Los An
geles river is made the explanation is
due that the water now used is water
which has percolated through the
ground. This percolation is such that
every part of the water
comes in contact with some alkaline
atom, and in this way is more liable
to impregnation by alkali than did it
run through Owens lake, bed of al
kali. when only the bottom of the
stream would touch alkali deposits.
Some have ~nid that the water has
arsenic in it. Those people have never
yet advanced the theory that there will
Ne more arsenic contained therein than
will be good for the complexion Of the
fair sex.
"I stated in the beginning that my
were made up from the
opinions of men who know the con-
ditions. One of these is Judge A. w.
Hutton, and when 1 presented this
question to him he very promptly
that if he lived in Los An
geles he would vote in favor of the
project. He has lived in Los Angeles
more than a quarter of g century, but
has recently moved to Santa Monica,
though his property interests still lie
within this citv.
But how about the water supply? |
This election must carry, the bonds
must issue, and the question is an
swered."
Other speakers were Mr.. Mulholland
and J. b. Lippincott. who described |
the proposed aqueduct, as they have
cheering standpoint, as they have |
done many times before and effectively |
since the campaign opened.