The Pensacola journal., 1907-05-04

When President Roosevelt demanded
that the Southern Pacific Company
take steps to have the Imperial Valley
of California by stopping the break in
the Colorado river the prospect was
gloomy For years d duel had waged
between Nature and Science, and, so
far, Nature had won.
To-day it is different. The break
has been closed, close within a period
which has astOnished the engineering
world. The feat was thus described
by Mr. Hartman:
THE time actually consumed IN
making the close, dating from the
dumping of the first rock, was fifteen
days and two hours, during which
interval II 900 cubic yards Of material,
95 per cent. of which was rock. the
balance garyel and clay, were handled
The difficulties which confronted
the engineers will be better appreciaJ-
ed when it is recalled that the Colo
rado river, with a flow OF 22,0oO
seconds feet, was rushing mad:y
through a break l 100 feet long in soft
earth banks. In mid-channel the depth
of the water was thirty-fOur feet"
But not only has the break been
closed; the Southern Pacific engineers
are determined that such break shall
not occur again. Additional material
is being added to-day at the rate of
: 600 cubic feet each twenty-fOur
hours. When completed the dam will
contain 1000 cubic yards of material
so. 900 yards of which will be rock and
the balance gravel and clay.
What Was Done in Two Weeks.
The maximum amount Of water con-
tended with during the construction Of
the dam approXimated 10000 seconds
feet In Il period of little more than
two weeks a structure of rock, gravel
and clay was built across the channel.
The top of the dam is now four feet
above the level of the water. It's YER
rical distance from the top of the base
is sixty feet. The dam will be raised
fve or six feet higher, i'll order to be
safely above highest known water. and
will be worth seven times more at
least. There were nests OF little
farmhouses to be saved, tiny hamlets
or settlements. small villages and
larger towns clean up from the MeXi-
can border nd the Imperial Valley
above the town of Yuma and the
Government works at Laguna dam
There were hundreds of miles of rail
road to be saved, main line and
branch line, with their bridges, tres
ties, sidings and stations: there are
salt works and other industries
surely a prize in itself worth the
fighting for.
The SaIton Sink
1t was not so many years ago that
the SaltOn District with the Imperial
Valley so called was regarded as very
much as Dead Sea fruit. The country
was in fact dried and dead sea. The
SaIton Sink was described by scien-
lists as crystalline chloride of
sodium" which is mostly salt, and the
Imperial Valley was the undisputed
home of the horned toad and the
diamOndback Tattlesnake.
Some curious persons, geOlOgistS or
others. investigating all this dry-as-
dust land saw that the valleys were
really deposits of silt, left there ages
before when there was q river flowing
through. capable of the richest of haT-
vests if only water could be obtained
for it. Rain was out of the question,
and they suddenly realized that right
at hand was the supply, all they want
ell and more.
Nature had kindly arranged the New
River, branch of the Colorado river, so
that it could he made to transform the
entire district without any trouble
It is to be padded on the upstream side
with clay until it shall be come entire
ly imperviOus.
\ great railroad corporation, with
abundant rolling stock. alone could
have achieved this feat. The entire
equipment of the Southern Pacific was
at the command of the engineers, dur
ing the period of the work. At times
even the locomotives on passenger
trains in transit were diverted TO haul
rock to the scene of the accident, and
quarries hundreds of miles distant
contributed to close the break
Temporarily, at least. the Colorado
has been conquered. but. like tn Mis-
sissippi in its delta region, IL will
bear watching always. The Colorado
is one of the shifriest. slyeSt, and
most treacherous rivers that ever
ran
The original scheme TO reclaim the
Imperial Valley represented a design
TpOn one of the richest sections of
soil on the world-a region with
which the valley of the Nile can
alone be compared. No wonder then
that in the effort to protect this reg
ion for future generations, the Presi- |
dent Of the United States has thought