The daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1906-1907, 1907-04-09
THE BOOM IN NEVADA
II Grows So Fast That Uncle Sam is
Getting Worried

The DEVELOPMENT boom in the lar
west is giving the Reclamation ser
vice a good deal of concern at the
present time.
With every part OF the intermount'
ain country enjoying remarkable
building boom, the government hnds
itself seriosly handicapped by its i'll /,
ability to secure reasonable bids tor
constructing its big irrigation works,
The large contractors are all loaded
up with railroad work which will oc
yUpy their attention for many months
to come, while smaller contractors
have all they can possibly do to take
care of the local demands of cities
and towns.
MANY Of the contractors OF the
government have advertised several
times without securing reasonable
bids. The government is confronted
with the proposition OF doing the
;Sork by force account or postponing
il until there is an Improvement in
conditions. The present time is most
unpropitious for the government to
undertake doing the work itself.
There is an unusually scarcity OF
labor Wages are from 40 to 60 per
cent higher than two years ago, while
efficiency has been decreased rather
than improved by the unlimited de-
mand for laborers. Owing to the re-
mOteness of much of the government
work from cities and towns, labor is
not attracted thereto, and as rule
the government gets only the leavinSs
or the most undesirable class Of
laborers. The steady and skillful
workers are all busy.
Tie costs of all kinds Of material
has increased enormously. Take
cement, for instance, which enters so
largely in the construction of dams
and headworks, and for which the
government is asking for hundreds Of
thousands of barrels, it has been COM
PEELED to accept bids at prices nearly
double those paid two years ago.
Even at present high price only a
few manufacturers are competing
and today the Genet required for
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the
Dakotas is shipped from Chicago.
Lumber has nearly doubled in price
and horses and mules now cost fully
twice what they did three years ago
AS an illustration of the materia
increase in the cost of construction
the following examples are cited: IL
1904 and 1905 the average cost I
earthwOrk excavation was about l;
cents per cubic yard. Oday the pre-
vailing rates for similar work ar
from "a to 80 cents. A large contrac
for grading was let at 13 cents pc
yard, and the contractor executed tn
contract and furnished the require
bond. When he came o secure I'll
necessary machinery, and labor, h
found the work would cost so muc
more than his bid that he threw u
his did and forfeited his bond On r.
advertisement the contract was agai
let at ~ Genus per ydIu, anu ldo vi
tractor is said to be losing money
this price Reinforced concrete
1905 averaged $3.50 per cubic yar
while the responsible bids this yea
are from SIG to $21.
The troubles of the contractor
the matter of shipping materials al
shown by the experience of one CO
tractor, who ordered a shipment
November and loaded it on cars, d
failing man to follow the car ar
expedite early delivery in every VIZ
possible Notwithstanding all thes
precautions more than three mOntl
elapsed before the materials were
ceived at their destination only fe
hundred miles away.
The notable increased cost OF co
structiOn has compelled revision
the original estimates on all of Il
large projects, and if there is not
material improvement in condition
it may be necessary to postpone fl
ther construction work on some
these projects for an indefinite peri
Any further increase may rend
some of the projects SO expensi
that difficulty will arise in gettil
settlers to take the lands.
Lost:-A lady's hunting case wat