Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-24

has been surveyed and work already com
menced on the approaches TO a tunnel
nearly a quarter Of a mile long, which
will be lined with concrete and be eight
feet wide and six feet high inside.
To furnish the gravel for all OF the con
crete work on the storage dam and below,
Of which b great deal has already been
used IN sluices bridge abutments, ETC.
OrmRn & Crook have opened gravel pit
on the north side OF the river. FIVE miles
south Of the dam. The gravel is handled
with horses, run through a rock crusher
driven by steam. elevated, screened and
run into bins, from which It is run into
wagons and hauled TO where II is used by
/ thirty-two-horse power Reeves traction en-
gines hauling trains OF four wagons each.
These trains load about forty-two tons
| each. A narrow gauge railrohd is being
built and hereafter gravel will be hauled
TO the dam by trains.
About three months ego OrmRn & Crook
/ cornpleted q three-inch artesian well at
their Owl creek camp, 1.407 feet deen, which
! flows about sixty gallons of water per
| minute with a temperature of "a degrees.
! They have made a contract to have ar
other well put down, which is TO be eight
inches in diameter ut the top and hve AT
the bottom.
Government Experimental Farm.
The northeast quarter Of section "a, town
ship 3 north. range east, has been Sc
lected by the Department OF Agriculture
as an experimental farm; about half Of
this will be irrigated, the balance Will be
above the ditch. 50 that experiments will
be made In both irrigated and dry farming
This viii be OF inestimable value 70 the
residents OF the irrigable area as well as TO
those outside. A part Of this land will be
| broken this year. IT was intended to break
some Of IT last year. but for some reason
II was not done Sites for several towns
have been reserved by the government:
Section %, township north. range east
known as the TOWNSHIP. rs II is the prin-
cipal one the northeast Y OF section
| il township 8 north range east. about
four miles east of the dam; the northeast u
| OF SECTION z township north, range Z
| east northeast Of the village Of Vale,
| and II is quite likely that town will be
built south Of the river. either al Vale
or al some point west OF there. but as
that is all patented land. that cannot be a
government proposition
COST of water RiEhtH.
The cost per acre for the water WIN be
J about SSz payable in ten equal yearly pay
! ments OF about S. % each. without interest.
| This VIII include maintenance for the first
ten wears We b 'lieve that this is little
znore than q fair rental for the water, even
If II had 20 be paid for all time. NO pay
ment win be required until the first crop
has been raised by the use Of the water
| provided the water is turned onto the land
on or before April / When the water
right is paid for II becomes appurtenRnt
| 70, or belongs to, the land, after when
| there VIII be no cost except small amount
for maintenance and administration OF the
project by the Belle Fourche Valley Water
ITHerr' association of which every person
owning land under the ditch is member.
All dams, fumes, gates, etc, viii be built
IN such an absolutely permanent manner
OF steel and concrete that the cost Tor
repairs will be very light
The homestead unit has fixed al 80 acres
OF irriRable land or 40 acres within a radius
of TWO or three miles from the TOWNSHIP
In many cases a homestead unit VIII con-
sist of 100 acres, from 40 TO ~ acres o.
which are irrigabie. This untrTigabie lane
win be valuable for pasture Only watei
for the actually irrtga.ble land viii have q
be maid for. The government will con
struct the bitches TO the edge OF each farm
each person VIII have 10 construct TIT
bitches on mis- own land for his own use
only, which he can easily do himself
Quarter section Limit.
Under the law, no one person can secur'
xater for more than 16O acres. ana fO'
this reason there is considerable patented
land for sale at from SO TO SO per acre
Some lands are held much higher than this
II Il safe 10 say that this land has ALREADY
| Increased two or three times its Orig1na
value since the commencement Of and a
the result OF the project and is constantly
increasing in value and we believe tina
when the water right is paid for the cheap
est land under the ditch VIII be worth $40
and more per acre
There Is, and win continue 70 be. an un
limited amount OF work on the irrigation
| project for men and teams. where home
steAders can secure work at good wage
until the water is turned onto the land
OrmAn g. Crook alone win employ iron
]. 900 to 800 men during the coming year
ss8 to $50 per day Is paid for cOmmo
labor.
About half Of the irTigable area Ia PAT
ented about $500 acres Of school land
part OF the balance Is included In unper
fscted entr1es but there is Yet quite
: large amount OF very desirable land sub
jsct TO homestead under the conditions c
the reclamation set
Extent of the Service.
The north and south side canals vi
each be about IS miles long. There wi
probably be 100 miles Of main lEtterals an
leo miles OF Sub-laterals. Indian, Hors
and WillOK creeks on the north side an
WhitewOOd creek on the south SIDE. 9
I well as the river. VIII be crossed by ~
I phons The Willow creek syphon VIII b
D s.OOe feet long and the whitewOOd cree
D EyphOn VIII be six feet IN diameter.
e There win be 1900 barrels Of oemeT
c used in the diverting dam, $500 barrels
; the Grow creek sluice and $500 barre
e In the storage dam On December 81, $50
!, the government had disbursed S607. so ]
E and the total cost Of the project VIII /
more than S20Oo.0o.
Z OrmAn Crook have ulb.0oO invested 1
5 camp Ourft and machinery. They have q
? ready placed No.so TErds q am IN a