Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-11
Commencing Work on the Great La guna Dam.
Enormous hills of sand

perial valley. Enormous hills of sand
block the way.
the Mexican government and obtained
concession to cat the banks of the Colorado
in Lower California. the peninsula which
belongs to Mexico This they did at point
about twenty miles below Yuma, ArZ. and
about eight miles south of the international
line A canal was built through the soft
soil in the old dried-out delta of the river,
and water was taken into the very heart
of the Imperial valley, in southern Cali
fornia What had once been dreary, tor
rid desert turned green in a night. This
valley 800 feet below the sea. scorchlng In
a tropical sun. put forth the gorgeous
blooms of rare plants and luXuriant trees.
Dates were planted. and grew overnight.
The wealth of the Indies was in the hands
of these dreamers who had schemcd to
transplant the fertile land of Cleopatra TO
the sand dunes of the United States.
People f1ocked to the valley where once
only the horned toad and the rattlesnake
could live. Rich orchards and farms We're
laid out. Eight thousand people braVed
the tropical heat. made temperate by the
green products of irrigation. There were
not less than 100000 acres of the most
fertile land in the world in sight, with
potential value of Sl500oO 600 The popuia-
ton of any state in the Union could be
supported there No more fantastic dream
was ever realized.
The Devastating Flood.
canal which tapped the Colorado, was
built sixty feet wide and ten feeA deep.
There came food a few months ago
There were no permanent head works IN
the canal. That canal is now 1,500 feet
wide and eighty feet deep.
The canal having a heavier grade than
the river channel, gradually took an IN
creasng share of the water At this time
the Colorado is pouring its foods and its
ro1 fnu- int q
great body of water sixty miles long and
many miles wide, The Southern Pacific
railroad station at Salton is submerged
and the company has been forced to build
on higher ground Salt works there. which
developed the prehistoric deposits of salt,
left when the Imperial valley was an arm
of the. Gulf of California, have been wash
ed away There is the greatest danger
that unless the break in the river is stop
ped the entire valley, which Is under the
sea. will be submerged, and an enormous
lake created where there should be a Ter
tile valley devoted to agriculture Many
nations have spent millions to recover from
the sea less land than is in danger of be-
ing lost in southern California as result
of this eXtrao ordinary disaster.
The problem of returning the Colorado to
it's channel is now engaging the most care
full attention of President Roosevelt. Shall
an appropriat ton for this purpose be made
by Congress? Engineers OF the reclamation
service say that the task cannot be COM
pleted for less than 100000, and hundreds
of thousands have already been spent.
Appeal to Hartman.
It is here that E. H. Hartman, who car
ries the Southern Pacific system in his vest
pocket comes in. The Southern Pacif1c's in
terest in this case lies not in the loss of it's
property on the Salton lake, but in the fact
that the Southern Pacific owns fifty-one per
cent of the stock of the Imperial Canal
Company, and advanced the funds with
which the project Of irrigating the Imperial
valley was to be accomplished. To make
this great valley habitable for man, the
homes of rich, prosperous people would
have added millions to the wealth of the
Southern Pacific. This is why President
Roosevelt has telegraphed Hartman to stop
the break. Will Hartman do it? There Is
nothing to compel him to. This government
has not the power in all its statutes to do
it, A grave international complication
makes the situation awkward
The Imperial canal lies not in the United
States but in Mexico. Hartman may decide
to spend the $1,000 which will be needed
to repair this break. And he may not. He
can't be coerced VIII Congress do it?
That is for Congress to decide.
In addition, the disaster threatens to wipe
out a million dollar irrigation project of the
government at Yuma, Arizona, where the
largest weir dam in the world is being
built.