Arizona republican., 1908-03-15
CtMEkTfD DIlCHFS SAVING AND B BAUTIFYIN6
The Improvements Which Are Being Made on the Hahn and Murphy Ranches.

Ranches.
 For several years. there has been talk of cementing the irrigating ditches with the idea of saving water and when the government took hold of the irrl- gation of the valley it was thought that the lining of the ditches would begin soon after the completion of the dam. As a matter of fact it has all ready begun and when the advantage of it is understood fully no doubt the lining will extend over many miles of ditches. NJ L. VieuX has just com pleted the cementing of more than a quarter of q mile of an irrigating ditch along the lands of George H. Hahn and w. J. Murphy six miles north of the city.
 It was no task for MT. Vieux who has been engaged in business here as a cement contractor for the last ten years. Before coming to Phoenix, while he was located at Los Angeles and Azusa, California, he was employ ed in the business of cemenung ditches and making cement pipes.
 The work here was started by MT Hahn who at first thought that the government might be induced to take the work up but it was found that the government could not proceed to that under the irrigation law. Its rep resentatives here however did the next best thing and lent all the assistance in their power. It was arranged that the cement should be furnished at the price paid by the government. The ditch was leveled by the engineers of the reclamation service and the work was carried on by MT. VieuX according to the specifications they gave him. He furnished all the material except the cement; he also built up the sides of the ditches to be cemented and for all this he made a charge of so much a lineal foot.
 The work under his contract with Messrs. Hahn and Murphy has occu- pied six men for three weeks. The advantage of it becomes more apparent in it's completion and so becomes its best advertisement The saving of the water is only one of the advantages. That, though is a big item and orig inally the only one aimed at. But in addition it is a profitable investment for it has been ascertained that the annual cost of cleaning the ordinary ditches is equal to the interest at fifteen per cent on an investment nee essary to line the ditches with cement
 The sightliness of the new diCches which were examined yesterday by a reporter for The Republican is another thing worthy of consideration. They run in a pleasing straight line; there are no broken borders and there never
 ig ufo lNNr gophers.
 Before the cement is applied the ditches are lined up carefully being put into the shape of a trough, sixteen inches wide at the bottom and three and a half feet at the top. The sides are two feet. The cement is put on tD a thickness of an inch and a half or two inches. IL is indestrucuDle. There are trowel marks here and there that have the appearance of being cracks and may be mistaken for them. There may be of course a crack here and there for cement is subject to expan- sion and contraction but the cracks are filled by the silt carried in the first flow of water and so rendered impervious.
 There are cross grooves in the ditches where closely fitting cheeks are put in. These checks are two Hands" apart and between the checks are two cement pipe openings, one for each land. These openings are oper- ated by means of plugs. For long lands" the opening is square and much larger. In places where ditches are taken out or to be taken out there is a cement bay through which the water is discharged and which may be extended. In the saving of the water there are two things to be considered. One is the prevention of seepage and the other is to secure a swifter flow in order that head" may perform greater service The cemented ditch secures the highest efficiency in this respect.
 MT. VieuX believes that in a short time there will be a great demand for the lining of ditches and he is prepar- ing for extensive engagements in this sort of work. Though, as has been said, the farmer who has his ditches thus treated makes more money in saving the expense cf cleaning than in any other investment he could make, Mir. VieuX believes that the cost of the work may be reduced by about fifty per cent. He is the owner of a hy- draulic lime quarry north of the city and he says that by using that lime for a base for cement more than half the latter can be saved and cement is the big item of expense in this treat ment of the ditches.
 As to the cost of the work, that depends largely and in fact, entirely upon conditions, one of which is the condition of the ditch and the trouble and expense of preparing it for the cement lining. For information re- garding the cost MT. Vieux may be communicated with through telephone number 249 or P. O. box, 192.
 WOODMEN'S CIRCLE DANCE. - .I,I.n 1Iynnd dr,nar,,e Circln has nnnn,tncad