Bisbee daily review., 1908-04-26


 proving successful. Residents of the valley and representatives os the na- ticnal reclamation service are work ing in harmony. with comniv.. l.us- pose in view. and have already ac- complished considerable part of the work that is to be done. When this work is finished 21o,000 acres will have been added permanently to the areas that are under high degree of cultivation.
 The valley lies in Marciopa anu Gila counties, Arizona, on the oail River. which. in turn. flows into the Colorado. The soil Is sandy loam with clay in some places, upon which semi-tropical fruits, alfalfa and ce- reals grow abundantly when water is supplied. As the annual rainfall is only from three to ten inches, nU-~- ever, the natural supply cannot pv depended upon, hence irrigation has been resorted to.
 Efforts at systematic irrigation in this locality began as far back as 1868, when few farmers dug a com. nunity ditch, having secured legal rights to the water supply. 1uese men were so successful that mum Der of others built another ditcn. T ue problem of division of the water sup. ply did not cause any trouble at this time, but when the ditches had been parallleled several times and nao been extended mile after mile ana widened with each extension it was found that there was not enough wa ter to go around when the river was low Efforts to store up a supply in the river did not accomplish much, or the dams were makeshift affairs that were quickly washed out when the river rose. During this period Ln~fe was considerable litigation as Q re suit oF the multiplication of headings to supply canals.
 In spite of the fact that the valley was fertile. the endless bickerings and lawsuits between, the farmers prevented, the proper development of the resources. Then, in order to bring order out of chaos in this val. ley, a clause was inserted in the c clamation laws to the effect that titled land, as well as that owned by the government, could obtain the ben efits of the measure.
 This enabled the government to step in and construct proper irriga' ton works. As the public money ex- pended on the work had to be re- turned to the treasury, the owners of two-thirds of the lands in the val ley formed the Salt River Water Users Association and mortgaged their lands in order that the govern ment could have proper security.
 The Secretary of the Interior has the power of final veto or approval Of the plans of this association The cost is expected to be about S1-oO Q year for every acre. These payments are to go on for ten years, and when the full amount has been returned the settlers will own the big dam, as well as all other features of the irrigation works. The adjustment of water rights is now under way and pay lments for what has been done by the government officials will ke Uesui within two years.
 Day and night work is being rushed on the great Roosevelt dam on Salt River, and when this feature of the enterprise is finished the largest arti ! ficial body of water in the worIu wll 1 have been impounded. The artificial l lake will be twenty-five miles lonG and a mile and a half wide and will ] be 90 per ceat larger than the res ervoir behind the Assouan dam 1T Egypt, where the farmers have had tC wait ever since the days of the Phar aohs for proper irrigation works. The Roosevelt dam is located In ( great canyon where the work wa! prosecuted in the face of unusual dit ficulties. The workers are practical | Iy isolated from the outside world i and have been compelled to prepar practically all of their own maueI lll They have established Q cement mi; on the spot and it is operated D, power generated by the water whicl is led through tunnels in the soli rock. The engineers have cut thei own lumber and burned the dime needed for the work The dam i being made from granite cut TroI the cliffs on every hand
 This dam, which is sometimes Cal
 ed the "Tonto," will be one of tn highest in the world, although II WI be equal in this respect to the one i
 the Shoshone Canyon The masonr
 structure will be 2S4 feet high, 23 feet long at the bottom and 1,0S0 fee
 in length at the top. It is-so larg
 and bread that the stage road whic
 winds through the picturesque cal
 yon will cross the stream on the cres
 of the great dam. The total cost C
 the large and the smaller dams, g
 well as the canals, is to be covere
 by s3,000. 900 which has been seI aslu by the Secretary of the Interior.
 The progreSs-of the work in tn
 canyon has not been as smooth a
 might be desired, for this r1ver, nK
 all offers in the Southwest, is an uI
 ruiy stream. At times and usuaH
 when the water is most needed
 runs practically dry. Then 1t is eas
 tu rush the work, but, a little late
 there is likely to be an irresistibl
 Hood, and the results of a month
 labor will be swept away in fe'
 hours. This happened several time
 but the contractors have per sv-1r=
 and have finally conquered the ma
 waters.
 At present sLe scu;., two-tirds ( the dam is about forty five feet aboy
 datum. The north third has been le
 lower in order to provide a spillwa for floods and also to give an oppo tunity for diverting the river while il gates are being set. The strength the dam which is to oppose the l.>o{ of this cratic river is enormous, 7t it is built of solid granite. There al ,, some who suppose that there are tv walls, Or shells, of heavy rock ar that the space between is filled i but this Is an error, for the structul Ids as heavily constructed on the int , rior as 1t Is on the outside.
 Tn addition to the big dam, whiC has attracted SO much attention, thel , are long roads which have been c for a considerable length. X consi