Imperial Valley press., 1908-02-29

that the appeal OI J1e Sdll NOihS VchoC had operated to suspend his order of injunction and that the injunction was imperative against the irrigation com pany was received on Sunday and electric lights were restored to El Centro on Sunday night by using for the power plant part of the water sent down District No. 5s canal.
 The other towns were cut off by broken lines, but received light and power on Monday. The headgate at the river was reopened on Sunday to let in sufficient water for. the needs of the valley and a, considerable flow reached Sharp's heading, the actual control point of the irrigation system, on Monday night.
 When the headgate was reopened to let in the normal flow on Sunday, there was only a foot of water over the bar at the intake from the river. Silt had been deposited rapidly dur ing the shut, down and another week of closing would have blocked the in take completely and cut off the water supply of the entire Imperial Valley.
 The whole region would have gone absolutely dry under another week of injunction and it would have been necessary either for the railroad to haul drinking water into the valley or for the entire population to hike out as soon as the tanks were empty.
 The Nick of Time.
 The injunction was called off in the nick of time An increase of flow is now cutting out the silt at the intake and the canals can be secured suffi- ciently to insure irrigation of farms. The experiment of reducing flow in the canals to the minimum demands for irrigation and attempting to handle the system like a garden hose, with the faucet seventy miles from the nozzle, has demonstrated that con stant excess flow is necessary to keep the intake and the canals open.
 
 The steam laundry, which had just opened on the day when the power was shut off, is now ready for opera ton and will be in full commission next Monday. In few days more the hotels would have been obliged to renew contracts with laundries out side the county and the plucky woman who has established the El Centro steam laundry would have had an idle plant on her hands.
 Property Preserved.
 The slight inconvenience that would have been caused by sitting up of the intake would have included loss of all live stock that could not have been driven to the river, to the delta south of the Mexican boundary or to other remote water. Ten thousand acres of cantaloupe planting would have been destroyed, and incalculable loss of crops, vines ana trees would have occurred before the intake could have been dredged. The Southern Pa ciflc's big dredging machine is in the canal inside of the cement gate and could not have been taken into the river inside of sixty days, if at all. The machine was stranded last week, and few days of drying out would have opened the seams of the hull, to say nothing of the danger of break ing it's back" That would have cost the s. P. a trifle of $8O,OOO.
 District No. 8. which has had no water since the flood cut New River channel, expected water in the canals last night. It comes too late for grain, but saves alfalfa and cantaloupe plant ings.
 Case Continued.
 Contempt proceedings against J. Stanley Brown, president, and F. G. Havens. secretary, of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce. will be heard before Judge Wellbon in the United States Circuit Court, March IT. The case was set for last Thursday, but continuance was obtained on the ground that the two officials of the El Centro organization desired to take part in