Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1909-09-21

make reconnaissance. Straight
down $500 fee over the jagged rock
walls to where the river raced be-
tween the perpendicular cliffs they
Were lowered. carrying only a rubber
mattress, a few instruments and a
scant food supply. The story of the
twelve days those men spent down in
that inferno, whirling through ripads,
clinging to slippery rocks and max
ing notes, shivering. drenched and
hungry, found no place in the report
which went back to Washington, and
when at the end of the twelfth day
they emerged from the mouth OF
DEVILS Slide, exhausted and nearly
naked. but with their surveying notes
safely encased in water tight oilskin
sacks. the first thing they did was to
wire to the chief engineer: The Gun
nison tunnel is feasible
Almost the next order from WASH
ington contained the order to proceed
to dig. This was early in 1905, and
they dug to such purpose that on
July 6. 1909, the last round of shots
was fired and the men who had been
burrowing under the mountain of
rock from either end shook hands
through the opening. But between
those two dates all sorts of discour-
aging delays were occasioned by I'M
foreseen obstacles. Poisonous gases,
hot and cold water and cave-ins were
encountered, but always the work was
taken up again, promptly and pushed
forward. Following blasts on various
occasions millions of gallons of water
rushed in upon the workmen. who had
to fight for their lives. At one point
more than a mile from the west por-
tai the bed of an old ocean was ex-
posed. Deeply embedded in the rock
were millions of sea shells of various
sizes. The excavation here was easy,
but the shells rendered the material
exceedingly treacherous and every
foot of the way had TO be timbered
to protect the workmen from falling
masses of rock.
In May, 1905, the bed of an old
creek caused a cave-in which shut off
a number Of workmen from their
companions and buried several others
The men who were on the outside
Immediately began sinking a shaft to
rescue the imprisoned men. Down
in the darkness of that living tomb
the men who were uninjured threw
up bikes to keep the rising tide of
water from reaching their comrades
who were pinned down, and many a
tale is told of the brave stories they
invented to keep heart in the injured
men, although they themselves were
almost hnnpipSS obi
hours before they were taken ex-
hausted to the surface.
To the engineering world this tun-
mel is of interest as being the long
est underground waterway in the
world. 1t is six miles in length, has
finished cross-section of 10Ih by
liz feet, and will carry a stream of
1900 cubic feet of water a second
The headings met with so slight a
variation that it took careful measure
ment to determine it. The tunnel
rapidly is being lined with cement
1t will connect at the west portal
with a large ditch twelve miles long
having a carrying capacity greater
than the r-iA Canal This canal
winds through the adobe hills and is
TAKEN over d series OI uIOpS 10 tHe
level of the distribution system in
the Uncompahgre valley.
To the average easterner this story
may not even bring a thrill of pride,
but to the western man, or to the
man who is seeking a home and who
has read of the marvels irrigation
has wrought in the arid regions, the
building of the Gunnison tunnel means
much. 1t means. among other things.
that 10000 acres of desolation will
be turned into a garden spot and that
homes of comfort and plenty will be
made for thousands of American citi-
zens.
The old irrigation systems of the
valley have been taken over by the
government. enlarged and extended.
AL of the public land has been
filed upon except about $4,000 acres
which are not yet open to settlement.
This land lies in small tracts on the
outskirts of the irrigable area, and
as the bitches are extended to cover
it it will be opened to entry.
In the elaborate preparations which
are being made for the celebration