The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-08

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This was at as dense and impervlous
II point as was seen III the dam.
1t Is shown. therefore. that the water
is now passing In stream under the
upper half OF the DAM, and that 1t VIII
pass downward through the core with
very slight pressure heads. The
capacity OF the spillway with four-foot
head would be not to exceed $40 second
feet. Possibly a head OF 80 on the spill
way could be considered. but no more.
With this head, its capacity would not
exceed 1lT6 second feet. The maximum
flood actually gagged on the river was 26l0
second feet In July. 1907, at Chilly, but
understand that "A flood OF 1000 second
feet was measured at Mackay in 1909.
The drainage area is fully 800 square
600 second feet at this point would not
be surprising The spillway is, there
fore, entirely inadequate, as now planned
and partly built; ! believe that the dam
and its foundations will leak very badly
with only a partly filed reservoir, and
that IL wi not be successful for storage
purposes. II has been suggested by
other engineers that IL would leak so
badly that it would not hold back enough
water 10 be a flood menace. This would
mean that several hundred and possibly
q thousand second feet would have to
pass through and under an earth and
gravel dam Some of this water would
run down slope OF ] on on the lower
face. I cannot believe that this struc-
ture would endure permanently under
such treatment.
Possibly the dam may impound water
with safety up 10 the level of the top OF
the core wall, as the volume stored would
bo small. probably not exceeding 10000
or 10000 acre feet. But the filled reser-
voir would, in my judgment, be serl-
town of Mackay and to Lost river valley.
In the attached letter written to the
state engineer and reviewed on tho
ground with him and with Mr. Roberts.
his inspector, the specifications are shown
to be misleading and incomplete, neither
is the work being carried out as therein
required
The relations OF the state TO such
depression is n legal question, but there
appears to be at least a moral obliga-
ton on the part of the state TO the
settlers entering this valley and build
ing homes in a now waterless desert;
believing themselves TO be protected by
Il state irrigation law.
Is Carey Act Project.
The Big Lost River Land and Water
company is Carey act project. II was
taken over from its original promoters,
by the Trowbridge-N -NiYer company of
Chicago, who contracted with the state
to furnish water at the price of $50 per
acre This was later raised to $40 per
acre, which is the figure charged for
all of the water under this project to-
day,
This project consists of $4,000 acres,
Of which approximately $4,000 are sus
ceptible of irrigation. In contracting
with the state, this concern was re-
quircd to give a bond for the faithful
performance of It's duties in the sum of
1000 At the present time the COM
pnny has sold about 60, 1000 acres of this
land at $40 an acre $3.50 per acre hav-
ing been paid in cash by those who have
taken land, In addition to these pay
ments, the land owners have given ne
gotiable paper TO the irrigation com
pany for the remainder of the purchase
price, or $500 per acre. To deduct
from this statement it is found that the
company has been paid In cash $21o,o00,
and in negotiable paper So, 100000.
At the beginning Of the construction
of these works the irrigation company
let its contract for construction of dam
and bitches to the Arnold Construction
company at Chicago. The Arnold com
pany In turn let It's contract to the
Corey Bros. Construction company of
Ogden. which in turn let some contracts
to lesser constructing concerns The In
dcbtcdncss Of the irrigation company to
the Corey Construction company Mt pres
cnC is estimated at figures ranging in
scope from 100000 to 100000,
What Miss Chamberlain Said.
At Greene's hall in Mackay last
Thursday evening yas meeting of the
citizens committee. From 125 to $50
people congrcgated for the purpose Of
listening 10 what a member of the
state land board. namely. Miss s, Belle
Chambcrlin, state superintendent Of
public instruction, had to say about this
prof ject, In her statement To the assem-.
bly, she admitted that the state land
board. of which she was a member, had
received from Mr.. Roberts, the Carey
act inspector. an appointoc of the state
engineer Office, on the ground at the
dam near Maekay, reports almost daily
advising the board of the failure of
the construction company TO perform
the work at the dam in accordance with
the plans and specifications accepted by
he state land board in their contract.
which is of record, She further stated
as these reports were from Mr.. Rob
erts. were received at the Office of the
state engineer, copies of them were
made in full by that officer and fur
nlShcd aS soon as received To each of
the four members of the state land
commissioners She admitted. on her
own part. that she had made study
OF these reports from time to time with
that same careful degree of diligence
that she had given TO school matters
which came to Der in an official way
MISS Chambcrlin admitted that ii was
The Lipplncott report and not the re.
ports received periodically from the as
sIstapt of the state engineer Office
that occasioned the state land board to
spread lis record discontinuing the
work on tho dam and stopping the fur
thcr sale of water rights to settlers un
der the project. On The following dag.
when this member of tho land board
visited the dam with the Lippncott re-
port, she was shown To her entire and
confessed satisfaction that tho waters
Of the Big Lost river wcrc then rags.
ing through or under the core wall of
the dam. and neither tho state eugi-
nccr's representative, MIR. Roberts. nor
the construction company 5 engineer