Arizona republican., 1910-07-28
SOME RAIN ON THE
 UPPER WATERSHED FOUR HUNDRED SECOND FEET FLOWING INTO THE RISER
 VOlR YESTERDAY.
Fish Choked the Power Canal and Stopped the Water Wheels at
 Roosevelt.

The rains on the Salt river water shed must have begun. At any rate, there was a flow of 16,000 inches of water over the intake dam yesterday
 morning near Livingstone. at the head
 of the reservoir. This made stream about six inches deep for the entire
 400 feet of the intake dam. and though it was not more than approXi- mately two thirds the flow out of the reservoir, it was a fine help.
 There was no late afternoon report.
 so it was not learned whether the in
 flow still continues. Where the water
 came from was not learned, but it
 must have been from the north side
 of the river, or considerably farther
 east. It was at first thought it might
 be the flood that did the damage in
 Globe on Tuesday but that was prob
 ably a smaller flood and should have
 reached the reservoir the day before
 if there was enough of it to ever
 reach the big pond. There is good
 reason to hope that from now on
 there will be copious rains above that will put little more surplus in
 the reservoir.
 This incident gives opportunity for
 a fine illustration of the effect of
 pressure on water. As mentioned
 above, the 16.000 inches made a stream
 six inches deep and 400 feet wide. yet
 it was only two-th thirds as much water
 as was discharged through the gate
 in the dam through an aperture about
 three feet high and four feet wide
 under the pressure of the accumu-
 lated water above the dam. It gives
 an idea of the terrific force of the
 water coming out of the tunnel
 There was another incident at
 Roosevelt yesterday morning of more
 than ordinary interest. The flood above referred to was part of it di- verted into the power canal, which discharges into the penstock for the turning of the big water wheels. The fish of the upper Salt river, retreat
 ing before the flood. sought the clear water of the power canal in great numbers so great in fact that many tons of them were driven down to the screen at the head of the pen stock and wedged it so full that the water was literally damned up and the water wheels could not turn. That necessitated the cutting off Of power, or rather it automatically did cut off the most of the current on the transmission line running from Roosevelt to Phoenix. That was the reason that yesterday morning Phoe- nix was without electric power until Manager Ensign of the Pacific Gas X Electric company fired up his re- serve steam plant here and made juice in the old-fashioned way.
 The Republican recently described l d similar incident of the fish clogging | the screen at Roosevelt, but on that | occasion there were only two or three | tons of them. and they did not stop | the water wheels. In this instance | there were a great many more. just l how many tons no one here seems | to have an adequate idea. The screen | referred to is concal shaped de- 1 vice very like a big. old-fashioned | screen fly-trap, the open end being | the larger in diameter and being up stream. Within it is a sort of a trough above the surface of the ca nal water, sloping down grade to a point on the bank of the canal above the screen. The screen is large enough in diameter for a man to stand up in, and is some ten or fif- teen feet long. perhaps longer. A little pump supplies this trough with water. and the screen. revolving. through its sides and lower end strains all the water into the pen stock, elevating the sticks of wood leaves and debris of all kinds into the trough, whence it is washed out on the ditch bank. It works beauti- fully with ordinary debris, and with an ordinary consignment of fish. but yesterday the fish came down in such q quantity that they choked the screen full and shut off most of the water It was necessary to put two or three men at work in the screen with shovels, forks or whatever they could best handle the fish with. and shovel them up into the trough and float them out to the dump over the side of the bank. There they fell down the hillside along the pathway of the little rivulet supplied by the trough pump, into a larger ditch be- low. into which a good head of water was turned, and they were washed down into the reservoir again. Mean time, there was probably no charge to the Roosevelt people for what they wanted for a fish dinner yesterday.
 In connection with this, the gov arnment fish commissioner is in formed that these facts need not de- ter him from stocking the reservoir with good fish, as he is planning to 10. for none of these fish came out Df the reservoir, but from above it in he upper Salt, river. as the fish in he reservoir cannot get into the power canal unless they jump over he intake dam. II