The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-07-15

1 the now increased; they stored water
. they fought water, they worked /
Z water, they rushed centrifugal pump
out from Chicago and the engineer
counted the hours until their arrival
hoping the seepage might be lifte,
SO the connections could be made.
i Napoleon wished for night o
Blucher, and the engineers wishe,
for pumps or winter. The freshe
continued, the water had to be draw
off through the diversion tunnels ant
allowed to run away before it wa.
time to irrigate and before the ce.
ment workers had completed the
headgates along the way by which
to control the water in the canals
and the wealth of waters for the sea-
son of 1910 was lost.
Then the settlers hoped for rain
as 1t had been sent in 1909 and 'OS
and 'O7 in May and June, but mis-
fortunes never come singly and the
crops dried up. Even the river itself
dried up for 25 miles, and there be-
ing but one we'll on the tract, some
thing had to be done for drinking
water for man and beast. Seeing the
inevitable, men excavated and made
large cisterns which they lined with
cement to make them water tight, and
where possible, filled them from the
bitches before the supply failed, and
in other cases, hauled from the river
before it went dry, and in still other
cases, took the water wagon (some
are in dry counties and some in
"wet'O and hauled from the one well
or from Little Lost river, three, five,
or ten miles away to fill the cistern
before that stream should be all TAX
en- out for irrigation.
In one instance lady and herl
brother have adjoining claims and the
cistern was delayed for want of a
man to hoist at the windlass while
the brother dug and filled the bucket
with gravel. The ditch was in dan
ger of going dry, so the sister de-
scended into the cistern-to-be and
dug gravel and filled the buckets
while the brother took the harder job
of hosting away. Hard, tedious work
for man, but the woman succeeded
by taking smaller shovelfuls and
more of them, and when it was ready
to plaster with cement, the brother
carried water and mixed the parts,
while the sister used the trowel on
the walls below.
One OF our sister cities had cis-
tern built In their cemetery to store
water for the flowers, and it settled
and cracked and the water all leaked
out, but in these cases they cannot
afford to have any defects, for the
hitch went dry before the cistern was
and it takes weeks
work to fill it by means of the water
wagon, and as you read these lines
he is working to store the fluid neces-
'ary to keep soul and body from part
ng company.
Only few days ago when the hot
wind was racing over the plain and I
he sage brush was dry and burn
lble, she went out and fired some of ,
he winnows Of sage that had been
pulled by the Twin Falls grubber,
Ind so well did it go under the favor
bile conditions that she accomplished
Is much in an hour as the men had
ometimes done in a day before the
weather. grew so hot, but in an un-
guarded moment her dress caught 4
ire and she grabbed the spot to
mother it. The flames licked her 4
lands and arm and ran up her sleeve.
tartled at the swiftness of the thing,
he involuntarily let go and attempted
o back away from it. Recovering
er presence of mind she stripped her
lothes from her body and clapped
er hands on her head to make sure
hat her hair was not burning. Cha
rinned at the accident and at the
pectacle she presented, she looked
bout, beheld settlers shanties in the
istance, saw the curl of white dust
ising from water wagon creeping
oward construction camp }near the
ownsite some miles away gave a
arting glance at the curling remn- }
nts of her waist and skirt and then
'alked over to the house to put on
Continued on page 81 4