The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-27
TELEPHONE GIRLS AGREE NOT ID WE'D
Operators Have to Give Bond
 In Spokane
ARE MARRYING TOO FAST
crent TrrirntiOn Projects are Planned in the Northwest By Private Con- cerns Which Will Benefit
 the People

Spokane, Wash, December 2e.-(Special.) When Miss Margaret Perkins went to work as telephone operator in a local hotel today the management required her to give a bond not to marry within six months. This instrument. duly signed and sealed, holds Miss Perkins bondsmen |}iable to the extent of $500 in the event she becomes bride on or before June 21, 1911. The sureties are prominent busl- ness men.
 The reason for this unusual require ment by the hotel management is that half-dozen telephone operators have married within as many months, the last two being Miss Florence Joyce, who re- gently married a rancher. and Miss Olive Bourne, who has gone to Rockland, Mich., to join her intended husband.
 q am not engaged to marry any one. nor do I expect to enter into an en- gagement during the coming six months" " said Miss Perkins, comedy brunette, 'and for that reason my bondsmen have nothing to fear. Of course. have re- ceived a proposal or two. but am not ready to settle down for life.
 "The making of a bond Is a matter of business with the management of the hotel" the operator continued. There is more or less trouble every time new operator is broken in, the rule being that as soon as girl becomes efficient she deserts the switchboard to join heart and hand with some mere man,
 "As I said, I am not ready to become the wife of any man, therefore the man. agernent has nothing to fear so far as T am concerned. The two young women working on the other eight-hour shifts will also be required to give bonds, I am informed"
 A. c. Benson, manager of the house, believes that Miss Perkins and the other operators will carry out their agree n,ent to the letter.
 Big Irrigation Projects
 Preliminary surveys and actual con- struction work will begin early next spring on irrigation projects covering more than 100000 acres of arid and semi humid lands in eastern and central Washington. The total cost is estimated at $55, GOO. 600, provided by private capital. This is exclusive of the federal govern ment's projects in central Washington.
 Most important of the irrigation plans to be installed is the Quincy valley prof ect. 100 miles west of Spokane, where 5cO.OoO acres of land will be brought under the ditch. The cost of watering the tract, which is owned by ranchers, Is esti- mated at $25,0O0,000. The survey is now un- der way under the direction of the Quincy Valley Water Users association. and 1t is expected to have the work completed before the end of March, 1911. Water is available from two lakes in the district Wenatchee lake will be the reservoir and a dam is to be built to make fall or 2o0O feet, thus eliminating the necessity of expensive machinery.
 Three hundred thousand acres of land in south central Washington Is included in the Horse Heaven project. The Klickitat Irrigation and Power com- many. which has charge of the work announces that the cost will be about sl2,00O,000. Water rights are being sold to farmers who own the land at rate of $60 an acre, payable in lb annual installments A reservoir with a ca pacity of 240,000 acre feet will be built to store the flood water which VIII De delivered to the land in cement-lned canals. The plan also oontemplates the development of 10000 horsepower cleo trical energy. to be used in pumping additional water from the Columbia river.
 These lands were formerly used for grazing and wheat growing and are worth from $10 to $2s an acre. When irrigated the values will be Increased to from s250 to $4Oe.
 Production of Lead and Silver
 Mighty million dollars worth Of lead and silver has been taken from Ward ner Hill in the Occur d'Alene district of northern Idaho, 128 miles east of here, since the beginning of systematic development work, according to stan ley A. Eaton, manager Of the Bunker Idll and Sullivan mine, who made the statement in Spokane today. The gross output of the. district from 1883 to date is estimated at more than $210,- Ouo GOO, with net profits of between $41,- 0Oo, ,00O and s42.000,000. The district ranks first in the United States in the output of lead, the Missouri Kansas belt being second, Utah third and Col ora do fourth.
 The only d1scouraRlhg feature oI the mining situation at present Is the depression in the lead market" MT Eaton said "and this Is due solely to the uncertainty about the tariff. Much of the lead now being produced in the United States is mined at a small profit. This Is especially true of the Missouri mines. It Is out of question for American lead mines to compete with those of Spain, which produce a tonnage equal to the United States with little or no consumption on account of the poverty of the people.
 We are not afraid of competition with the Canadian mines. The con- dittons under which the lead properties are operated in the dominion are stn,- liar to our own and there Is small ob- iection to reciprocity with Canada In lesd and lead products.
 But TOT the tariff uncertainty the lead market would be iJl much strong CT position than that which obtains for copper, principally because no large lead producers have been de veloped in the United States for years, Shile enormous deposits of copper ore, the product of which can be mark eted profitably in New York as low as 3 cents pound, have been opened up recently.