Omaha daily bee., 1911-08-06


- Uncle Sam, patriarch, has struck its
hSNIEEe1H rocks with his magic rod and the water
SS&<ze@A has gushed FORTH creating GASES richer
than the valley of the Nile or the
Ganges. He has piled up tens of millions to reclaim
the bare lands and has army of engineers la
borers at work turning them farms his people,
Last year he had $4,000 men digging, blasting and
damming. He has already built so many canals that
II they laid end to end they would reach from
New York to San Francisco and back to New Orleans
or II measured upon the Pacific, would extend from
California to China. Some Of these canals carry
whole rivers. He has built about 500 miles of wagon
roads, has excavated than twenty miles of tun
nels and altogether has taken out enough earth to
equal ditch three feet wide and three deep run
ming clear around the world at the Equator and in
addition to equal hole three feet square run through
the globe from side to the other and a similar
tunnel dug at right angles to this from pole pole
Where the Gases Are.
This is the work Of the reclamation service, which
is backed by capital of about $50 900 OOO and Of
which $60,OOOsO0O already invested. There are
$10,000,OO0 left of the reclamation fund and in add
ton $20,OO0,000 more which have been appropriated
by congress and are at the command of the service
This great work is headed by the ablest or
ganizers and most skilled engineers of Uncle Sans
scientific army have spent this week at their office
building in Washington; it has a large number of
clerks, although the actual constructive operations
are scattered all the west. The Washington
bureau has photographs of every stage of the work.
1t receives daily reports of what is being DONE
one can get birds-eye view of the mighty under
takings which are now under way The government
scientists have made maps of the country, testing
every slope, hill and valley They have measured
water in the air overhead, and with diamond drills
have tested the beds of the canyons beneath sink
ing the foundations for dams which will store up the
rainfall; they have done much drilling that If the
holes could be placed end to end they would reach
more than ten miles down into the rocky heart of old
Mother Earth.
In company with Dr. F. H. Newell, the director
and one of the engineers, Mr.. c. j. Blanchard have
gone over the maps showing where the various re-
clamation projects are situated. Broadly speaking
they cover the whole arid west extending from the
great plains to the Pacific Those of the great plains
are in country which has been largely devoted to
grazing and which had enough rainfall to produce
food for the millions of buffaloes which wan
dered over 1t. These projects are in the western
parts of Kansas Nebraska and the Dakotas
Another division is situated on the great plateau
which lies between the Rocky mountains and the
Sierra Nevadas and Cascades, while others on the
Pacific slope still farther west. There are in all
thirty-four of them in each of which work is now
,gong on, and in many of which already how-
ing over the lands
Uncle Sans Big Dams
Every one of these GASES contains wonders enough
for letter, and some are so remarkable that they
cannot be passed without notice. they all watered
by dams which have created reservoirs the noun
tains and of these dams of enormous extent
Take the Shoshone river in northern Wyoming, on
the borders of Yellowstone park; that dam wedge
of solid concrete higher than the dome of the national
capitol at Washington, and it holds back beautiful
lake. 100 feet deep, covering more than 1000 square
The dam is eghty-hve feet long at the bottom
and 1t rises up to distance of 32S feet between
nearly perpendicular cliffs measuring 200 feet
wide at the top is the highest of all masonry
md will NJ NJ he rich
est land upon earth. OF this 1913 900 pub
lie property and they will be opened to settlement
by the secretary of the interior when the works
completed.
Just below this dam is another which diverts the
stream into tunnel three miles in length, car
frying the waters broad canal and thence out to
the farm lands Thousands of OF that tract
have already been settled Hundreds of families are
established and towns are springing to being
Another great dam is the Pathfinder. named after