The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-07-30
WORK IS ABANDONED
ON MACKAY PROJECT
Engineering Company Told to
Withdraw Forces and
Equipment.
Special TO The Tribune.

Special TO The Tribune.
MACKAY, Ida. July 29.-The Ar
mold Engineering company Of Chicago,
the engineers who have had this end Of
the big Lost River Land g. Irrigation
company reclamation project in charge
ago. and who, recently, pending the re-
vival Of the project in financial way,
have had staff of engineers in the
field making resurveys for the project
under the new arrangement with the
reorganized bondholdcrs committee,
received word to lay off all men and re-
turn to Chicago ut once, bringing with
them all equipment of the company.
During the past few months there
has been q concerted effort among the
holders of the bonds of this big prof
eet to ITefnance it and, if possible, com
pletc the work of building the l20-foot
dam, the construction work on which
was stopped by the citizens of the town
last year about this time for the reason
that the work was pronounced unsafe
by J. B. Lippencott, an engineer Of
repute.
Harrison B. Riley, president of the
Chicago Title, Loan & Trust company.
elected chairman of the bondholders
committee, paid the dam a visit about
one month ago and at that time gave
out interviews in which he stated the
project would be refnanced if the best
engineering talent obtainable could
draft plans for constructing the big
dam that would meet with the appro~
val of the state, providing the expense
of construction under such plans did
not exhaust the financial income of the
completed project.
Following Mr. Riley's visit Samuel
Starrow, a we'll known engineer of Los
Angeles, spent nearly month On the
project, most of the time being devoted
to an investigation Of the partially
completed dam. He was here in the in
terests of the bondholders' committee
and he must have made a most ex-
haustive report for he devoted much
time to his investigation.
1t is the general impression at this
time that this report has been rendered
and that the requirements in the CON
struction Of the dam entail an expense
exceeding the revenue to be derived
from the project, and that il is for this
reason that the Arnold Engineering
company forces have been withdraw
from the field.
The project was to have watered So
600 acres of land on the lower end of
Big Lost river, across the lavas, from
Blackfoot. In the main the canals of
the project are all completed. there he.
ing about fifty miles Of main canal
now capable of conducting water. At
the time the citizens of Mackay caused
the work on the dam to be stopped, ap,
pealing to the state for protection. The
structure was about so per cent in vol
ume and so per cent in cost complete.
The work was stopped following the
publication Of the citizens engineers
report Later a special board of enCi.
neerss appointed by the state investi.
gated the work at the dam and pro-
nounced it unsafe and unfit for the
purpose for which it was designed.
About that time it was learned that
the Trowbridge Rivers Bonding com.
pany of Chicago. who were selling the
bonds. had diverted large bunch of
money from this project to one in Colo.
RADIO.
Much of the land of the project hass
been sold and many settlers came TO the
land, but they have been without wa.
ter and nearly all have been forced to
abandon their claims and seek employ
ment.