The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1912-03-21
Come to Malta, Saturday, April 9th, 1912
and help make the Second Monthly Sales Day
a success. Bargains in merchandise for you
FACTS CONCERNING IRRIGATION
IN NORTHERN MONTANA

Continued from last week.
hundreds Of families in the same
desperate situation, and God only
knows how they are to get through
the winter.
!! It is all very we'll for US to keep this
congress OH high plane, where il
will be above the petty grievances
Of the settlers. The gentlemen who
hold comfortable berths with the
government may wash their hands OF
responsibility, but there are hungry
women and children out there. and
we who live in that region must face
this problem whether we will or no.
When the settlers agreed to accept
script for work on the project they
were promised certain other work for
which cash was to be paid, but, in
stead of giving such work to the set
tiers, they sent to other states and
bought lot of fine teams, and the
work done with them cost three times
90 MttCA 90 GnC 0CCClC1S WOulu HNN z
been glad to accept for the same SER
vice. The government teams We're
bought and are being fed at the ex-
pense of the settlers.
Stone for the DodsOn Dam was
quarried and hauled several miles by
contract at so much per cord. The
contractors were required to cord the
stone up short distance from the
dam. The stone was measured and
then reloaded on government teams
and hauled to the dam. The cost of
this re-hauling was about equal to
the cost of quarrying and hauling the
stone several miles by contract. The
contractors offered to put the stone
in the dam at a slight additional cost,
having the stone measured on the
wagon, thus saving the cost of re-
hauling but this offer was refused.
Sand was hauled about seven miles
to the Dodson Dam by the settlers at
$2.75 per yard. The engineer in
charge said the settlers were making
too much money, so the work was
done by government teams at a cost
OF about $6.00per yard.
l have been informed by reliable
and experienced men who have been
over the st. Mary's end of the pro-
ject that the work which was done
there at cost of $265 900, could be
done by contract for less than
100000. This is the part of the work
that they now propose to abandon
and do over again in another place.
A residence for the engineer in
charge was constructed for this part
OF the project at Browning, 40 miles
away. at "a cost of $4,000. The resi-
dence has never been used, but care
taker has been employed at $500
per month to look after it. Another
care taker is also employed to look
after a few tar-paper shacks at the
Dodson Dam. When the Dodson
Dam was built the project engineer
maintained his Office with a large
force of clerks at Malta. Another
engineer and office force was en-
ployed at the dam, There are first
and second engineers, foremen and
assistant foremen, storekeeper and
assistant storekeeper, tim ekeeper and
assistant timekeeper, bookkeeper and
assistant bookkeeper. and so on
down the line, although the dam wa 9
to cost less than 100000. At one
time they had ten men at work on
the dam with twenty EIGHT officers,
engineers and foremen over them. Do
you wonder that the cost of govern
ment irrigation usually doubles the
first estimate?
On the Lower Yellowstone project
the first estimate of which the set
tiers were induced to put their lands
was $4,000 per acre. The actual cost
Is uow close to $4,000 per acre, and
The end not yet in sight.
Last summer l went down on the
project where they have
been working three years OH a tun-
mel to be used in generating power