The daily sentinel., 1912-06-21

TALLY productive for lack of water.
To transform this valley to a rural
settlement, dotted with thriving
towns and villages and barred with
long rows of fruit trees. the gov
ernment engineers have overcome al
most unheard of obstacles.
Beyond the Wasatch range which
rims the valleys eastern border
Strawberry river. for centuries bank
full. perhaps, has run uselessly by,
its waters finally reaching the Gulf
of California through the Colorado
river. To divert this water from
the Colorado drainage basin and turn
il into the Utah valley. the enor-
nous Strawberry tunnel nearly four
miles long, has been bored through
the Wasatch mountains. Its cross
section measures more than 60
square feet 1t is walled and but
tressed with timber and lined with
cement.
Before construction could begin
thousands of square miles of valley
and rough mountain country We're
surveyed and mapped and tunnel and
canal lines marked out. A telephne
line 3S miles long, extending from
Spanish Fork to both portals of the
tunnel was constructed, and a wag-
on road from Diamond Switch, the
sh 'pping point on the Denver & Rio
Grande railroad. to both portals 32
miles long was made. Down in the
foothills a diversion dam was thrown
across Spanish Fork river and the
waters turned into power canal
3 y miles long. which dropped them
through huge pipes on the big tur-
generated was transmitted electrical
ly to the tunnel sit, wheer it was
used to turn the diamond drills in
the rock, light the camps and run
the heavy machinery. The surplus
has been sold to towns in the valley
for municipal and commercial pur-
poses.
The camps are located a mile and
a half above sea level, and during
several months each winter have
practically been isolated from the
world. the roads blocked by masses
Of snow and ice. For more than two
years the work has gone on without
ceasing, three shifts of men alter
mating during the "a hours of the
day and night. Thousands of gal
Ions of water, poisonous gasses and
swelling ground have made the work
ditficult and dangerous. The men
had to flee for their lives on several
occasions.
In 1910 the work of placing the
concrete lining was begun and since
then has been carried on simultan-
eously with the excavation of the
heading. This required skillful han
ding of men and material to avoid
delay in either feature of the work.
Notwithstanding the difficulties of
the undertaking, il has been carried
to completion without the loss of a
single life.
Beyond the tunnel, in the shadow
OF the granite peaks great reservoir
is being built. A retaining dam of
rock, cement and steel is being built
so deep that a 6-story building might
be hidden behind 1t. Fed by melt
ing SHOWS, the waters will rise be-
| hind this structure, covering $500
| acres with 2TS, 900 acre-feet of wat
err
The valley to be irrigated is es-
| peCially interesting because it is the
| scene of the earliest irrigation by
| Anglo-Saxons in the west. Settled
by Brigham Young and his followers
in 1S47. after their march through
l
known territory peopled by savages
IL is the oldest example of commun-
ity farming by an English-speakine
people in the west For protection
against the indians, the farmers lived
in little towns throughout the val.
ley, their houses built close together
and facing common street ol
square, thus practically forming
forts. Some of these old community
houses are still standing The orig
inal farms We're for the most part
not more than 40 or 80 acres in size
which may account to some extent
for the early success of agriculture
under extreme difiicult conditions.
When the storage and distribution
system is finished and an ample wat
er supply assured for all time, the
valley will support more than a thou.
sand farm homes. Salt Lake City
and the nearby mining camps viii
furnish a home market for many ot
the products, and three railroad lines
which traverse the irrigable ares
win furnish unusual transportation
facilities to the outside world