El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-13
HILL Investigates
CANAL ON WEST SIDE
Engineer Against Whom
Charges Were Made,
Talks Of Them.

L c. Hill. supervising engineer for
the United States reclamation service
is in FL PasO. In company with Law
renee Lawson. project engineer, with
bead0uarters here. he will 90 TO the
Elephant Butte dam Saturday, Iney
will then make the trip al the way
down through the RincOn, Mes1lla ana
Rio Grande valleys to STUDY cohul-
Discussing this trip. Mr.. Hill says:
1T will be our purpose 10 see WnaL
conditions c-re- and We viii pay par
lar attention to the establishment OF a
canal on the west side Of the no
Grande.
There VIII be a meeting Of the
board Of engineers within month, Tor
the purpose of considering the high line
canal and probably an alternative
While there might not be sufficient use
for power developed by a. high line
canal at this time yet II II IS not Sc
cured now. it may never be obtained
1--WE have not decided upon tine kind
OF gates TO be used at the ElephdhC
Butte dam. We had a meeting OF the
board Of engineers in Los Angeles, but
Will have to hold another before any
definite sto=-s are taken How 10 leL
water out of the dam after 1t IS nm
ished is one Of the most important
things in regard to the service 1t viii
have to be studied deeply
Talks Of Charges Against Him
Charges OF Incompetence and ma4aQ-
ministratiOn have been brought
against Mr. Hill IN company with sam
uel adams. assistant secretary OF the
interior. and director F. H Newell, OF
the reclamation service
Discussing these charges M allL
SAYS: This can be traced back sever
al years to the SaCaton indian reserv2-
ton. near Phoenix. White settlers l9V
river. seriously affecting the water
rights Of the indians on the reSerVa-
ton. who got water from that stream
In order that the indians might Dc
cd n Tr
suppl ementary wells to be used when
the flow in the river was insufficient
| This was fought by men on the reSerVa-
ton, who thought irrigation would not
be good for the indians, and by white
men who had a project of their own
and wanted to proht at the expense
of the indians. 1t was a white man
scheme, wrapped up in an indian
There is d committee to investigate
expenditures Of the interior depart
ment a sub committee last spring
visited the indian reservation and IN
vestigated conditions
Roosevelt Dam Cost.
1.-THE Roosevelt dam cost not only
more than originally estimated. but II
is worth more The difference between
the amount originally contemplated
[ by improvements that were sought by
the farmers themselves Afterwards.
diversion dam. Some Of the farmers
have expressed the opinion that If they
had been compelled to do without the
Roosevelt dam or the Granite Reef
dam they would have done without the
Roosevelt dam
Has No Monopoly.
an regard to the alleged monopoly
given the Pacific Gas q Electric com
Danv there is proof that they have no
monopoly. That company had q con-
tract with the owners of the irrigation
canal system on the north side to fur
nish this company with all the power to
be developed there for a period Of %
wears What we did was to enter into
a new contract for 10 years, and nve
wears of this have already expired.
agreeing to furnish it with power. 1t
Gets only s percent. The only mono
poly it can possibly have is that we
ag-eed not to retail power in the city
of Phoenix for 10 years We are al
lowed to furnish power for pumps IN
100 kiIowatts and up"