Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-03-28
water MINE MADE TO
DEVELOP RICH ACRES
IN BARREN DISTRICT
Vast Results Come From Per-
sistent Efforts of Kan
sas Genius.

sas Genius.
years since a stocky, rugged little man
from western Kansas. with a clean-cut
square Jaw and a sparkling eye. got off
the train In ragged little village in south
western New Mexico. The village didn't
seem to interest him. His practical glance
travelled to the north toward the hixh
Sierras. where a lone peak shot skyward
5000 feet above the level Of the wide. long
valley. In the center of which lay the
village aforesaid. like a ragged patch on
AN otherwise perfect garment.
To the west he saw u gigantic butte rise
in lonely grandeur; and to the south. to-
ward the Mexican border, he saw numer-
Gus clusters of mountains, among them
three connected and symmetrical peaks,
and a long saW-toothed range encroachina
on the valley, and %stringing into isolated
buttes on the southeastern skyline. Nor
did he fail to note that when nature ran
her spirit-level over the valley she left a
gentle and uniform slope to south, and
east, a gradual dip of about eight feet In
the mile. He was interested in water.
He rode horseback for a week over the
mountains to the north, the obvious catch
ment area for the water that somehow
did not reach the valley. At an old gov
W iAis- 1Ott III III mountains ne nan
pened upon an invaluable piece of infor-
nation: IL was the record of rainfall at
the fort for the last 90 years. He found
an average annual precipitation for the
last 30 years of 24.5 inches, whereas the
average annual rainfall in the valley was
but eight inches, not enough for even the
drfest of dry farming"
He secured from the United States Geo
logica! survey maps of the region. and a
study of those showed that the mountain
area which drains into the valley COM
prises 1.4W square miles.
He found Loo square miles of mountain
area draining into the valley; with a pre-
cipitation OF at least 20 inches yearly. and
still no flowing stream. He concluded
that his water must go so he
followed the channel for 40 miles and ar
rived where 1t debouches upon the plain.
Here the stream became weaker until a
few miles on the found a dry bed which
carried water only in food times. He
was caught in q heavy rain, and the food
waters came sweeping down. He mounted
his pony and followed the crest Of the
flood. only to find that it gradually dis
appeared long before it reached the VIII
lage.
He went to his room and began to think.
The next morning he paid a real estate
man $25 to show him q quarter of govern
ment land open to entry. Within two
weeks he bought railway lieu-land script
and laid 1t on 1000 acres contiguous to the
quarter he had filed upon as a desert
land entry. He sank a we'll $50 feet deep.
and in this distance he three
sand and gravel strata carrying water.
Contiguous to the water-bearing ma
terial he inserted a screen. or perforated
casting. to allow the water to enter the
well. He installed a centrifugal pump
capable of delivering 800 gallons of water
per minute at the bottom, of a steel pit AZ
feet under ground, the pump to be oper-
ated from the surface with a pulley and
shaft. He installed a 45-horsepower gaso-
line engine with a belt drive to the pulley
of the pump.
1t took him six months to do this work.
Stockmen of the valley referred to him
as Cracked" the merchants demanded
cash; the banks investigated his credit.
His enterprise was looked upon as the
merest folly.
The hour. the moment Of the test ar
rived. He ordered the workmen to start
the engine. and he planted himself square
ly in front Of the S-inch discharge pipe.
He would now see whether his mental
rect.
With a few sputters and false starts the
engine was finally started. The clutch
was driven in, and it caught up the load.
Suddenly the water plunged out Of the
discharge pipe into the ditch. A fragment
OF that lOng-lost river cOursed down the
ditch prepared for 1T. After the plant had
been in operation for three hours he
opened the top of the steel pit and low
cred a tape line to measure the depth OF
the water. He found that the water stood
just 10 feet lower than when he began
pumping. Later he ran this plant Y hours
without stopping and wal unable to lower
the water more than 10 feet. His pumping
head was demonstrated to be ~ feet. He
had been in many sections of California
where men had grown rich pumping water
for irrigation, 100. 200 and even 800 feet.
In the four years since then there have
been installed in the Mimres valley of
southern New Mexico above 800 just such
pump plants as our friend from Kansas
installed. Land has risen in value from
nothing to so. SO and $50 per acre. A.
little empire has been reclaimed. He sold
his 1000 acres of script land the other
day for a princely sum.
In many arid valleys Of the southwest
the same opportunity awaits the seeing
eye. Pure water in abundant quantities
for irrigation within 100 feet of the fertile
surface of a valley Is better than a gold
mine. The centrifugal pump. the gasoline
engine and the central electric plant have
solved the problem.
Being Brave.
From london Answers.
Now that her little boy was 6 years
IL AHs~ C0n ln@tl1l t1@A sA rvnr