The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1916-02-11

The trouble the interurban line had
with water OVERLOOKING its tracks Jam
uary 3Oth and 3lst, has been the SUBJ
Ject OF some comment; the line fol-
lows the old steam railroad survey
and embankment of twenty-five years
ago till it passes Curtis Park station,
when with curve it strikes across
low marshy land towards the old Fow-
Ter or Mckenzie ranch. and on to-
wards Middleton. 1t is said when this
track was being built the engineers
were warned to make wide bridges
over the sloughs, or sules, and to
keep the embankment high, as in time
of flood waters the river sent water
down those slues. and the section
thereabout might be lake. Appar-
emily it would have been wisdom for
the locating engineers to seek infor-
nation for the unusual" which might
happen again. and in such case as
our river is quite likely to do so. There
are one or two gravel ridges along
there and apparently the engineers
thought if they kept the grade at their
the 23rd of January is the second time
in ten years that the track at that
point has been overflowed; the slue
bridge was not wide enough to let the
waters through, which being set back
flooded the whole swamp back of it,
and north of Curtis Park, and all
around Curtis Park station the water
was for many hours nearly foot deep
and passengers in the cars all Sum
day evening could see sheets of water
flowing acros the tracks. "A stitch
in time saves ninety-nine."
1 believe the same principle has been
illustrated by the Parma Roswell
bridge; it was hard work to get that
bridge at all; yet the sanguine expec-
tations of its promoters of the pro-
fit to be derived from it; have been
far surpassed by the resulting facts;
the amount of taxable property in the
county has been wonderfully increas-
ed, and the bridge viewed from that
standpoint one of the cheapest invest
ments Canyon county ever made, and
that too, Notwithstanding the cost of
its many repairs, caused by floods. But
| believe it is placed at the very worst
point on the river within miles. |
have been told that the obstinacy of
one man compelled putting it there,
or else the cost of approaches would
have been too high; at that time it was
take that crooked line from Parma. or
waiting another year or two. And all
the old timers knew that the stretch of
river from point half mile west or
the present bridge to, say, a mile
above it, or eastward, was the stretch
in which the Boise river had been
known to play it strangest antics OF
shifting channels. Some years ago at
time when the bridge was broken
and water high, Mr.. Ross, father OF
farrx,-
ing me over in his boat and telling OF
= he had reached a settlers cabin on
an island in mid-stream just in time
to take him off and then see the
whole island and cabin dissolve and
disappear in the whirling torrent; |
asked him about where that island
was. and taking ranges from shore to
shore points he said it was just about
here, which was the center OF the
river current where we then were,
which now is gravel island again and
the main channel rods away. 1t is prob
ably too late to advise changing the
location of that bridge; but from all
| have seen of it since it was first built
| believe to abandon the present one
and build two new ones, one above
and another below, would cost less the
next twenty-five years than to keep
the present one in repair.
1t all reminds me of what | heard
years ago at Rock Springs in Wyom-
ing. For years all the water used in
that city for any and all purposes
domestic, stationary and locomotive
engines, was transported by trains oil
water cars, running all the time day
and night. every day of the year