The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-04-21

3
panying rock crushers and mixers, ana
other machinery. The spillway had not
been completed. It's opening should
have been about twelve feet below the
level of the dam. Vandeventer was not
responsible. a course. The chief engi-
peer had fumed and protested but had
been directed by headquarters to go
ahead with the other work and tackle
thp subway later There was. indeed.
/ little reason 10 hold up the building of
that particular dam because of the
noncompletiOn Of the spillway.
That was a country, so the most de-
voted inhabitants freely admitted, in
which it was always safe TO bet that
it would not rain, no matter how
/ threatening might be the appearance
of the sky; for in ninety-nine times out
of Il hundred the negative would win
/ the bet. Said inhabitants did not say
! the hundredth time might compensate
/ for all the other failures. The weather
was like the little girl with the pro-
verbal curl-when it did rain there
the fact. Sometimes the fountains of
the great deep. which, in Holy Scrip
ture at least, extended overhead. would
be broken open and the violence of the
fall and the quantity of ii. and sudden
ness of il, would be such that the West
ernerS would graphically call it a
"cloudburst," which, indeed. II seemed
to be.
Outside the rainy season clOudburStS
were unheard of, and even in that sea-
son extremely rare. For the valley
of the Picket Wire and in the plain
beneath carefully tabulatcd reports Of
the rainfall for years had been COnSid-
cred by the engineers. They had cho-
sen the right season for the building
of the dam, but when It's crest began
to rise above the designed level of the
Spillway the delay in opening the chan
mel gave cause for some alarm. 1t Is
not the probable or certain that is
feared. An old version that, of "Omne
ignOtum pro magnificent Is only the
unknown of which men are afraid. or
there was nothing Vandeventer could
do but obey orders and go ahead. The
danger. after all. was trifling. Another
consequence of the waiting was that
in his inability 10 work on the spill
way, he had more hands to devote to
the dam and 1t rose the quicker
The shape of the country behind it
was such that when the Picket Wire
flowed with sufficient volume to fill 1t,
long lake going back through the val
ley, or canyon, and twisting among the
hills for some miles would result. In
other words, the dam would make a
beautiful artificial sheet of water Dor
dered on one side by high range of
hills. on the other by the dam, and on
the third by the hills and the low hog
back above Spanish mesa, which sepa'
rated the Picket Wire valley from the
Kicking Horse gorge up which the rail
road ran.
Buried in his own thoughts. com
muning with himself, considering cease
: lessly his position dreaming of the
woman he loved, planning a new ca
reer, Meade yet explored every foot OF
I, the valley and ravine. He climbed tC
the top Of Spanish mesa, and from Its
height the whole country clear up the
; valley to the main range was visible
> to him. He could look down into the
! deep ravine Of the Kicking Horse. ant
= note the marvellous beauty and airines'
!, of the arch bridge for all it so sOlidl!
L carried the heavy freight trains of tn,
railway.
He could see far up and around th'
:, crooked course of the Picket Wire. Thu
:, big grass-covered, but otherwise bar,
q and treeless hOgback, that ran from
the upper end of the stone island o
/, the mesa was equally visible to him
;, AS IL was the low tide of the new res
=, ervoir, he descended to it and studied
Ii carefully. On another occasion. hav
:. ing said nothing to anyone about hi
excursion, he took advantage of n half
- holiday to go out and inspect the hog
= back and ascertain it's elevation witt
:, relation to the dam. OF course the en-
:, gineers who planned the great irriga
j. ton works had done that, hut he want
:, ed to do II for himself. AT one place
where the distance between wha
might be called the edge of the vale
=, and the head of the ravine was narrow
: est-indeed, he estimated after pacin
:, ii that it measured not over twent
:, feet acroSs-he discovered that tn
% rounded earth crest was slightly lowe
., than the intended level of the top @
. the dam.
pr When he returned to the office, h
y found on examining the COnstructiO
IN drawings that an earth dixie wa
v planned to run along the hOgback S
r that the top level should be highe
NJ than that of the dam. This dixie woul
NJ be only n hundred and fifty feet Ion
m and a few feet high, and could be hui
81 in few days time. Work on the mai
70 dam being more important, nothin
an had as yet been done on the dixie
Meade had been promoted towar
is the end of the fall and in rath,
+ unusual way. One of the transit mel
ne n young engineer, got better jO
G and left his instrument. Vandeventt
N called Meade before him.