The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1917-08-03
Rad BREAK IN THE FLUME,


the salts plant, mile and half west
of Oroville. Repairs were not COM
Melted and water running until Satur-
dey evening.
OF the several breaks that have oc-
cured in the fumes and bitches dur
Ing the past month or six weeks this
was the most extensive, and the most
difficult to repair. For long distance
on the north side of the Similkameen
river. the big hume clings To the sides
of mountain, high up above the riv-
er In some places the footings upon
which the supports rest are fixed in
the ground in others the flume IS fas.
tened against the rocky face OF me
cliffs. This last break occurred where
the footings rest in soil, and the leak
ally the fume at last sagged and gave
way. fully 100 feet going out, and the
released deluge washed a cash in the
hillside clear to bed rock 80 or more
feet deep, and as wide as the gap in
the filume.
The news of the washout created
considerable of a sensation among the
residents of the town and valley, and
fears were freely expressed that the
break was not wholly an unassisted
accident, although there is no rNi-
dence that the flume had been tamp-
cred with. The break is located
about a quarter of mile beyond and
in full sight of the salt works, and
within a short distance of the tent oc
cupied by Elmer Stansbury, who is a
fume walker. What creates susp.-
cion is that those connected with the
force employed to watch the system
are so positive that there was no sign
Of a leakage at the point even up to a
few hours before the fiume collapsed.
Engineer Zediker was over the fiume
a day or two before the acciden-, and
he observed no leakage at that par
ticular point Wednesday afternoon
Mr. Cresswell, who has general super
vision of the fumes and ditches, pass
ed over the flume on an inspection
trip and there was no visible evidence
of a leak Mr. Stansbury "as over
that part of the fiume at O'Clock
Wednesday evening and to all appear
ances everything was all right. Mr..
Stansbury came on to town end re-
turned to his tent at midnight Had
there been any overflow of water at
that time he certainly would have
heard it. About o'clock Thursday
morning he was awakened by the rush
of water. He rushed to the spillway,
some distance beyond the break, and
opened the gate, notified the watch
man at the headgate and hal the wa
ter shut off as soon as possible. Before
that could be accomplished large
section of the fiume had broken out.
A force of men was put to WORK carly
Thursday morning, but owing to the
extent of the wash and the steep hill
side, repairs could only be carried on
slowly. The job was a difficult one, as
supports had to be built up for fully
30 feet.
The several breaks in both ditch
and flume have occurred within COM
paratively short period, chiefly during
the extreme hot spell, just at a time
when all the water that could be de-
livered was wanted by laad owners
under the system Considerable loss
will be sustained by growers owing to
this temporary suspension OF the wa
ter supply. The first break OF any in
portance was in the ditch near me Ell
lis -Forde orchard tracts, 0lt it was
fortunately discovered in line AMI
the water shut off before my great
damage resulted. Then a 'ad o.eaK
occurred at the Grubb place, short
distance below town. In this case
Lawrence Englund, who is watchman
on the system, passed the spot at 3
o'clock in the morning and at that
time there was no sign of weakness IN
the ditch. Returning at 1 O'Clock he
found large gap in the ditch and the
escaping water doing much damage to
the land below the ditch. Then q sec
ton of the main canal, only few
hundred feet east of the last bad
break, went out. 1t required two or
three days to repair the fiume, ana
while the fiume was dry the hot sun
shrank the wood to such an extent
that when the water was agained turn
ed on there was considerable leakage
to watch and overcome.
These several breaks may have been
an interpooition of providence, or they
may have resulted from failure on
the part of those in charge to Keep a
a sharp lookout for leaks. This last
possibility is strenuously leniei by
those who are intrusted with the 1'ty
of guarding the system. Agl'n. as a
number of people are inclined to pc
lieve, the breaks may have been the
work of some lawle3s wretch. There IS
no good nor tangible ground for such
suspicion, as there has been no
trouble between employers and EN-
ployees in this part of the state, ano
hence no reason why this species OF
vandalism should be resortel TO. >e'
in the face of a campaign of destruc-
ton that is being openly preache"
elsewhere by a most undesirable ei"'
ment 1t is just possible that some Lem
Der of the organization is practiclne
its principles in this locality Ihe
directors of the irrigation district are
inclined to charge the damages t'
natural causes, and have taken stcpS
to minimize the chances of repe'l
tion of the accidents by employing
night watchmen. Considering the un
settled condition of the country at thi'
time it would not be a bad idea to arm
these watchmen with instructions u
shoot If anyone is caught tamperlh'
with the system.
According to the plans OF the scnoo
directors our public schools open wv
wees ::c:N next Monday.