The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1917-03-30

cistern room for. The man whose
cistern was made before he got this
idea about making the water haul
itself, takes the next best thing and
hauls from the nearest pond or lake
If that happens to be nearer than
the we'll. Then again, IL pond Ia
not available, he may place dam
across the gulch and form a little
pond where he can detain enough
water to dip or pump from, and he
reduces the haul as much as he can
| Clean or Contaminated
Snow water is perfectly pure, and
one is apt to think of snow as COM
ing in fleecy Wilderness from the open
plains unaffected by the dirt and SCOT
of the city, and that is right. But
in the open plain there Is many q
stick and twig and leaf blow from
the millions Of sage bushes, and
these lying in the cold water for a
time until they reach the screen of
his cistern may not do any harm to
the water.
The Sheep and the Goats
Then, too, on the great plains
there have roamed millions of sheep
and rabbits, and these have all left
more or less of their sign, and when
nature washes the face of the plain,
with its process of spring cleanup,
all things may float more or less in
abundance in the coolie that gathers
its forces into the torrent pouring
across country into the pond or lake.
But let us suppose that the fall rains
rinsed things ON the surface last fall,
and particles floating for a few hours
in the icy water do not cOntaminate
the water, and who can say that they
will even touch the water anyhow.
Everything of that nature may be
on ground high and dry or may be
held in frost among the snowbanks
from which the water oozes. Then
again, it is said that water flowing
in the open for a short distance alb
solutely purifies itself, and the
thought helps some. Anyhow, What
the eye doesn't see the heart need
not grieve over" and who shall say
that the homesteader when he has
screened his snow water thru layer
of wire mosquito netting and few
layers of flour sack has not the best
water in the world!
Are At 1t Now
AS you read this, homesteaders all
over the big desert and up on the
mountain range east of the valley Of
Snake river, are keeping close watch
over the weather for the long-expect-
ed thaw, so they can easily store
few tons or 100 tons of water for
the long dry spell ahead. The Re-
publican worked hard last summer
to find them and to learn how they
are meeting these problems, and re-
quest is made that reports be sent
us promptly giving individual expert
ences with their water systems as
soon as the thaw does its work. A
great deal of space has been given
recently to the subject of bigger
and better water system for Black
foot, but of far greater Importance
is the subject of practical water sys-
TENS for the dry farmers now on
their claims and those that are yet
to come. Those men who have built
cisterns already, are the pioneers for
the greater number of settlers yet
to come and for the denser popula
ton that will yet profit by their ex-
periments and develop water sys-
TENS that shall in each stage of i'm
provement look like great improve
ment over what was used before.
Improvement i'm Cisterns
We predict that the stages of their
development will go down the line
of years something like this: Cis-
terms located just any place; cisterns
located by the side of a draw of
gulch; cisterns located at long dis
lance from the gulch but connected
with an open ditch carefully clean
ed out late in fall; drainage slopes
carefully selected so that little trash
shall reach the drainage ditch and
the cistern; careful attention to the
relation of prevailing winds that may
carry leaves and trash out across the
slopes selected to supply snow water
to feed the ditch; careful attention
to see that no dead ANIMAL shall be
left on the slope where drainage |
from it might reach the cistern; the
use of sack of charcoal in the els
tern to absorb things unsanitary and
keep the water pure; locating the
cistern on ground higher than the
house and stable so the water can
be drawn thru pipes and allowed to
flow into the house and water
troughs instead of drawing it up thru
the scuttle with a bucket appended
to dirty old rope that is gripped
with dirty hands and that is rolled
around about under foot in dust and
dirt while drawing water by the
hand-over-hand method; putting a
water-jacket in the cook stove or the
heating stove or both, so there will