Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-04-13

AS matter of fact, they put his with
drawal of himself down to vagaries of
temperament or causes they could not
imagine, and they grew rather to like
him even as they left him alone. And
| a few of the men of the humber sort
to whom he had been kind on occasion,
and helpful, were stoutly devoted to
! him.
! The idleness of an aimless life did
not appeal TO him even in his off-duty
periods. Doing nothing had no attrac-
| ton. He could not get relief that way.
Even rambling alone about the hills
would not serve. So quick and active
q man, SO vigorous and buoyant
spirit, so strong a body and mind were
not calculated for aimless wandering.
Meade was very accomplished en-
gineer indeed. There was no branch
! of the art about which he did not know
little, although hydraulics and struc-
tural steel were the things that most
appealed to him. He got relief in the
duality of his affections for thesc
branches of his profession. Neither one
of them ever pa1fed on him because ne
did not work monotonously at either of
them. He had q natural instinct for
| topography, and instead of purpose
lessly strolling about the country, he
made careful inspection of the valley
which was to be converted into huge
reservoir by the dam.
| The dam itself was, perhaps, an
eighth of a mile long at the bottom and
touched the receding hill on one side
and the spur of Spanish mesa on the
other at the tOp-a huge mound of
earth with clay core extending from
side to side at the narrowest part of
the valley. When completed it would
be 125 feet high above the old river
bed, with a roadway 20 feet broad on
top of it. Below the dam and on the
low ground between the mesa and
Baldwin's knob the camp, with it's gal
vanized iron shops, bunkhouses, dining
halls, kitchens and officers quarters,
had been erected. The configuratiOn
of the ground was such that, although
it was unusual to put them there, con-
venience had rendered it desirable in
this case.
1t was intended to complete the dam
before the early spring of next year.
which was, if any time In the country
could be SO characterized, the rainy
season. Of course, just as soon as the
dam had begun to rise, the flow of the
Picket Wire below it had been stopped
except when an occasional freshet had
been allowed to pass the undersluice
1t was known that the run-off of the
river in the rainy season of some years
was so small as scarcely to fill the res
ervOir, and it had been decided to store
all the flow of the autumn and winter
so that even if the spring rainy season
were deficient, the beginning of the
next summer would find the reservoir
full and the new irrigation system
could commence operations success
fully.
Vandeventer, like the lost Abbott of
the International, was also a driver,
who spared neither his men nor him
self. The work had proceeded with as
tonishing rapidity, although this was
!
that the spillway, which should have
occupied their attention, had as yet
been only partially excavated Now,
to those ignorant of engineering, an
earth dam may seem a temporary ex-
pedient, although most of the great ir-
rigatiOn dams of the world are of that
character; and everybody knows that
if the water should rise high enough to
overflow an earth dam 1t would not last
longer than it takes to describe its
utter giving way. A flood would sweep
it out of the way at once.
The device whereby possible floods
are controlled and such dangers avert.
ed, consists of broad channel at one
side of the dam, and at such a dis.
tance below it's crest that if, through
any mischance or natural happening
such as the failure of the sluice gates
excessive rains, cloudbursts, or floods
the height of the water is increased
until it promises to overflow the dam
this opening will carry off the surplus
harmlessly. An earth dam without 6
spillway would presage almost certain
destruction to all who lived in the val
ley below it. - -
In the case of the Picket Wire dam
the spillway had to be cut and, in part
blasted out of the mountain side-tha
is, through the spur of the mesa, which
reached down from it's high wal
, towards the narrows. There had beer
q a series Of blunders and mishaps
. which included the explosion of q ship
i ment of dynamite on the railroad, witt
b very disastrous consequences to accom-
q panying rock crushers and mixers, an,
s other machinery. The spillway had no
n been completed. Its opening shouI,
+ have been about twelve feet below tn
I level of the dam. Vandeventer was no
@ responsible, of course. The chief engi
o neer had fumed and protested, but ha
been directed by headquarters to z
l. chead with the other work and tackl
Il the spillway later There was, indeed
\ little reason to hold up the building @
It that particular dam because of tn
} noncOmpletion of the spillway.
/, That was country, so the most d,
( voted inhabitants freely admitted, i
g which it was always safe to bet thu
% it would not rain, no matter no
ID threatening might be the appearanC
1T of the sky for in ninety-nine times o,
1t of hundred the negative would wi
1T the bet. Said inhabitants did not ss
" the hundredth time might compensar
" for all the other failures. The wealth,
o. was like the little girl with the Or
er verbal curl-vhen it did rain thel
Ie was no doubt II. anybody's mind rs
the fact. Sometimes the fountains
to the great deep, which. in Holy Scri
W. turc ut least, extended overhead, wou