Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1922-04-14

= the western boundary line of Arizona for distance of four hundred miles. and then flows into the Republic O. Mexico.
 This land was thickly populated be- fore the Pyramids were built These an- cient peoples lived and worked before Romulus and Remus were suckled. They made jewels and ornaments of gold brought tribute back to the city of Rome. We have no way of learning their origin how long they stayed, or when and why they left. But the Hand which formed this region has placed us here in their stead. and it's future de- bends upon how carefully we plan and how we'll we build.
 In compliance with House Bill 6S77, Herbert Hoover. Secretary of Commerce. represents the Government by the selec- tion of President Harding as Chairman of the Colorado River Commission. The Commissioner from this State is MT w. S. Norviel. This Colorado River Com mission has recently held conferences in the seven States involved, commencing at Phoenix. Arizona, on March 18th and ending at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 2, 1922. The purpose of these confer ences was to enable the seven interested States to arrive at a suitable compact one that will do justice to all parties concerned and probably avoid endless and expensive litigation. This compact is not to be a simple on ebetween seven men but it is to be compact between seven States with their multitude of conflicting interests. with the United States as the empire to protect impor- tant interests of it's own.
 There are many complicated legal as well as engineering problems involved in the Colorado River project. Any lit igation which may arise which would affect the rights of any of these seven States would have to be commenced and finished in the United States Supreme Court. If it be found impracticable to look into the future far enough to ad- judicate by a compact the rights of all the seven States, 1t might be we'll and it has been suggested that litigation holiday of twenty or thirty years be declared the Boulder Canyon Dam be built, and the rights of the States be threshed out in the future.
 Secretary Hoover has called this Col orado River project the greatest water storage and reclamation project that the world has ever known. The Boulder Canyon Dam is merely the beginning. The complete development of the Colo rado River involves the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars and the building of perhaps dozen dams, and involves a task which cannot be com pleted within one generation. It seems to be the consensus of opinion among those who are best informed that the most urgent, the mos important single undertaking is the building of the Boulder Canyon Dam. Sentiment. as de- veloped i2 the various conferences which have beC1 held, seems to be that the project ought to be founded upon four in the following order: First the primary requirements of cit izens, such as a domestic water supply, Second, flood control to protect such regions as Imperial Valley from the danger of floods; Third. to impound large quantities of water for use for the reclamation and irrigation of lands now classified as desert or arid lands; Fourth, to develop immense quantities of hydro-electric power for mining. man ufacture transportation, and a multitude of other uses. The Reclamation Service says that the Boulder Canyon project is capable of storing water enough to ir- rigate 4, ,000, 900 acres. This water would probably be divided among the seven States in proportion to their ability to turn it to their immediate use. Dir ector Davis is authority for the state ment that the Boulder Canyon Dam would store the continuous flow of the Colorado River for eighteen consecutive months. It would be about seven hun dred feet high 16S. feet thick. approx'- mately 165 to 700 feet long. with base down to bedrock, which at Boulder Can yon is 131 feet below the surface of the earth. It is estimated that there would be sufficient water in this reservoir to irrigate two and one-half million acres of land in the upper states and mil lion and a half in the lower states. It would create the largest inland fresh water lake in the United States and would develop no doubt within few years into world renowned pleasure resort. It is almost impossible to esti- mate the wealth which such project would bring to the Colorado River Basin. but the Reclamation Service says that it would reclaim not less than four million acres of land which is now prac- tically worthless. If each acre can pro- duce only fifty dollars a year the an nual return from the water which Is now going to waste would be two hum dred million dollars year. Director Davis has estimated that the dam, gen erating plants and transmission lines may be built for ninety million dollars: For good measure we will say hundred million. Would it be a bad investment to make where you could put in one doie lar and get back two dollars each year? There could also be developed fully four hundred thousand horsepower of hydro electricity each year. This would bring in a few more millions each year. It has been estimated that enough hydro-eiec- tricity can be produced from the Colo needs to be turned now or ever VIII pc turned on the Pacific Coast. :.
 There are also many side issues or this project some of them very impor- tant to our government and even nec- essary to the public defense in time ot war; for instance, our government dur inc the late war. spent over a hundred million dollars for nitrates purchased in South America. Scientists tell us that nitrogen can be manufactured from the air with the power developed on the Colorado River and not only manufac- tured but manufactured in larger quan- titles than our government would ever have any use for. For instance. some time during the year 1917. one of our navy colliers, the "Cyclops", disappeared from the face of the sea, and this boat, with its entire crew, has since that date