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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1907)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, 3IONDAT, JUNE lO, 1907v BARREN LAND MADE FERTILE BY UMATILLA WATER PROJECT 12 TRESTLE. COLD SPJZM I 1 ii v1 TO TUBN 20,000 acres of sage brush east of Umatilla River, Oregon, Into one of the excep tionally fertile areas of America, the United States Reclamation Service Is building an irrigation " system, which when completed In 1910, will cost about C25O.O0O. A small acreage will probably be put under cultivation next year and in 1909 a large quantity of land will be ready for cultivation. This work has stimulated the activities of the area to such an extent that ITS appearance has wholly changed within a I year. In that time the town of Hermis- ton has sprung from the dry plain to a population of nearly 600 persons. Other 1 towns have grown with great rapidity, j Transportation facilities are the best, be ing afforded by the main line of the O. R. & N., the north bank road of the Portland & Seattle, and the Columbia River. The area to be Irrigated lies south of , the Columbia and east of the Umatilla ' River, in a triangular body between the towns of Umatilla, Hermlston and Cold soli consists largely of a sandy loam, at ; present almost wholly covered with sage ! brush, having a somewhat broken, ir regular aunaco. i nis irregularity or sur- lace has probably been largely caused by ( the action of the winds, which for ages We swept across the area and drifted Sound Bridge & Dredging Company, which has almost completed its work. Reservoir a Huge Structure. The storage reservoir Into which the feed canal discharges will hold about 60, 000 acre feet or as much water as would cover 60,000 acres one foot deep. It will be formed by building a dam between 3000 and 4000 , feet long across the gorge at its lower end. The height of the dam will be 90 feet and its maximum width at base about 470 feet. It will be built wholly of gravel and soil with a heavy layer of riprap or paving on the side exposed to the action of the waves. Water will be drawn from the reservoir through a masonry conduit and . gate tower, founded on solid rock, into the canals, which will distribute it over the Irrigated lands. At the northern ex tremity of the dam, a waste channel will be constructed lined throughout with con crete and founded on hard pan or rock. It will have a capacity to discharge not less than 6000 cubic feet of water per second, in the even of heavy run-off from the lands which drain into the reservoir. This wasteway is of unusual ly large proportions, and to one not thoroughly conversant with the dangers of floods it might appear to be un necessarily large. During the past Spring, however, a flood occurred within the area of unprecedented magnitude, and for. a -,-j--, vy v, x ii"4,- v , t fix o hi i'm rl Qr. .V5 - f ffj ) 7ZZ CAAH ii ii I v I UMfo AS: XSSrWj j-w .Av-iv 37 V V ixigrs axe of a. more temporary char acter bat large and commodious. Ex cellent aocommodiataons have been pro vided for t2ne esnploes wtlh thorough sanitary facilities and opportunity for diversion. An excellent mess is pro vided for all bands from the engineers In charge down to the laborers, where food of the best quality is provided at 25 cents per meal. There is a well appointed commissary or storehouse run by the Government, where neces sities such as clothes and boots and luxuries such as cigars, tobacco, can dies and preserved foods can be pur chased at Customary city rates. A hospital camp is also provided for all employes. The general location and arrangement of the Government camp is exceedingly pleasant, and an ex cellent feeling prevails among all em ployes. The amount of money so far alloted for this, project Is $1,000,000. An ad ditional allotment will be required for its full completion. The construction cost is. of course, greatly affected by the general rise in prices of material and labor during. recent years. Con struction work is being done with a special view to permanency and to re ducing the subsequent maintenance ex penses to a minimum. If construction proceeds as now planned, a small acre age may be put under irrigation dur ing 1908, which will be added to heavily during 1909. The entire area will probably receive water during 1910. About 70,000 acres of similar land lying west of the Umatilla River 1b available for reclamation' as a natural expansion of the present proj ect. Preliminary plans for this have been prepared on the basis of utiliz ing the Columbia River as a source of supply, the water being raised by elec tric pumping plants; the power to be transmitted from a suitable power plant on the Deschutes River. Con sideration of this addition to the Uma tilla project must of necessity be de ferred until additional money shall be come available, dependent upon the contributions to the Reclamation fund from continued sales of public lands and from returns to the funds from lands placed under Irrigation. FRUIT GROWERS ASSEMBLE ASTII XGTO -V PRODUCERS HOLD CONVKXTION. Organization for Mutual Benefit the Object of Gathering at Granger. GRANGER, Wash., June . (Special.) A delegate convention of the fruit and produce growers' associations of ZlUah, Granger, Outlook, Sunnyside and Grand view was held in Granger last week. The following named, comprising three mem bers from each association, were present: H. M. Harlan, H. H. Green, H. K. Row land. Amos Bush, B. D. Thompson, George P. Baton, W. H. Norman, A. H. Tost, U. G. Frantx, Naaman Woodin, Carl Colvln. H. E. Nlcolai, E. 1. Stewart, C. R. Gillette and R. R. Cone. Amos Bush was elected president and F. J. Hawn secretary. The object of the meeting was to discuss the plan of fed eration of the different associations so that all products of members may be handled under one management. It de veloped that the time is .not yet ripe for a permanent federation, as several of the local associations recently started have not completed their incorporation. A plan was therefore formulated whereby each jot the local associations was given representation in the management of the Yakima Valley Fruit and Produce Grow ers' Association of Granger, through which organization all products will be handled during the present year or until a permanent federation can be formed. Mr. Roy C. Brock Is now manager of the Granger association and has aroused the interest of the entire Sunnyside dis trict in his plan for local organizations confederated under one strong manage ment. The meeting held today was very successful in every way and promises to work a revolution in the method of handling the farm products of the Sunny side district. The combined membership of the sev eral associations represented exceeds 400 farmers, and is being daily increased by the work of solicitors now in the field. The energies of the association this year will be devoted principally to the hand ling of prunes, peaches, pears, apples, hay and potatoes in straight car ship ments. The question of a starting price on new crop alfalfa was discussed and the general sentiment seemed to favor a minimum of $6 per ton in the stack, but no definite action was taken. Will Have Street Carnival. CHEHA1IS, Wash., June 9. (Special.) Chehalis Is to have a street carnival, be ginning June 17 and ending the 23d, under the auspices of the Pacific Carnival Company. RAIX BRIXGS RE.TOICIXG TO HEARTS OP FARMERS. Big Tield of Late Potatoes Assured, but Too Much Moisture Will Damage Early Cherries. OREGON CITY, Or., June 9. (Special.) Light rains are falling in nearly every section of Clackamas County, and with a falling barometer there is prospect of wet weather continuing for several days. General satisfaction is expressed by farm ers, as the rain of last week was not of sufficient duration to be of material bene fit. Crops generally are in prime condi tion, and with favorable climatic condi tions give forth every promise of a pro Uric harvest. June rains are always bene ficial to late potatoes, and will be wel comed, as there Is a heavy Increase in the potato acreage this year. Farmers in the south end of Clackamas County have planted extensively, because of the late floods in the Sacramento Valley. Corn, tomatoes and other late vegetables will be improved by a moderate rainfall, which will also lay the dust in the county roads. Clackamas has more miles of roads than any other county in the state, and occasional Summer rains are grate fully received. The strawberry season la about at its height, and will soon be at an end, and while a few days' rain may interfere tem porarily with the picking, it will have a tendency to prolong the season, as the berries will not ripen fast without plenty of sunshine. 31any of the Clackamas County strawberry growers are turning their attention to a Fall crop, and last year several growers furnished berries to the local markets until the arrival of the late October frosts. Some fears are entertained for the safe ty of the early crop of cherries, as at the present time there is every indication of a record-breaking yield. The compara tively cool Spring weather has given the early cherries a flavor and quality that cannot be surpassed, but their tenderness cannot withstand a heavy rain. Hop vines are thriving and thus, far have made an unusually rapid growth, and the rain will not be injurious to them. While the rainfall Is generally ap preciated, much rejoicing is expressed over the fact that Jupiter Pluvius re mained In retirement until the close of the Clackamas County Strawberry and Rose Show, which was successfully ter minated last night. QTJlXIiX RODENT NEAR ALBANY First Porcupine in Tears Taken by . Surveying Party. ALBANY, Or., June 9. (Special.) The only porcupine ever seen in this vicinity was captured this week one mile south of -Albany on the bank of the Santiam canal. County Surveyor H. G. Fisher and a party of road viewers locating an addition to a county road effected the capture. The animal was found by two dogs, who attempted to kill it and were promptly filled with quills from its bodyj The men then attacked it with clubs and stunned and captured it. The por cupine was severely wounded and has since died. Its skin will be stuffed by a taxidermist and placed on exhibition in the collection, of curios owned by Dr. J. L. Hill, in this city. The only other por cupine seen in this county in recent years was found about eight years ago a short distance east of Lebanon. Albany Schools Closed. ALBANY, Or., June 9. (Special.) The Albany public schools clossd their year's work last evening, after a successful term. There were no graduates this year from the High School, owing to the fact that the twelfth grade was added this year and the seniors of this year will become seniors in the higher grade next year. the loose sands and soils into long and mostly parallel ridges. Numerous desert entries were taken up in this area, of which one-half can be retained. The other half is to be relinquished and will thus become subject to homestead entry. The farm units will range in size from 10 to 40 acres. The areas retained in pri vate ownership are generally larger, but will undoubtedly be rapidly subdivided. High Average of Sunshine. The climatic conditions of this project are highly favorable for intensive culti vation, the elevation above sea level be ing generally only between 400 and BOO feet, and the proportion of sunshiny days during an average year being unusually high. While undoubtedly considerable al falfa will be raised at first, it is certain that this area is destined to become a heavy fruit producer and that land val ues and population per acre will equal. If not surpass, those of the most favored spots in the Northwestern states. Trans portation facilities are exceptionally fa vorable, the area being traversed by fwo main branches of the O. R. & N. Com pany and the new North Bank Railroad passing by on the opposite side of the Columbia. The Columbia River will af ford ample water transportation and in sure low freight rates. The water Is obtained from the Uma tilla River, a large stream of very ir regular flow. During the Summer months in dry seasons the flow in the river is subject to prior - appropriations for ir rigating lands bordering upon the river. The flood flow of the river is exceptional ly large, and the general plan adopted by the Government Is to divert sufficient water during the period of flood to fill a large storage reservoir located near the southeast corner of the Irrigated lands. This reservoir will be of suffi cient size to hold about two-thirds of the total amount of water needed to ir rigate the lands during an irrigating sea Bon, the remaining one-third being drawn directly from the river prior to the dry months. The headgates of the feed canal leading from the Umatilla River to the storage reservoir are situated about two miles above Echo on the Umatilla River. They are built of concrete and steel and are well protected by riprap and paving. Some little distance below the head gates on the canal there is another concrete structure called the sand gates, which are designed to check the passage of sand from the river into the lower canal. The canal is generally an ordi nary earth ditch capable of carrying 300 cubic feet per second. Portions of it in the vicinity of Echo are built along steep, rocky side hills where it was necessary to line the canal with concrete. The total length of the feed canal from the diver sion dam to the reservoir is about 26 miles. At one point it crosses the tracks of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company by means of a solid steel con crete culvert. Near the town of Echo there will be placed a steel gate so ar ranged that during times of emergency it may be rapidly dropped, permitting the canal water to waste into the Uma tilla River, entirely shutting off the flow of the canal. The contract for building the diversion dam and feed canal was awarded hv the Government to the Puget TyTr. r - . n M -'yrsvc j x WVi? jvazrs r&fi&w short time the volume of water flowing down the canyon at the dam site ap proximated closely the capacity of the proposed spillway. To prevent percolation of water below the dam foundations, a trench has been excavated down to solid rock bottom. Concrete walls have been built on the ledge to act as cut-offs, and the entire trench, which is SO feet wide on the bot tom. Is being refilled with carefully selected water-tight material The Gov ernment engineers generally anticipate that the percolation or leakage through a dam of this kind will be comparative ly low, possibly not appreciable, and will be confined wholly to subsurface flow. Construction at the dam is now being actively prosecuted by - a large force of men in Government employ. A 70-ton steam shovel delivers gravel directly into railroad cars, which are hauled a dis tance of about one and one-half miles to the dam. The trains run over a 60-foot the dam, where the material Is rolled and spread. Soil to mix with the gravel and to add to the water-tight qualities of the dam is excavated by means of a large orange-peel excavator and loaded into dump wagons. Leading directly from the dam and from the feed canal is a network of smaller canals and pipes, which convey the water to the lands irrigated.- Many of these canals have already been built or are in process of building. Owing to the irregular surface of the irri gated ' lands it has become necessary to distribute a large part of the supply through pressure pipes or Inverted pipe siphons. These pipes are now being manufactured at Hermlston of con crete reinforced with steel wire. The pipe is made up In 8 foot lengths and will be hauled from the pipe yards to the points on the work where it will laid. The methods used in the manu facture of this ' pipe are to some ex- trestie and dump directly from it onto Jtent novel and present -many points of Jat Cold Springs dam site where build- interest." The pipe forms are of steel plate and are built in sections that can be readily put together. The steel reinforcement used in the pipe con sists of a continuous coll of steel wire spirally wound, -which is imbedded in the concrete. It is hoped by the Gov ernment officials that the cost of plac ing this pipe will be considerably low er than has been usually attained for similar work of this class. A number of concrete ; structures have been built or started over the irrigated lands to provide for drops and turn-outs in the various canals which intersect the area. Headquarters at Hermlston. The Government has established its headquarters building at Hermlston, where there is a well appointed office and several residence buildings and storehouses. There is another camp W A S H I N G T. O N !T Jm a UTT iTy J- ppold Springs Ip'-;, township It- v xLbJ Vfep ' I COLD SP?'MGS f i ni I I f Wrrr r 7 8 iermision . 'SS- XJ 22 Jt M i NORTH pUrruLtiJXcL 36 T" Nh.FojLers ; -jtl LjorM.is " elwCl10 T0W-TSH'P 1 i, o i ' 3 4 rsT ; o f 1 1 ' 1 i NORTH , LEGEND --S:5r .1 Land that can be cowered bopen canals NSt Land that can be covered by inverted siphons " "OSl. j RANGE- 28 EAST RANGE 29 EAST HAP OF AKEA TO BE IRRIGATED, SHOWING COLUMBIA RIVES KAILKOAD AND WATCB CANALS,