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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1911)
THE SUNDAY OTTE G 0STAX, FUlt TliATTP ATjrjtTTST 6, IOTT. K -ssssaassssassssss ss OLD DAM IS ROGUE VALLEY SAVIOR . . n .1 ;i cfrnTurdT in Withstand Floods, to Lroiaen unit viaauci ftouum- wi"6' - , , - Harness Waited Power and Distribute Water to Thousands of Acres That Have Long Cried for Jdoisture. - c- 3V ... - . " .iji f : . - : :.$ - - ' .'. t -n ;:' . s . ' ..,.-,. 'J . ' 1( - -s -.. - ?;. ; w R. V . !i. ' " . --v '-.-.- " . : , . . " ti'.. , ' - . . jj - ' " -zzz - , -x- rzz - ' --vu.v...w. f -tz -.. x. -iww "k : . " - . jpJP i - - - .v . rrrrjxm r 1 r -rJ'niiliJ skiiiJ 'iUliHiJ lilLUiJJ: llfinQ ICOLDEMDR I FT 0 A M pi Jj, i .. .jMj -SJ f!fv :..i-j,.t j.W fcx y ?T (. H. CLEMENTS. GRANTS PAS. Or.. Aug. S. (Sp clal.) A complete ytm that will lrriitte Bogu Rlrer Valley, and lnrrM Its product reneia 100 per rrnti la the objective point sought by capital, fully rtipported by the commer cial clubs and bualneo men's organlxa tlons. The means by which the' lower part f the valley Is to be made rich and "of lasting importance may be found in the asset of the Golden Drift Tam. a structure erected a number of years afro across Rogue River at a point where the owners mifht take water for mln lr.s: purposes. To meet the crowing demands and thrift of catchlns; capital this old dam Is to be built with solid concrete with walls that will last be yond the present reneratioa that Is Jeadlns; the way for the permanent prosperity that follows water and soil rightly worked. This dam when completed will have m total length from bank to bank of 4S0 feet. .On its decks will be built a pun-.phouse. IOxJO feet, that will supply the upper ditches that dins to the hill side until they reach the points of dis tribution. The power-house will be 61 by 124. and will be filled with machin ery that will develop electricity from the river that will pass beneath In ar tificial flumes to which turbine wheels will be connected. The main spillway of the dam will have a clearance of 4:0 feet with a height of 15 feet irre spective of the flanh boards. The power-house will stand 11 feet above the rplllway. At intervals' along the massive con crete structure emergency flood gates will be built. Of these there will be 13. considered ample tr take care of the surplus water that might come aralnst the works In a sudden storm or hlrh water. Should a storm arise, and all the gates had to be opened, they will have an emptying capacity of Tt.000 second feet, which, so far as the record Is concerned, will give the required re lief without any immediate strain on cross sections of the structure. The old spillway had only 17.000 second feet, and as a consequence the dam was wrecked every year by constant pres sure greater than it could stand. Largrst Pump to Serve. Five thousand horsepower will be de veloped and devoted to pumping water Into the several ditches that are In tended to cover the high lands. In the power-house will be 10 powerful vertl ral turbines, that will be hooked up to lumps that have not lesa than a total capacity of :0.t)' gallons a second. The l-truext pump will belch forth 00O gal lons! a minute. This large piece of ma chinery destined to wet the dry lands weiss tons without piping and con rectior.s, and Is the largest pump rrianu factured. The seven vertical turbines and the six horttontal turbines In the pomer-house will be connected directly wni five generator units and made to operate tandem or independent. Be reath the spillway for 410 feet a large cool passageway with 10 windows will e prbvlded. where, at all limes, the machinery and river working harmoni ously may be seen at a glance. In the spillway will be 10 horlsontal tnrblnes with generators attached. From these force power for traction purposes will be stored and sent out over wires to be nsed in the homes, the mines and factories and for light and heating purposea At Us present stage cf progress about 10 men are being em ployed at the headworks and on the ditches. Cry for Water Herded. Everything Is don to advance the country's Interest and supply the fanners who are anxiously waiting for the ditches to be extended Into their neighborhood. The prejudices against the u.-ve of water on land have been swept aside, and now the clamor is for water, with not enough In sight to satisfy the commercial needs. At pres ent the Golden Drift dam is supplying the basins on the south side of the river, and north and east of Grants 1'asa. On the north the ditch is In op eration for six miles. This piece of highland ditch will be extended four miles by next season. Then It will reach out Ipto the lower valley with laterals and cover a territory of 4000 acres. The ditch has a carrying capa city of four feet on bottom, eight feet on top. and three feet deep, ana Is con nected with umps that fill a 21-lncn pipe. This stretch of dltcb is 200 feet In elevation, and not only supplies the farmers and fruitgrowers but all the gardens and the city Inhabitants are receiving benefit. Along this canal Just north of Grants 1'ass will be placed two ponderous pumps driven by electricity generated at the dam. which will throw water Into a second ditch 10 feet higher and cover the entire bssln around Grants rasa, and take a course westwardly across the ssdJle hack hills and empty Into the Merlin basiO, For tha coming sessoa the Jones Cree territory will bo sup plied with laterals. This ditch will be 160 feet above the river and will be at tached to a pump t the dam- A 23 Inch, five-step high lift centrifugal pump will send (K0 gallons a minute through the steel artery that will pro Vide Jones 'Creek farmers with water. A like supply will be diverted into the Frultdale ditch, which now has seven miles In operation, and is one of the prettiest sections around Grants Pass. From the dam there is already con structed a gravity tlltch three miles long. 11 feet on the bottom. 18 feet on the top and six feet deep. To open this gravity canal was a Titanic task, that required powder to overcome the difficulties met In the first 1000 feet, which is tunneled through solid granite. Dltcb Nearly Completed. At the point of diversion two steel gates, six by nine feet will supply the Intake, Thin'' .ditch Is nearly com pleted to the east side of the city, and when extended belo-a: , Into the deep sandy soil it will b the largest supply ditch through the territory to be watered. This ditch by the coming season will be extended nve miles De low town and will then furnish water to 5000 acres now under riign state or cultivation. . On this ditch, two miles below Grants Pass will be another pumping plant with a four-step pump to raise the tvater Into a highland ditch that will supply the lower bssln In and around Merlin not otherwise supplied. This basin includes about iooo acres of land, and will not be under Irrigation until 113. as the con cern furnishing the meins for carrying out the plan of watering the whole valley cannot possibly complete the laterals before that time. From this main gravity dltfh the water will be diverted across Kogu River near the Railroad bridge, where It will wind its way down the south side of the valley under the force of gravity, and freshen lopo acres or more of dead area. The company now has one plant that reels off 24.000 horse power. By next season, or sooner If the work can be consistently Completed on time, this horsepower will be doubled to 6ut)0 at low stage of water and 1000 at normal or above. By 1911 the full complement of power will have been developed to 14.000 horsepower, which will be utlllxej for lrrlgstlon. That means that 10.000 acres will be offsetting the present outside-buying of forage, vegetables and early garden truck, and many other things that are lacking owing to the tempting prices to raise fruit only. Plnce June li the new company has put in 11 miles of canals, and before the end of this irrigation season. 1 miles wlU have been completed. That will represent the head ends of three of the main canals of the system. . Fix canals will mark the progress for 111 and 10 main canals by 1U. All the highland ditches are supplied with gates to carry off tha superfluous water at every natural gulch or creek. AY as to Power HaineMcd. Every precaution is taken to make the entire system a permanent asset of Josephine County. For the coming season the ditch covering the big flats between Applegate River and Rogue River will be connected -at the diver sion point at the dam with a 11-Inch pipe and the water lifted by a low pressure pump with a capacity of 1S.00O gallons a minute. This supply ditch will be Sxl2x4 and will reach over 10. 000 acres, which Includes Jerome Preirle and part of the triangle of Murphy. All the power Is developed by water running over the dam: In fact, it Is wast power waiting to be harnessed. From the waste flow under the spill way enough power can be generated from the turbines to keep the pumps going day and night with little care and watching. Once the system and machinery are Installed the main costs have been overcome and the result will be a handsome Income on one side and 100 per cent Increase In the wealth and gain to land holders and producers. The best-optnloned men argue that Rogue River Valley must produce more, the necessities of life must be raised and In surplus quantities. Every farmer must be a producer and shipper Instead of a buyer. Home industries must be encouraged. The great de mand for water and the moral support being lent to capital has grown out of an Investigation. A check has been put on th want and needs of the cltl xeni. and It has been found by actual figures that Rogue River Valley, due to neglect of diversified farming, is paying out to other Tommunltlss sum thst stagger. Th Valley towns hav received this year cars of potstoes and onions. 22S car of hay and th sesson on .forage has just begun. i32 car of nou.r r 9. rf west' s ; :t,:'3 - - :: 'W::;.s::V fci:il;" uM.---m I m, i ml r-r if iy ! . r .. t i . A v : f. . ... !".. -ievn U - i : ;? i --i.. - -'i : i , lwsl - 4 - r.-vm;a 1? ,-srr -w jj j" '.''rax-- jjzzzz:u: icr cszsg La feJKSSi'-- "1. - if. ).. 4 s ii and mlllfeed. three cars of eggs and butter. S cars of fruit. IS cars of vege tables and 12 cars of canned goods, making a total of 47 cars during th year closing June 20. These figures represent an enormoua amount of trmnet- mtA no end of freight rates. commissions and profits. There was a time when Rogue River Valley produced whatever it wanted. its mills turned oui iiour, threshers turned out grain, and the gardens supplied the wants and needs of the people. The soils or BOgue nurr be divided into classes, including bot tom lands, prairie, adobe, granite and occasional sand and clay: in ome places a marl of reddish color, in which decomposed granite, feldspar, mica, chloride of Iron, clay and vegetable matter have been aggregated by geolo gical action. The highest temperature range above 100, with an average of perhaps 0. The lowest temperature range along- 40 In Winter and 70 In Summer. It may be said that half a million acre are In a blsh tate of cul tivation, and perhaps that much more will. In time, be opened to farming. , Ditches Traced to Miners. Th early' history of local Irrigation began with the wasta waters not used by pioneer n,iiner in running placers, who. after working over the ground, frequently abandoned the ditches or old them for a mall figure outright to settlors, who made permanent use of the rights acquired. The Golden Drift dam was thrown across Rogue River three miles east of thl city In 1902 by a company organised to mine above the river on the flats, called the Dry Dlgslngs. A great part of the hillside was washed over a a result of hydraullo process nsed. The concern appropriated for such use 3000 miners' inches, which have been greatly in creased by succeeding corporations now managing affairs. These water rights have been guarded with vigi lance, as they are sufficient to control the supply In. the lower part of th valley. In 107 th lull in mining business came, and, as the territory eemed to be worked out. It was con cluded to turn the mining Industry and the capital available into an Irriga tion project that would gradually. UUt In the whole fertile valley above and below the city. The volume of water was there, but ditches and franchises were necessary to etart In motion the big pumps that had so long been used to aid In scouring the placer holdings. New water filings were made for irri gation In 1908. The plans "looked good;" In all eight new water filings were made to shut out any other Cor poration that might attempt to enter the field at a critical moment of devel opment work sure to follow. Flood Destroys Work in 1809 several miles' of dltche were built by the farmers, and th opening season's outcome was looked upon with much pride. Mass meetings were held, and water flowed everywhere In copious Quantitle to Illustrate th usefulness of irrigation to mall tracts. It waa In these gushing times that many gardeners and truck-ralaers around town took advantage of the act and paid fa an acr Jut to watch thing grow,' and reap th xtra in come. The season had been propitious, and the following year was to be along broader lino. Dltche would b ex tended and general improvements would be made along the supply points. But in January an unforeseen event crushed the life out of plans, the big dam weakened under , a heavy flood, and as a result a Urge portion of It went to ruin. The big pumps that had done duty in flashing the dry lands, went down in the rush, and have never been recovered; although' divers haye been employed to ferret thera out. Tha Golden Drift Company was not In shape to rebuild the dam, and the farmers' organisation was not strong enough, as Its funds had been exhaueW ed in building ditches and In contract ing with the Golden Drift Company for the works and dam site, which fell through when the,, disastrous flood came. The situation was serious, and could not be coped with immediately, and as a sequence of mishaps the en tire plant Btood'open to capital that would take hold of It' and bring about restoration. Too much money had al ready been spent in letting the valu able rights degenerate, yet the farm ers' . organisation could not touch It. owing. to financial conditions, and be sides th ditches and franchise .were I - 1 I . 9 1 " 1 1 v'!TOT7rr. all they could manage safely. Aa a consequence the patrons that had been served had to go back to dry farming and berry raising In the season of 1910. It was a gloomy period, water had been the life of the community, and to step backward galled the community, be sides It gTeatly lessened the Income of hundreds of families that were de pendent on the soli for a living. A few of the stockholders In the old organization started anew to furnish valley residents with water. The minority stockholders were not long active until tha case cam Into court In the shape of an equity suit, with a receiver in charge. Despite the liti gation the court allowed the work to proceed under Its supervision and that of a receiver, who has or will expend $40,000 this year In reparlng the dam with solid concrete. Full faith and credit is placed in the results. Under a system of irrigation pota toes will Increase their yield 250 per cent; cabbage from three to five times the usual amount realized on dryland process. anl all other vegetables In like proportion. Every orchard and garden will treble and doubl Its yield.. and the population will increase with an enduring satisfaction. The first season's growth of alfalfa and clover will pay a net return to the pro ducer of twice what It cost to get the water for that. year. Rogue River Valley ships to outside points 500 cars of apples, pears and peaches. In re turn the consumption by man and beast requires shipment of S47 cars of products Into the 'valley. Is it any wonder the business communities are readily supporting irrigation projects? Common sense teaches them it's for their best Interest and advancement, .