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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (May 11, 1904)
Wednesday, May u, 1904 THh bUMPTER MINhR S1UPEND0US IRRIGATION o . r Ti - . oGCrGTflry 0T I (IB int6ri0r Has Approved Plans for Payette And Boise Rivers. The Secretary of the Interior has tontatlovly approved pinna for a ' stupendous lirlgntlnu project to lie! constructed In the valleys of Payette I and Hoiso rlvura, iu southuestcru Idaho. Tlila information will hp , especially interesting to those who! aro fiimlliar with the publications of thu United Stated (Seological Stitvey. ' Quo of the most recent geologic fo- lios issued by the Survey is that minting to thu Nam pa quadrangle, which is situated near the lower end of Snake Klver valley, mostly iu Canyon couuy, Idaho. Mr. Wnldcmnr Llndgruu, author of the folio, states that iu this region, owing to thu lii'k of rainfall, vegetation Is scant, and tlineiitlru quadrangle may be called a sagu-brush desert. He calls attention to the fact that, with the exception of the Hood plains of the lloiae and I'ayuttc rivers, tributaries of Snake river, whom there is a natural sub- irrigation that keeps vegetation grow Iuk, nud aomo places along Willow cieek. whero underground water nro-l"'"' rlilm xlmllnr .iil.lr. l.n.Hm, II,,,,.., rlciiltural lauds of the quadrangle must bo irrigated. Iu viuw ot this great need, it is gratifying to learn that work Iihs beeu begun to bring under one com prehensive national iirlgatiou project ,'I7J,000 acres of laud, or more than the total irrigated area of Arboun. Washington, or Mexico. In com pliance with a request from the majority of thu landowners of thu I Holao and Payette valleys, thu Sec-, rotary of the Interior has ordered a cuutiuiiHUCo of the surveys nud in vestigations preliminary to actual coustruclon work. A sufficient sum for tbe completion of the work will ; bn set aside aa soon as tbe settelrs perfect tbe uecesiary oraguizatlou to secure to tbe reclamation fund tbe return of tbe money required for tbe undertaking. Tbe project comprises two features, a masonry dam iu tbe Payette river and works for tbe diversion of water from lioise river. Associated witb tbe dam in Payitte river is a caual on each side of the stream, tbat on tbe south aide connecting with a large pumping plaut. The dam will be ninety feet high, 00 feet long un top, aud l'J.'i feet long on tbe bottom. Tbe capacity of the reservoir will bo 100,000 acre feet. .The north side caual will have a longh of twenty miles, the south side forty miles. Tbe estimated cost of these works is 1, '200,000. fly menus of them 1000 cubic feet of watet may be diverted every second for the irriga tion of 150,000 acres of laud. Tbe works for tbe diversiou of waters from tbe Boise river couslsts of a dam ten feet high, 400 feet long on top, aud 400 feet ou tbe bottom, constructed of concrete, steel and timber. Tbe capacity of tbe reser voir will be 100,000 feet. Two diversion canals, ona on eacb side of tbe river, will bate a combined length of 135 miles and a bottom width varying from forty-five to ninety feet. The estimated coat nf thlssectinu of the project it i?'J,000, 000, tunkiug he coat of the entire project gVJOO.OOO. No other region of the United States pieseuta 11 moiu attractive Held for the enlgncera of the icclnuiathiii service The lands in these valleys "e nt "u levntlnu tanging from '-, 100 to '2,800 feet and the climate ia pleasant the jenr round. The uintiis; ate modftntc, aa the tlieruiouieter I rarely tails to 7eto, and the valleys arc piotected fiom wluds. The sum mers are long and warm, and with the help ot lirlgntlou, piomote thu moat rapid vegetable growth. Thu soil la rich nud ptoductive,nriiiplcd to all the fruits and cereals of the temperate zone. All deciduous fruits and lien It's produce abundantly. Large iiiiautltles of apples mid prunes are shipped to eastern markets, where they brlug the highest prices. Since the government withdrawals note made under this project, In, tending settlers have Hied on moie than i:i,000 acies. An especially ' inturestiiiK feature iu connection I with this great wmk is the fact that 'Its construction means not only a vast Incieaae iu the cultivated area ot this part ot thu state, but also the ll'ial settlement of those vexed ques- tious that are now continually rising iu these valleys from thu ell'oit to make a limited amount of water do aervlco on what Is practically an un limited amount ot laud. It means the passing of thu piomoter and ditch manipulator and the coming of the Irrigator aud luisiucss man. It means ultmately improved agrcultutil con iinu, Mler tianaportatlon tacilitles "' "' 'ry kiiiii. .iuovo " mentis llOllleS Ulld II livillK for a quarter of a million people The Nampa folio which described thu physiographic features of a part of this iuteipstiiig region, may ho obtained for twenty-lire cents on application to thu Director of thu United States (ieologlcal Survey, Washington, I). C. METALLIFEROUS MATRIMONY About four years ago I bad a 00- days uptiou on us flue a body of Arizona womau as ever did tbe Jigger act over a washboard or mucked out a dougb pau. No better article evor emanated from tbe stope of virtuous felicity. At oue timu we bad fully decided to close tbe deal, but before I could get a patent, tbe ground began to creep. For tbe first thirty days wo drifted aloug iu the rarest soft carbonates of huninn beatitude tbat ever went over thu tram. The shade of grecu crept iu, morglug Iu to crystalized jealousy, aud before I could timber up the misunderstand ing, we bad a small cave, nud thu stope was half full of tbe black oxide of discord. This stope bad beeu worked not far from thu breast of tbe drift, as we hud fouuil a flue buucb of the chlorides of perfect contentment at tbat point. After this little cave, we made up aud proceeded on our way, but pretty soon tbe couutry became rather well sprinkled witb tbe sulphides of mu tual distrust. All this time tbe original locator did not seem to relish tho idea of taking me luto partnersthlp in tbe capacity of sou lu-law,aud be sided witb a cowboy who bad a lien ou tbe proposition yeara before. Tbe cow boy, doubtless at tbe old man's in stigation, filed an adverse on my iippliciitkin for patent. Notwith standing all of tlilr, 1 was able to olitain an extension on the option for ninety days. Dining the tit nt thirty days thereafter, 1 sunk for thu sulphides of leconcilllMtlon, I einas i-ui, in uiu nope in sinning a leuge of the old gold sentiment, but Iran I into a eongloiueinle composed of per- vetaitv and dlaliieliniition. ceninnled with gossip; 1 diiftcd along In the hope ot lludltig conlldence. Occasionally a thin streak of the talc of coqtiutry would ctep In and boom my chicks to the liui'dtid mark, but they soon fell with that "dull sickening thud" that characterizes I a 100-poiiiid bar of blister copper as they dump it into the loading pit at the old Copper (jiir-eii smolter. At last 1 raised, in the hopes of catching a body of the oiigiual sur face carbonates ot fond recollection at least, but nil) into a gob of dis aster, and congiatulate myself that the syenite of suicide did nut catch mo as 1 slid to the bottom of thu mi in p in despair. As I climbed painfully up the ladder of defeat and humiliation. I was once more encouraged to live by getting into good air, untainted with the powder smoke ot tlcapcintiiiu, uuchoked by thu dual of dlstruts, and riienioved from all those tonus of sttlfoiind disappointment which me encountered Iu the shafts, tunnels, diitts, slopes, whrea, lalscs. spins, dips and angles of matrimony, and from all other forms of human mlseiy with which tint lelatlnu is gobbed up. I evidently started out ou the con tact between gullibility and tliitiillou. I followed close the tlelid of suscep tibility after thu indications ot com mon sense had angled (II aud I'litu rally broke into an Immense deposit of tough luck. Shu made a powder monkey or me nil the way ihiough. Now, 1 realizu that 1 shall never havo the pleasuiu of shoving u wicker work car aloug thu tiall of life full of thu concentrates of croup and summer complaint. Nuvur shall thu aroma of the golden pumpkin piu provide u silver lining for the cloud that hangs over my dis mal shack. Never shall 1 cease to rellect upon thu beauties of a sorting labia loaded down with thu prime attnrc tious of domestic glory as 1 muck out my boarding house dinner bucket, with Its same oil dose that would cause an angel to weep or drive tho devil to suicide. Never shall 1 be fired for falling to be at tho collar at tbe appointed time, then hired back and paid off iu caresses nf forlgve uess. 1 bavo pulled out nf tbe field, the property has gone into the bauds of that cowboy receiver. Since that, six new extensions have been added to the combination, aud, after all, the oldest one was named for me. Alley in Clifton Copper Ago. 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