Newspaper Page Text
g LATEST MARKET REPORT 0
S FURNISHED BY
J. M. BALSZ
g LATEST MARKET REPORT
g FURNISHED BY
E. F. SANGUINETTI
Cotton I5c
S Milo Maze, ton $42.50
Fetereta, ton $42.50
g Alfalfa hay, ton $18.00
5 Barley, ton $50.00
SENTINEL
5 Cattle Gc to $y2c $
X Hogs 7c to 11c
g Lambs 15c v
o Turkeys 24c g
X Chicks 13c X
g Eggs 2oc g
FEARLESS CHAMPION OF CITY OF YUMA, YUMA PROJECT
AND YUMA COUNTY
r
VOLUME 47
ENGINEER W. W. SCHLECHT HERE
FOR MESA WORK
YUMA, ARIZONA, THURSDAY,. MARCH 1, 1917.
CANTU MEXICAN SOLDIERS NOW
CAMPED AT BORDER
NUMBER 9.
ARIZONA
As further evidence of the fact that the Washington
authorities are losing no time in beginning operations on the
Yuma Mesa it is a great pleasure to be able to state through
the columns of the ARIZONA SENTINEL that Consulting
Engineer W. W. Schlecht, regarded as one of the most emi
nent engineers in the U. S. Reclamation Service has been
Project Manager Lawson, W. H. Shorey, R. M. Priest,
Judge J. H. Westover and B. F. Fly, Setting the
First Bench Mark on Yuma Mesa, April 17, 1916.
in Yuma since last Saturday morning hard at work on the
problems that confront the government in placing water
on our beloved Yuma Mesa.
It was my pleasure to accompany Mr. Schlecht on the
Mesa last Saturday afternoon in order that he might make
a superficial examination of the enginering problems that
he will be called upon to solve. It was his first visit to the
mesa, though he has been intimately connected with the Re
clamation Service ever since the reclamation of the arid
lands of the west was begun under the supervision of the
secretary of the interior. The greater portion of his time
has been spent on northern projects, his most recent assign
ment being that of project manager of the Malta, Mont., pro
ject. Consulting Engineer Joseph Jacobs was recently here
in Yuma and it was thought at that time that he would be
permanently assigned to assist in the Mesa auxiliary pro
ject, but on account of other important work he had already
begun it was finally determined to send Mr. Schlecht in his
place, and he is here.
"It is a wonderful possibility, one of the grandest I ever
saw," was his answer to my question as to what he thought
of the mesa idea. "It will be a great pleasure for me to be
identified with this work, and everything on earth I can do
to hasten its completion will be done," he said.
He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mr. Blanchard,
the reclamation statistician, who is due here the second
week of this month. The two will then determine upon what
lines the land will be laid out, whether in the regular rect
angular style, or whether it will be along the line of con
tours, diagonals and the like. In the meantime Mr. Schlecht
will devote his time to a careful study of the topographical
maps prepared last year after the first bench mark was set,
and studying the estimates of cost that have been prepared
under Project Manager Lawson's supervision.
It harly seems possible thatthe public sale of the Mesa
lands can be held before the falf of this year. Matters could
be rushed to a point where the sale could take place in mid
summer, but that would probably do us more harm than
good. By fall the Yuma Heights Orange Grove -will be in
the pink of condition, for it but recently got the first real
pruning, at the hands of Chester Dewey, that it ever had,
and at present time more work is being done to care for the
grove than it has received in the last ten years combined.
This should make the grove a most attractive place by the
time the lands are offered for sals, for the grove will be a liv
ing advertisement of what the Yuma Mesa lands are capable
of producing.
Engineer Schlecht will find that the people of Yuma are
greatly interested in his assignment to our community, and
I venture to say they will give him a most cordial welcome
wherever he goes. "
ARMY NEWS AND NOTES '
FAITHFUL SOLDIER DIES
Sargeant Frederick Bush, Company I, Fourteenth U.
S. Infantry, died last Friday in the local army hospital of
heart failure. While he had been on the sick list for quite
a while, yet his death came as a shock to the entire regiment.
Sgt. Bush had served continuously for eighteen years,
and only a short time ago he had been recommended for
honorable retirement on account of failing health. His is
the first death that has been recorded among United States
troops in Yuma. Company I, now stationed at the border,
is considered one of the crack companies of the Fourteenth,
and Sgt. Bush was regarded as one of its most trusted sol
diers. There is nothing definite about the construction of the
proposed army cantonment. Captain Harris, in charge of
the matter, has not received actual orders to proceed with
its construction, but he is still looking for suitable grounds
to construct the many frame buildings in the event it is fi
nally determined to go ahead with the original plans.
The guns taken away from the Ackenbaur brothers and
(Continued on Page Four)
It should be o source of satisfaction to Yuma Valley citi
zens to know that Governor Esteban Cantu has stationed a
full company of his regular and most trusted soldiers just
below our border on this side of the river, where only a week
ago a band of Villistas of upwards of-fifty were camped for
two or three days.
This is in exact accord with the information I sent the
Associated Press Tuesday of last week. Sixty well mounted
and well armed men composed' the detachment triat reached
the Sonora side of the river last Sunday. It was reported
on last Tuesday that an additional detachment of a like num
ber would join the first detachment, making a full company
of Cantu cavalry on this side of the river. The soldiers cross
ed in skiffs forcing their mounts to swim. They arrived di
rectly opposite our out-post Monday morning and made
rather an imposing parade on their side of the border line.
The citizens living across the line in Sonora can now go
about their business with some degree of safety, though
they have been very apprehensive ever since it was known
that a band of Villistas were depredating in that section of
the country. They have been in that vicinity for the past
month or more, gradually augmenting their numbers, and
taking horses and cattle at will until it seemed they would
actually attempt a raid into American territory. .Governor
Cantu has ever proven the friend of the American people
and the fact that he has sent a full company of his trusted
cavalrymen across the Colorado means nothing more nor
less than that he does no propose to permit bandits to get
within gun-shot of his territory. The fact that some of his
own men recently deserted and joined the Villistas has made
him all the more determined to put a stop to the Villista ac
tivities in this section of the country.
In the meantime Captain Hartigan with Company I,
Fourteenth infantry is stationed just inside the American
boundary and ready to give a good account of himself and
men should the Villistas attempt to commit depredations on
American soil. It is the general impression, however, that
the Villistas have started on their long march toward Her
mocillo, where they assured the Cantu deserters they were
destined to go.
It was reported from Ajo -Tuesday of this week that a
battle took place last Saturday at Sonoita between 130
Carranza soldiers and 42 Villistas during which there
were several men on each side - wounded. The Villistas
made their escape from the town which they have held for
the past several months and broke into two bands, one ma
king to the south and the other going west. It is presum
ed this latter band will join forces with the band of Villis
tas recently across the line below Somerton and that with
Captain Porlillo as leader they may again attack the Car
ranza forces at Sonoita.
It is stated on apparently perfectly reliable authority
that the company of Cantu cavalry now located on this
side of the Colorado just across the border were sent there
at the urgent request of Carranza who has made up his
mind to put a quietus to the Villista operations in this
immediate section.
I THE INEVITABLE HAS COME AT LAST. I
S Much as every loyal American may regret it $
President Wilson--has been compelled, by force of
circumstances, to appear before a joint session of
congress and ask that he be given full power to pro-
S tect our commerce and our citizens on the high seas.
Last Sunday night about 10 o'clock the Cunard
steamer Laconia was destroyed by a German subma-
I rine without warning. There were several hundred
I passengers aboard, upwards of twenty of whom were
I native born Americans. There were something like
I 5000 sacks of mail bound from the United States to
I foreign countries. The ship also carried ammuni-
I tion for the allies and a large quantity of food stuff.
At the time of this writing it is known that two
American lives were lost, and in view of the sinking
5 of the Laconia without warning, the president felt
5 called upon to appear before congress and- ask the
authority to arm and equip all American merchant
vessels that our commerce may not be disturbed and
that lives of Americans who have business abroad
may be protected from Germany's ruthless subma-
rine warfare. There is every evidence that the
S president will be given the authority he has asked for.
S This does not mean a declaration of war on Germany,
but it does mean "armed neutrality." In other words
it means that President Wilson will fight for the s
I rights of Americans. It may eventually result in ab-
solute war between the United States and Germany,
but it is still earnestly hoped that this may be avoided.
Every loyal American will stand with President Wil-
son in this latest crisis, and if need be every able
bodied man in America will fight for America's in-
alienable rights the right to send American ships
on the high seas of the world without being ruthless-
5 ly destroyed without warning. S
WATER USERS' ELECTION SET
FOR MARCH SIXTH
On next Tuesday the Water Users' Association will
hold its regular annual election, and as stated in these col
umns some weeks ago there doesn't appear to be the slight
est opposition to the present very capable set of officials.
The ajfairs of the association have run along so smoothly
that it would seem they are more than willing to let well
enough alone. In this connection Project Manager Law-:
son's annual report to the Water Users' Association is here
with appended, showing as it does that the most cordial re
lations exist between the Water Users and the Reclamation
Service. The report is probably the most interesting and
at the same time the most important that has ever been sub
mitted to the association from the project manager. Here is
the report in full. Read every word of it:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
United States Reclamation Service
Yuma, Ariz., Feb. 23, 1917.
Yuma County Water Users' Association,
Yuma, Arizona.
Gentlemen: The operation and maintenance report
lor the Yuma Project operations during the year 1916 has
been compiled and the statistics and other matter it contains
will be found of interest to your association. Your atten
tion is respectfully invited to this report, which is on file in
the Yuma office of the Reclamation Service, and the fol
lowing matters are reviewed as of importance, both as to
past performances and some of the things which we must
loolc to in the future.
In calling up the events especially affecting the welfare
of the project, about the first in order of time and import
ance is the flood which crested at a gage height of 34 on the
22nd of January and in a short time did no small amount of
damage to both private and public property. The ill ef
fects that.might be lasting, if any there were, of this flood,
the greatest known in river history," seemed to pass with the
receding of the flood waters, and before the year was gone
the greatest activity ever known was experienced in the
sale of lands and in both old and new settlers putting under
cultivation new lands and getting ready for further devel
opment. An average crop return of something over $50 per
acre was the result for the year for lands in cultivation, and
this includes new lands recently brought under as well as
the older farms that have been for some time upon a pro
ducing basis.
In a letter to your association dated June 3 of last year,
reviewing the project conditions for 1915, attention was di
rected to the cleaning of canals by machinery, instead of
by scrapers and shovels, as had formerly been the practice.
The maintenance of the canal system is reported with sat
isfaction, and the change to machine cleaning has been jus
tified by the saving accomplished.. During the year 1915,
50 miles of canal were cleaned of 160,000 cubic yards of silt
at 'a cost of approximately $29,000. In 1916, 145 miles of
canal were cleaned of 403,000 cubic yards at a cost of about
$32,000. Thus the additional 95 1-2 miles of canals cleaned
(Continued on Page Two)
THE BIG DRAINAGE CANAL
ALREADY DOING FINE WORK
If anyone has even ha.d any doubt as to the advisabil
ity of constructing the big drainage canal from the Mexican
boundary line up towards Yuma he should go down in the
lower end of the Yuma Valley and see for himself just what
the drainage canal is doing.
Beginning at the boundary line the canal follows the
old American slough for quite a distance, in fact it is intend
ed that it shall follow the natural drains as far as practicable
all the way to Yuma. It is excavated to a depth of practically
five feet below the water bed now underlying the valley
lands, and is completed for a distance of a mile or more from
the point of beginning. To see what effect the drain would
actually have on the underlying water bed the canal was
allowed to accumulate the seepage water for six days before
a pump was started to lift the water over the levee and dump
it back into the river just below the boundary line. The ac
cumulated water reached a point to within four or five feet
of the surface, the mile of canal presenting the appearance
of a good sized river. The big pump was then put to work
(Continued on Page Four)
The Sluice Gates at Laguna Dam, the opening of
Which Washes All the Silt and Sand From the
Yuma Project Settling Basin.
