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Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA
Newspaper Page Text
PKOSSER. A COMING COMMERCIAL CENTER. Prosscr Falls Irrigation Canal—Prosser Falls Water Power—Prosser Town a Market Center for Horse Heaven and the Sunnyside. Moving 1 white specks on the plains and hillsides, and tiny clouds of dust hang-ing- over them, excite the curi osity of visitors to Prosser in April and May. These are herds of sheep on their annual pilgrimag-e to Prosser for shearing. A thousand a day was the stint of the little bunch of ready wielders of the shears that I watched for a while, piling- up the golden fleeces. Some 50,000 to 70,000 sheep cart their own wool to the railroad at Pros ser, where more are clipped than at any other point in Washington. On the same visit bands of horses from the rang-es are seen coming down for shipment by rail to distant markets. Many hundreds find their way east and west from this point every year. Their home is the vast Horse Heaven country, an elevated plateau of a half million acres or more, where now are great wheat farms, whose pro duce in larg-e measure 'finds its easiest outlet at Prosser, that lies on the rail road just at the foot of the slopes in the Yakima valley. That these fertile hills will produce ten-fold more of horses, cattle and sheep, and grain as well, in the near future is as certain as anything- in this world. Just across the river from Prosser stretches away the great irrigated Sunnyside country, that is fast cutting up into small farms of ten to forty acres, which will make a dense popu lation, and most of that within a dozen miles will make Prosser its market town. The present Sunnyside canal will water 65,000 acres, and another to follow, called the High Line canal, will water 100,000 acres more. At Prosser is the intake of the Lead better canal, now in construction, that is destined to water 125,000 acres. As the town of Prosser lies centrally at the foot of the Horse Heaven hills, between them and the Sunnyside, it is seen to possess as fine a location as any market town in an agricultural country could possibly have. Such a town needs manufacturing- facilities, and these are supplied by Prosser Falls,which develop a 6,000 horse power even in the dry season of the year, and these are the only falls of any conse quence in the entire valley. With the raw materials produced at every hand, the opening's for woolen mills, pack ing houses, tanneries, flour mills, jute and other fiber mills, beet sugar fac- THE RANCH. Tories, condensed milk works, etc., are seen to be exceptional. To establish the town on a firm foundation, the Prosser Falls Irriga tion Company have built a canal that irrigates 3,000 acres of highly fertile land extending- eleven miles along- the railroad and the river bank, including the streets and gardens of the town itself. The Prosser Falls Irrigation Com pany controls the south side of the river. The land on this side of the river is too high to be covered by any gravity system, and though it is as productive as any in the state, it would, without water, be worthless. The power of the falls is utilized to raise water 100 feet high to cover this land. The water power here is the best on the Yakima river. The fall is twenty feet in a half mile, and during the dry season in October, 1893, the river discharged 2,662 second feet, equivalent to 6,050 horse power. The headg-ates are placed in the rock on the south side of the river. The headg"ate frame is made of 10x16 tim ber, is 22 feet high and 36 feet wide, and has six opening's for gates, each four feet wide in the clear. A wing dam has been built from the headgates out into the river to direct the current toward the flume. The headg-ates supply two flumes, each ten feet deep and twelve feet wide in the clear, and the water will be six feet deep in the flumes when the river is lowest. One of these flumes will supply water for the factories, the other furnishes water for the irriga tion canal and the power to raise the water 100 feet, also water to supply the town. From the headgate to the power house is 650 feet. Part of this fall is lost during high water, and the machinery has been designed for a 12 --foot fall. The flume connecting the headgate and power house is made of 2-inch tongued grooved plank with bents every two feet made of 6xlo lumber. The water from the flume enters a forebay 10 feet wide, 17 feet deep and 65 feet long, and from the forebay enters three penstocks, from which it is discharged through the tur bines. The turbines are 48-inch special Vic tors and develop 135 horsepower each, 12 feet head. Each turbine drives a duj)lex power pump, 25-inch cylinder, 24-inch stroke. Each pump has a ca pacity of 4,000 gallons per minute. This is the discharge at an 80-foot per minute piston speed, and the pumps can, when necessary, be worked at a 100-foot piston speed. Two pumps and two turbines are now in successful operation, and when the third pump is in the plant will have a daily capacity of 17,280,000 gallons. The turbines and pumps were furnished by the Stillwell-Birce & Smith-Vaile company of Dayton, O. From the pumps the water passes through 2,800 feet of 28-inch steel pipe, to the penstock at the head of the com pany's canal. Three hundred feet from the penstock the canal divides into two branches. The west is nine miles long; the east is now three miles long and it is expected to continue it down the river and to cover a fine piece of land several miles beyond. The water supplied to the canal is 27 second feet, which at a duty of 150 acres to the second foot, will irrigate 4,000 acres. An easy way to "write" to your friends in the east all about this country is to send them The Ranch for three months, 13 weeks. It will eoet you only 25 cents. In no other way can they get so c jmplete an idea of the resources and splen did prospects of the Pacific North west. You furnish the Two Bits: We do the rest. * * * We believe that growth of any part of this region in any legitimate direction will help us directly or in directly. That is just as true of you and your business. So every one should do his utmost to inform eastern men and capital about this magnificent northwest country. We do our part by sending, gratis, thousands of copies of Tiik Ranch into the east. Give or loan us the letters and postals you receive in quiring about this region and wo will send the parties each a copy of Tim Ranch free of charge. Yakima Pitiimhiiinu Company, North Yukima, Washington. 9