Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press., December 08, 1906, Image 1

About Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1906-1907

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
Imperial Valley Press.
DL.VI
GREAT CANAL EXTENSION
alifornia Development Company's Work of
Restoration* Being Carried Forward on
Enormous Scale
orations Now Under Way Will Add More than 50,000 Acres
to reclaimed Area in Imperial Valley and Protect 1 50,000
Acres in Mexico
She day of great things has come
Hlmperlal Valley and men of large
|ilrs are now at the helm. This Is
Hpmlng more and more apparent cv-
Bday as the splendid plans of Mr.
Hdolph and Mr. Cory are unfolded.
■ nearly a year all the energies of
Be men and the resources at their
■mand In ;his Valley were engaged
He work of saving the Valley from
Auction as much as possible and
Bin curbing the Colorado river.
||-n the great floods came last May
Hjune It was nothing but the money
Hmen these gentlemen commanded
■prevented that mighty rush of wat-
Wpm overflowing the v levees along
jflnaln canal and destroying the fer-
Hnd populous dfstrlcts of number
Hind number four. But for their
Hlrreparable damage would have
Men Imperial Valley even if the
|§ should have been shut off at a
|Hdate. The people of these water
Hanles and of the Valley generally
mi remember ' the great service
iMred them by Mr. Cory and Mr.
Holph at that time. After the flow
§1 Colorado declined to the point
§§ the work of shutting the Intake
R9be taken up we all remember
I ftnderful vigor with which it was
rßed. The picked men from the
ißern Pacific system were sent
Hand sent there In force, too. The
flork to do was to build a railroad
U Intake. This was entrusted to
Iflck Carlllo, who has proven him-
Mbe as g°°.d 'f not tne best con
lion engineer for that kind of work
fir c f° unc * m Bitner tne United
I lor Mexico. In the building of
I MLlroad and the subsequent opera
!| it during the sharp crisis which
t: ftd from time to time when ex-
F«ry service was required of
Bee of track Jack Carlllo proved
Wg the man , for the place and
\%M good" on every occasion. Then
I. was the building of the dam
fflthe intake. Where could the
Hof Tom Hind have been found?
pHwas the same way all down the
r?flt was not only necessary that
Ljflndolph and Mr. Cory should
lie mighty resources of the
■n Pacific system / at their com
\n?M There are millions cf men
ffluld have failed had they had
Hand more. No, it was not
i He command of these great
i VH na * b rou & nt them victory over
i Hcherous and malevolent Colo
[ It was the ability to organize
Heat forces to put the right man
I Hght place and to pick the right
| Ithe place that brought victory.
I II 3*3 * enou 8 n t0 flnd Tom Hlnd
I H him charge over the construe-
I He dam, but It was also neces-
I Have Jack Carlllo to get all the
I Bossible and a little more out
■llroad or Hind wouldn't have
Hlshed with rock fast enough
He two weeks that followed the
EL CENTRO. CALIFORNIA. SATURDAY, pECEMBER 8 906
destruction of the Rockwood gate.
But the right men were in the right
place all the way through beginning
with Mr. Randolph and coming right
down the line to the last Indian In the
brush cutter squad. Well, that great
and memorable contest between the
genius of man and the caprice of na
ture Is to be properly celebrated at our
sister towns of Calexlco and Mexlcall
about the middle of next month and
no doubt on that occasion the people
of this Valley will give proper expres
sions to their feelings on the subject.
The tlnal closure of the intake as Is
well known took place on November
sth. While the great contest was In
progress and in fact for practically the
entire time since the management of
Valley affairs passed Into the hands of
Mr. Cory very little attention had been
given to water company matters. Mr.
Cory realized that the Colorado river
must be controlled or there Jwould be
no water company affairs to adminis
ter So naturally these matters were
deferred until the river was gotten un
der complete subjection. But at all
times while the great work of leveeing
against the water here In the Valley
and the greater work of shutting up
the Intake was in progress, whenever
the Valley was mentioned both Mr.
Randolph and Mr. Cory pledged them
selves to give the people of the Valley
a square deal and to deliver to them
what they had bought from the Cali
fornia Development company and had
paid for. To the people of Imperial
Water company No. 1 and No. 4, as
well as to No. 5 and No. 7 this did
not mean so much as It did to the
people of water company No. 6 and
No. 8. The first named companies
have not suffered any considerable
damage to their irrigation systems nor
water supplies, so these promises could
not mean very much to them. But
to No. 6 and No. 8 they were of the
very greatest Importance. Both these
companies had suffered very severely
from the floods and the erosion of New
river channel. In the case of water
company No. 8 their headworks were
destroyed and Irrigation made Impossi
ble. In No. 6 the canal, system was
wrecked and Irrigation rendered just
about as Impossible as In number 8.
This was the condition when Mr. Cory
returned from the conquest of the Col
orado river and established his head
quarters at Calexlco, about three weeks
ago. Naturally Mr. Cory was very
much out of touch with Valley affairs,
as he had not given them a thought
for about ninety days. But he took
hold of our problems with his charact
eristic energy and directness. He saw
that number six and number eight were
"down and out" until a canal could be
built to carry water to them. So he
at once sent engineers Into the field to
locate the best route for such a canal
as would be needed and also opened
communication with contracting firms
AND THB IMPERIAL PRBSS
for the work of excavating the canal.
Not a moment has been lost on either
of these matters and now It Is announc
ed that a route has been chosen for
the canal and plans laid of a more am
bitious scope than has ever previously
been undertaken In this Valley. This
canal will tap the present channel of
the Alamo river at a - point near the
outlet of Beltran slough. This Is about
50 feet above sea level and Is really
higher than the lowes point In the di
vlde'between this Valley and the gulf
of California. From this point the
canal will pass above the deep cuts
and sloughs that were eroded by the
flood waters last summer and whleh
came so near cutting this Valley off
from a water supply and will cross the
channel of New river above the big
cut In that channel. This will avoid
expensive work, as only a short flume
will be necessary. As the canal will
start from such a high elevation and
will only need to have a fall of about
two or three feet to the mile It will be
seen that It will cover a very much
larger area In both number six and
number eight than has ever been under
canal before. This canal will skirt the
sand dunes on the west side of the
Valley and will no doubt carry water as
high as It can be carried from the Cal
ifornia Development company's canals.
This canal will be from 35 to 40 miles
long and will carry, more than 50,000
miners Inches of water. The final es
tl mates are not all figured yet but It is
known that there will be close to a
quarter of a million yards of dirt to
move In its excavation. Mr. Cory Is
very anxious to have the canal dug
ust as scon as possible and w'll no
doubt let It out in contracts large or
small, just so they will get to work and
dig it at once. It Is expected that both
Shattuck and Desmond and Peasley
and Perry will have contracts and It is
expected to have the canal ready for
service by the 15th of next February.
Mr. Beach has been out among the
farmers trying to pledge all the teams
possible for work on this ditch and has
met with a hearty response. The peo
ple of number one and number four
who were fortunate enough to escape
damage or Injury from the floods last
summer realize that now is the time
for them to show their sympathy for
their less fortunate neighbors In No. 6
and No. 8. And the way to do this in
the most effective manner Is to Join In
and help restore their canal system In
time for them to raise crops the com
ing year. The further fact that this
canal Is being built on just about as
high ground as water can be carried on
that side of the Valley and is being
constructed large enough to carry wat
sr for all the lands on that side of New
river lndtcates that the present owners
Df the California Development com
pany are going promptly ahead with
their great plans for the development
3f this Valley. This canal will supply
water to all the lands west of New rlv
sr out to the sand dunes and will add
ibout 10,000 acres to Imperial Water
:ompany No. 8. It wllr.make it pos
sible for the land owners around what
vas Pelican lake and Badger lake to
secure a water supply and join In the
prosperity and development of this
jreat Valley. Constructed as this can-
U will be It will have no weak places,
t will cross no high flumes, Its bead
;ates cannot be carried away nor will
t cross any gulches or canyons carry
ng drainage to Interfere. With the
completion of this ditch more than 50,
)00 acres will be added to the culti
vated area In this Valley on this side
>f the line alone besides a large area
iouth of the line In Mexico. This
canal Is the largest that has ever Itcn
dug In this system for Its length and
will be one of the most Important In
the Valley. Its construction at this
time Is most fortunate Indeed and will
result In the complete restoration of
those communities at a very early
date. Many of the farmers and set*
tiers In that part of the Valley who
felt they had been ruined by the floods
will find themselves able to sell their
land for more than they could have
gotten for It before the floods came.
There will Inevitably be a big scramble
for land west of the New river, as It Is
very fine land and presents about the
last chance for cheap lands that Is left
In the Valley. The far-seeing sagacity
displayed by Mr. Randolph and Mr.
Cory In their management of the work
of closing the Colorado Is most clearly
shown In this Instance. With the fur
thering of these canal plans a reorgani
zation plan for Imperial Water com
pany No. 8 has been elaborated and
practically agreed upon. This plan
does away with the bonds and makes
every settler Independent of every other
settler so far as his purchase of water
stock and the payments he Is to make
are concerned. This puts No. Bon Its
feet and now that wonderfully rich and
productive district will quickly settle up
and will again take Its place as a garden
spot of I mperial Valley. And tnls great
canal work and the rehabilitation of
these two water companies and the ad
dition of 50,000 more fertile acres to
the productive area of our Valley are
not all the plans Mr. Cory has put on
foot during the three weeks that have
elapsed since he returned to the Valley
from the Mexican Intake. A plan has
been advanced to continue the levee
from the Hind dam along the water
courses of the Colorado and Paredones
rivers to the foot of Black mountains,
a distance of about thirty miles and it
is now given out that this work will be
done this winter and be completed be
fore there Is any danger of high water
next summer. The construction ot
this levee will save about 150,000
acres of the rich delta lands below the
lne from annual overflow and will ren
der It absolutely safe for farming.
This levee will also dam the outlet
from Volcano lake Into New river and
will forever put an end to the annual
overflows that used to come down
New river channel from that source.
This levee in fact will confine the flood
waters of the Colorado to the swampy
stretches ar.d tule beds along that
stream and the water courses of its
present delta and Imperial Valley and
a magnificent tract below the line will
not be bothered with :hem any more.
And all of these things are put under
way by Mr. Cory within three weeks
after he got back to the Valley. Truly
the day of great things has come for
our Valley. - And not only for our VaU
ley, but for that part of Mexico just
across the line to the south. For the
first time in all the years that part of
God's footstool will be safe from over
flow and will be supplied with water
under control and on demand. The
work of building the railroad from Ca
lexico to Yuma Is already under way
and will be rushed along like everything
Is that Colonel Randolph and Mr. Cory
have charge over. No doubt these
men already have in mind great plans
for development below the line and we
shall see settlement and Improvement
on an enormous scale within the next
twelve months on the wonderfully fer
tile and extensive tract they are ren
dering safe from overflow by the thirty
miles of levee they are building along
the Colorado and Paredones rivers.
And Just as the picked men were
sent to master the Colorado In order
that the leadership be adequate for
every demand, just so are the prob
lems of the Imperial Valley being at
tacked. Jack Carlllo has charge of
the work of building the railroad from
Calexlco to Yuma, a work he Is pre
eminently qualified to do. And Tom
Hind Is assistant general manager and
next In command to Mr. Cory both In
Mexico and In the United States. The
time has passed away forever when
places are held by "pull" In the Cali
fornia Development company. And
with them have passed the days of
cheap promises and heartburnings and
disappointments. The days of great
things are at hand for the day has
come when the men who command
great resources and do great things
are at the head of valley affairs. The
construction of the canal to water the
lands In Mexico and west of New river
including No. 6 and No Bis the larg
est canal undertaking ever launched In
this Valley. And the levee work that
Is under way to protect the country be
low the line from overflow will bring
Into use and make available for settle
ment an area of at least 150,000 acres
of wonderfully fertile land. In the face
of these great operations It Is absolute
ly certain that Imperial valley Is enter-
Ing upon the greatest era of settlement
and development that It has ever known.
Work on both these undertakings will
be rushed to the limit and especially
will this be the case with the canal. It
Is expected that a new record In canal
construction will be established and we
have no doubt these expectations will
be met. Tom Hind will have charge
and we all know what he Is capable of
doing. The people of No. 6 and No.
8 can confidently plan to farm their
ranches this season. The water will
be ready for them In time to raise a
crop. And a good crop raised under
the new conditions which will obtain
will add such a substantial Increase to
the value of their farms as will largely
recoup the losses they may have sus
tained In the past. The good times
have come in Imperial Valley. Let
all get In step to the March of Progress.
Calvin and Byron lams, of Holt
vllle, passed through El Centro, Wed
nesday, on their way to their lands In
Number Six. Byron lams claims the
ribbon for growing the best crop of old t
fashioned eastern corn that was. pro
duced In the valley this year. On the
Chaplin ranch In No. 7 he has produc
ed 60 bushels per acre and Is ready to
"show" anyone the "corn" If they will
come out and see It.
It hasn't rained much In this valley
as yet, but while It was falling It made
some people pretty nervous. There
was the unfinished roof on the bank
building and the roofless opera house
block to get wet. Also the great pile
of freight on the railroad platform.
However, not enough rain fell , to do
any damage.
Contractor Peterson completed the
walls of both the opera house building
and the bank block this week, so those
buildings are completed so far as the
brick work is concerned. He will now
start laying brick on the Ice plant and
hopes to be able to get plenty of brick
to keep going till It Is completed.
The completion of repairs on the In
ter Urban bridge at Holtvllle has placed
El Centro builders In touch with their
supply again and has made possible
the speedy completion of the bank
block and opera house building and the
speedy construction of the Ice plant.
NO. 35