OCR Text |
Show GREAT FALLS ARE STILLED Snake River Dry al i Shoshone Falls, Thunders of the Waters for First Time Are J: Hushed. i . ,; . 1 Greatest Reclamation Work in TJnited i Btates, and Among1 Greatest , in World, Opened. ' r i ; ' t Special lo The Tribune. ; MILNER, Ida., March 3. Today marks nn epoch In tho history and development of sonthcrn Idaho. The closing of the gates in tho BTcat dam rapidly checking I th'o!low of the Snake river and lifting 1 tho level of tho impounded water to a height sufficient to cause them to How majestically down the Twin Falls canal, heralds the approach to fruition of tho i greatest single reclamation work In the 1 United States and one of the greatest In 1- tho world. 3 Building' Up Country. l: This project, with the other following ' closelv In Its wake, will speedily change J"; . the map of southern Idaho. The stlmu- V i. latlon they are imparting to tho ngrlcul-'V ngrlcul-'V tural and goneral material development ! of tho whole lntermountaln region, and 'I i especially arid plains and valleys of the n ? central Northwest, Is revolutionary. V Closing Steel Gates. :5 ! Today at 9:50 o'clock was begun the ', work of closing the six massive steel ' gates at the entrance of tho tunnel Jl i through which the writers of the river : i were diverted, while the main section of fl ' the dam was being constructed. j I Purely Business. otj ' There was no ceremony, no flourish 1 ' about tho closing, which was completed h; J in an hour. It was purely business, such a as has characterized this project from Its Mil inception. Tho crowd stood bad: a jow ttfl paces. The chief men of the company ii 1 manned tho capstans, a photograph was fe, taken by Savage, tho company photo- k grapher. and down the great gates 3W started. 'jjJ Torrent Begins Diminishing, is? t Tho capitalists, officers and engineers li vlelded their places at the capstans' to Itfi twelve brawny laborers, working In teams loM !,nd each Ifam vying with tho other for beM t,,c honor of closing the first gate. Soon ulift the seething, roaring, foaming torront J( time nas issued from tho mouth of tho bjtt tunnel since last October began to dl- M mlntsh In volume. Great Falls Are Still. fli Soon tho roar of the rapids, whore tho lev river pitches down successive Inclines Into an? v. tho great chasm below, grew fainter and b: i fuinter and finally ceased, and for tho it?; first tlmo In thousands of years the roar- P Ing Snako was stilled i: Scene of Desolation. Its naked bed. especially In the gorge, 'i9", rovealcd a scene of desolation black, for-L for-L bidding, awful bcwlldcrness of giant rock JP and vawnlng chasms set within' grim Jjgj ; wallo of black lava, .nd Four Feet Hise in Hour. If In the first hour ofter the gates were dT- 4 eloped the water above tho dam roso four vfi i feet. In three hours: It had risen nine feet, lit. arfMn flvo hours, thirteen feet. Water Flows in Canal Thursday. 1 felx feet moro will reach the overflow M , gates of tho dam and tho bottom level M of tho canal. The raise required to fill the mM reservoir Is twenty-nine feet. It. Is cstl- ' mated that by Thursday night three feet lV . of water will be flowing Into tho canal. jgj- l That is all that will be let in at present. rsri ? Distinguished Visitors. The distinguished visitors hero are H L Messrs S. B. Mliner of Salt Lake. S. H. tM Bunl nntl Peter Kimborly of Charon. Pa., few c,nd M- B- Dolong of Utlca, N Y.. tho tiiera chief financiers and backers of the glgan- g&3 tic enterprise; B. B. Crltchlow of Salt ItffM Lake, attorney; W. G. Filer. M. M. Mur- All tough and P. S. A. BIckel, officers of tho iltkiw company: J. D. Schuyler, consulting on- IjWm glneer, Los AngcleB; H. Clark, J. Potter "I rnd Congdon of the Oregon Short Lino t$ i railroad and a number of others. I Crowd "Witnesses Ceremony. t&t k When tho closing began 300 spectators liiM'' were present, mostly from Oakloy and Gar near-by settlements. By tho time tho jliW 4 Patcs wore down the crowd had doubled, Jf a"d later In tho day increased to probably tat. MOO. Search for Gold. p0 l Scores of men and boj'B aro now cn- "rltV ' gnged In exploring tho river channel below ;i Mliner, same catching tho fish from tlie ve.1' f jiools and others with placer outfits i starching for gold. Thcro Is very little ,MS l "and or gravel In the channel near here, but 11 ls thought that farther down tho stream plenty of pay dirt will be found. |