OCR Text |
Show j MOYING SEOWLY OH, 1 1 " I CUybilHe. DorefflB1 Eiidence I In tbe Lia Case. i - " TODATS PBOCKEDKQS, ! The Inqnlry Has Sot Ttt Jearlr i Beached iu ciste. t At the time the News went to press yesterday afternoon, Mr. Adolph Jessen, C. E , was" under crou-eamlnatlon by Attorney Thompson,one of the principal points elicited belug in regard to the dams on the land in question, which tbe witness stated to be artificial. As to the manufacture of salt by tbe process of pumping and?vapora-tlon, and?vapora-tlon, he said ho knew that this was in operation on the lands at Monument Monu-ment Point several years ago by the Deseret Salt Company. Those lands were afterwards claimed by the Central I clfl Railroad Company. Tbe next witness called was Mr. L. G. Burton, civil and mining engineer, en-gineer, this city. He was acquainted with agricultural lands in and around Salt Lake City aid between the Jordan River and Great Salt Lake. BpcaVing or his visit to the land in dispute, at tho request of Jeremy Jc Co., on September lit, Ib93, -witness said bo then assisted in running levels In order, to determine deter-mine the difference In the glevatiou of the south and. north Inlet, as shown upon exfilMt .The two Inlets In-lets were about the same eluvatton above tbe Great Salt Lake. Between tbe "Big Dam" and the south inlet theie was about one-tenth of water In some places, and some salt. The sand bars stood from two to three feet above the low land. He examined the ands through 'magnifying glass and foundthem to bcspberlcal, showing that they bad been so formed by theaction of the rocks In tbe lake, and washed ashore In time of high winds. Tbe entire surface ot the ponds was covered byene iheet of salt. Water overlaid this salt. Men were employed on the lands piling up salt. In witness' opinion the water of the artesian well on the land in question ould kill any vegetation which came In contact with It. From bis knowledge knowl-edge of the agricultural lands over Jordan, of the alkaline land-", an I of tho land In dispute, bis opinion was tbat there was no po&aibilitt whatever of reclaiming them by irrigation. Major Bird If you were to enclose en-close tho laad In dispute and, together to-gether w ilh tbat, all tbe lands embraced em-braced within the Jeremy Co's. salt ponds, how many head of atwlr rould bo kapt on them an- nully7 Mr. rhomrson objected to tho question. Witness You could kcepjusfas many and for just as 1 rag a time as they could do without food aud water. In cross-examination by Mr. Thompson, witness said he could not state bether or not cattle or horses would drink the water lrom tbo artesian wells on this land if very thirsty, but all the water used there by the men and animals was hauled from Salt Lake City. He believed tbe water from either one of these artesian wells weuld kill any vegetation except the weeds growing tnere. All tbe irrigation he had seen done Iu tills Territory bad been accomplished with fresh water. The first witness this morning was Mr. AbraliamF.DorcmusjCK, ot this city. He said he bad practiced prac-ticed in bis profession a little over t euty years,and was at the present tlmecity engineer of alt ke. He was well acquainted with the character char-acter of tnelantl situate between: this city and the Great Salt Lake. Major Bird Please describe tbe general character of those lands, taking tbo point of the Great Salt Lake at about where the Jeremy A Co's salt land borderfjupon tbesame, and in that relation state whether artificial irrigation Is necessary to their cultlvatlon.and whether or not within that body of lands there arc certain sloughs, alkaline flats and salt lands. Mr. Thompson oljected to tbe question as lii competent, immaterial and irrelevant, Witness replied that the lands In tcrvenlng the joints mentioned were among the lowest in tbe valley, val-ley, the highest points not exceed. Ing twenty-five feet above the present pres-ent lake surface. Tbe surface was generally flat, except where cut by innumerable waters, tho beds ot which were from one to six feet below be-low the general surface of tbe ground, and Into which the storm waters of the entire net portion ot the valley drain and carry with them the storm waters, salt and other minerals from the higher land. These depressions were een-erally een-erally known as alkali flat, and were entirely destitute of vegetation. vege-tation. During the wet season they were covered with several Inches of water and in tbe dry season by mineral incrustation. Tbe lands were generally saline In character, becoming intensely so near the lake. Tho higher portions of the land were capable of producing when supplied with artificial means of irrlgatJon. The lower portions were practically unfit for agrlcultur al purposes, whether Irrigated or not. To another question Mr. Doremus said tbat he believed the first time he passed over these lands and paid any attention to their character was in tho fall of 1S75 or the cprlng of 1S78. At the time of this trip he was in search of government cor-ners, cor-ners, with a view of connection connec-tion with tbe Union Pacific (then known as tho Utah and Nevada Ne-vada Hue), with tho government surveys. In searching for those corners which wero mostly destroyed de-stroyed at that time he had occasion occa-sion to pass over the land in dispute such portions of It;atleit,as tbe water would allow him to walk across. At that period witness regarded re-garded tbe lower portions of the tract as portions of the Great Salt Lake, there beln then, he thought, not less than three feet of water upon them, and It was evidently connected with the main body of the lake, .It was lake water. There -as no salt nu that tract of land at tho time, but farther east or It there were some ponds that had less water In them, upon which salt had been deposited. de-posited. He had visited this land at eat some six or seven tluies Blnce lS75orlS78- He believed tbat mtlie year 18S5. when he made an examination ex-amination of these lands for the Union Pacific Baiiway Company, with a view of constructing a track-for track-for tbe transfortation of the salt manufactured thereon, he found Jeremy & Co. in posseralon. It was the salt which tbat firm had manufactured, manu-factured, and were then gatherlntr, which the railway company expected ex-pected to transport, id case the track was built. Daring each of his subsequent visits Jeremy Co. were still in possession. Invariably In-variably a deposit of salt had remained from the receding waters. The sand bar at tbe "north and south of tbe south inlet was simply an elevation or dyke consisting, consist-ing, as Indicated by the surface appearance, ap-pearance, of shifting sand, deposited there by the action ot the water and tbe wind. Tbe land between tho lake and the sand bar was barren lake bottom from which the waters of the lake had recently receded. There was no Intervening, land between be-tween the salt ponds anu the sand bar. 4 . , , Major Bira Now, In your Judgment, Judg-ment, would it be possible to reclaim by artificial irrigation these higher landsmarked upon the exhibit, as "sandbar?" Mr. Thompson obJecU- to ithe patting of this question. ji E WltncssM'Ho ot think iMro-hi be Impossible! but I "think l would be ImpracticaWe, for tbo reason tbat, In tho firsti.plac()-there Is no water there. Secondly, tbo landa are liable to be covered by lake, waters, which would restore any salt tbat might hav been 1 eliminated, by Irrigation. Ir-rigation. Betides the 'salty deposits de-posits extendi to-such a depth tbat I believe it impossible except by unreasonable un-reasonable Umev to eVctal-.re-clamatlon If an abundance of water wero available. . t, Iteplylug further, witness ald the salt ponds., on -these Iand-aWere natural, not artificial. Major Bird From what waters has this salt been, deposited upun tbe land, and by what process . Witness Principal, from those of tho lake, and to some extent from tbe storm waters which drain into them, carrying fcalty matter from tbe higher lands. Ji is first persona! knowledge of .the lake dated from the year 1SG3, when In conjunction with a parly Imtbu employ of the Union 1 -cilia, Hallway Oumpanj he took Bouudingsoverd consider able portlou of the north half of the lake. Tho walvr was then about 121 feet deejajr than oundlng recorded by Profej-or Stnusbury lonie ten years prrlotis. The. 1 ike continued to rho troni this time until It reached itmaximum tuighl in, be thought tlitt year 1S7G. or thereabuuts. Fort he next twuyuarj-it twuyuarj-it receded several feet, bnd, again rose, but not to Its former height. It again fell until the height hv-t season was below Uutofany former period (to far as hu-had any pergonal knowledge. UetdlJnbt-uuw that he nas competent to Mate how the. water which covered iicse lands iu dispute bad becn'cat'rled ujion them. Uriglnalry, at any rate, tue norm and west Hinds carried thewatsr in from the lake. Tbe present water there, wat, perha, the result of storms and drainage from tho higher lands. The extent of the salt deposits on the laud in question was such tbat the. ttorm waters by which he xaearuVireeh wnter resulting fn-m rain .md drainage dissolved all the salt they Were capable of retaining in solution, and which storm water remained, covering cover-ing tbe surface during wit fraso.ia of tbo oar, and ere evajwrated during tbe hot eou.vcueti the rale was again precipitatuJ, and perhaps added U,4iyi8mueli as w3 brought In from adjacent lauds. Mr. Daremua was It-till on the aUml when tho W! tWCtlt to press. 'ip-p. - |