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Show j IDAHO AND ITS GREAT IRRIGATION WONDER 'TMIE largest irrigation project in the jt United States has received backing of such magnitude that its success suc-cess is assured. This is the Twin Falls Land & Water company, which has an enterprise involving the reclamation of 271,000 acres of land along the Snake river, in Idaho, an area one-third as large as the state of Rhode Island. While the final arrangements have not been completed, a preliminary agreement has been entered into whereby where-by F. H. Buhl of Sharon, Pa., has agreed to finance the project, pending an investigation of titles and the completion com-pletion 'of surveys, to make sure that everything is in first-class shape. Mr. Buhl, is an old associate of P. L. Kim-berley Kim-berley and is already heavily interested In Utah iron. Granted that the deal goes through, an investment of $1,500,-000 $1,500,-000 will be made, providing for the coiir struction of two immense canals, with a capacity of 3,400 cubic feet a second. : Besides Mr. Buhl, the principals in this deal are Colonel S. B. Milner of fealt Lake; I. B. Pernne of Blue Lake3, Ida., and Frank Knox of Salt Lake. They have given an option on the control con-trol of. the stock carrying title to-the land, reserving for themselves . two townsites and the water power. : There are only two irrigation projects in the world of greater magnitude than this. One is in Egj-pt and. the other is in India. Preliminaries Are Closed. The preliminary agreement was closed in Salt Lake yesterday by Colonel Col-onel Milner and Mr. Perrine on one side and Mr. Buhl and Mr. Filer on the Other. By the terms of the deal, which win oe carried out it al Jtne legal de-, tails are satisfactorily arranged, Mr. Buhl and his associates are to be given control of the stock, provided they make an investment of $1,500,000 for the completion of the canals and for the development of the land. It is expected that the final papers in the deal will be signed in two or three weeks, and that actual work on the great canals will commence early in the coming year. This vast project does not stop at the reclamation of the land. Colonel Milner Mil-ner and Mr. Perrine retain control of the immense water power at Shoshone falls and Twin falls, which will be developed de-veloped and distributed electrically. Two towns will be built, and an electric elec-tric railroad is planned from Shoshone to Twin falls, which is the name of the principal town. Vast Area of Land. The vast area of land which is to be made productive by allaying its thirst lies cn both sides' of the Snake river, in the vicinity of Shoshone falls and Twin falls. The portion on the south side comprises 230,000, and that on the north side 41,000 acres. The average altitude is 4,000 feet and the climate is mild. The land includes the tract set aside a couple of years ago for a national na-tional park by the secretary of the interior. in-terior. This was done to preserve the natural beauty of Twin falls and the magnificently weird surrounding scenery. scen-ery. After the land had been withdrawn from entry, the secretary was persuaded persuad-ed that the ground was too valuable for agricultural purposes to be thus taken away from, settlers, and it was restored to its original status. The present company secured it under the provisions of the Carey land law. In this area is seme of the richest grain and fruit land in Idaho. Mr. Per-rine's Per-rine's famous Blue Lakes ranch, which has produced prize-winning fruit for a decade, lies in the heart of this region. For his .r)00 'acres Mr. Perrine was recently re-cently offered $45,000, and he is something some-thing like fifty miles from a railroad. The building of the contemplated railroad rail-road into this locality will make cultivated cul-tivated land still'more valuable. Mr. Perrine received $7,500 for the product of an eighty-five acre orchard last year, and got 150 tons of alfalfa from a twenty-five acre field. The soil is a silt mixed with decomposed lava, which is especially well suited to friut and grain. From five to 200 feet below 1 the surface is a. solid underlying stratum stra-tum of lava. Mr. Perrine first saw the possibilities possibili-ties of the power and of the land reclamation in this vicinity. He interested inter-ested Colonel Milner, A. K. Steunen-berg, Steunen-berg, brother of ex-Governor Frark Steunenberg of Idaho, and J. H. Lo-ell Lo-ell of Roswell. Ida., who also became largely interested. The work on the first survey was begun in 1893. Three years ago the Twin Falls Land & Wra-ter Wra-ter company was organized with a capital cap-ital of $100,000, divided into $1 shares, and an agreement was reached with the state land board of Idaho to reclaim this vast tract of land under the Carey The actual commencement of the work dragged for several reasons. Last July Colonel Milner bought out some of the shareholders, giving him 89,900 shares, Mr. Perrine 10,000 shares and Frank Knox 100 shares. The details of the plans for financing the project have not been worked out, but most of the money will be raised by bond issue. ' "Will Bring High Price. It is expected that some of the land will bring as high as $25 ,an acre as soon as the water is brougrjt to it. and that it will sell at a much higher fig ure as soon, an it is brought under cul-tivition. cul-tivition. The big dam will be constructed twenty-three miles above Shoshone falls. It is more correct to say that three dams' will be built, for two iofty islands divide the . river into three streams at this place, and these two islands will be joined with each other and with the main land by artificial bulwarks against the water. The river Is 1,615 feet wide at this point. The dams will be fifty-four feet high, and Will raise the level of the river thirty-eight thirty-eight feet. There will be a spillway provided at one side, so that the water, wa-ter, even in floodtime, will never pour over the top' of the dam. Both canals will leave the river at this point. ; Together they will furnish 3.400 cubic feet of water per second, of which 3,000 feet is intended for the land and 400 feet for the towns. The larger of the canals, which will supply the land' to the south of the river, .will be eighty, feet wide at the bottom and 120 feet wide at the top, carrying carry-ing a constant flow of ten feet of water. wa-ter. How Land Was Secured. . Under the provisions of the Carey act the the state of Idaho acquires the land from the national government and sells it to the irrigation company. The fomnanv n crees to rmf in th npppt;. sary irrigation works to furnish water to the land and to sell it to settlers at a fixed price in tracts not exceeding exceed-ing 160 acres each. The two townsites and the water power will be handled apart from the irrigation scheme. There will be a town at the dam named Milner, but it is expected ex-pected that the principal town will be the one called Twin Falls and located between the natural Twin falls and Shoshone falls, a little higher up the river. This will be the terminus of the projected railroad. The water power will be developed on an immense scale and transmitted electrically. When the canal is under way a vast amount of money will be spent in advertising ad-vertising the land in the east and in bringing settlers to locate there. It is expected that through this agency alone thousands of people will be added to the population and millions of dollars dol-lars to the wealth of Idaho, and the entire country will be tributary to Salt Lake: |