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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1914)
PUMP IRRIGATION IN NEBRASKA A. B. Trice, of 219 First National Bank Rldg., Lincoln, president of the Hydraulic Engineering and Ma chinery Company, was In Alliance recently Investigating the proposi tion of pump Irrigation. The follow ing article was written by Mr. Price n the subject and Is particularly In teresting to Ilex Dutte county farm er and land owners: Many people of the state of Ne braska and of the semi-arid region ef the west are Interested In Irriga tion by pumping. This kind of Irri gation was at first confined to the areas along the rivers where pumps could be installed at small cost to pump the water from the rivers and mall streams onto the bank where It could be ditched back to cover mall tracts of land. This has gradually, as the people became acquainted wit hthe possibil ities, led to a more extensive use of the pump for irrigation purposes and Nebraska has now probably as many pumping plants watering farms of from forty to 320 acres as any of her sister states and there are In all probability one hundred farms which last year enjoyed the benefit derived from Irrigation by means of pump ing along the riatte river valley in Nebraska and a few installations bare been made along the Republic an, Loup and Niobrara rivers. This, after proving that water could be successfully and economically pump ad from the rivers to an elevation averaging about forty feet, has call ed for the Installation of irrigation wells. These wells were first of the open large diameter dug wells, many! of which were twenty feet In dlam . eter and from twenty to forty feet deep. These wells only dipped into the surface waters of the valley, and casings were afterwards sunk in a me of these wells which proved that there was more water below which would supply the pump more freely than would the surface water. Casings AVer Used These casings at first were made of galvanized iron about sixteen gauge weight, perforated by punch ing slots an inch long and one-quarter inch open as close together as possible. These tubes or casings were made In diameter from ten to twenty-four inches. After these proved successful tubes made of perforated galvanized iron of about fourteen gauge weight were used. This perforated iron. was obtainable a the market, as it is the screen which brick yards use to screen their dirt. This made very good casings and was made up in the same size as the perforated casings and many successful wells were made by sand pumping down into the water bear lag gravel a distance of from thirty to forty feet. These were difficult to sand pump down as the fine Band continually flowed into the slots and Caused the material above to cave in somewhat around the casing. After proving these were at least a part access, casings were sunk, made of light boiler Iron and with slotted perforations, some in horizontal and some in vertical positions. i Down to Bed I lock These were also sand pumped down through the water bearing ma terial onto the bed rock or hard pan below and o npumplng these wells it was found that the water was sup plied from a gravel vein immediate ly above the hard pan and that there was enough pressure on the water to bring it above first water level. (This proved the water which waa carried in this gravel had pressure sough to make the water penetrate tjpwards through the finer sand and through the crevices or broken plac es in the clay that separated the dif ferent stratae of Band and would ev en come to the level of the surface water, and many times would raise above the level of surface water. This proved to our minds that most of the surface water which had been supposed to be water drained from higher land prevented from seeping down was in reality water' which had been forced upwards through the broken stratae of clay iato the finer sands and had then seeped along these levels of sand to lower levels where it would fre quently break through and make seepy gronud. The above condition proved that well should not be expected to make a good delivery of water when It has merely penetrated the first vein of Band, which carries a small juantlty of water and even though you may have a depth of thirty feet f water in a well which stops In this material it does not prove that you will have enough to supply a pump but there are many cases where a vein of eight feet of good gravel will supply ample water for a 1,000 gallon per minute capacity pump. One of the main features of sink ing an Irrigation well Is to get your strainer down deep enough Into the water bearing material so that the weight of pressure of the water or sand around will force the water through the screen and up Into the tube. NncceiM.fiil T)Ie of CaMiig The accompanying illustration is the type of well which has been most successful In our recent installa tions. Many of the other types of wells have been discontinued, not because they were not in the proper vein of water but because the strain er did not permit a sufficient amount of water to supply the amount de manded of them. The wells shown in this cut have been made by first sinking a blind casing 24 to 36 Inches in diameter made of No. 8 boiler iron to a depth which would be through the quick sand and then placing inside of this a strainer made of double Crimp Ty ler wire cloth made In most cases of No. 186 wire, three wires to the Inch. This screen was made in a cylinder form by riveting a number of sections together forming a cylin drical screen 20 feet In length and 18 inches in diameter with a shoe or cutting band of larger diameter on the bottom which would clear the way for the screen. These were sunk by means of suction sand buckets, and around this screen and Inside the large casing was supplied screen ed gravel such as is used on gravel roofs. This gravel worked Its way down along with the screen on ac count of the weight above and the gravel being free to move, it readily takes the place of the material through which the screen is passing. When it is sunk with a bucket or orange peel which takes out large quantities of sand ahead of the screen, these casings are then sunk clear to the bottom of the water bearing vein where the water 1b traveling most freely. The gravel which has taken the place of the surrounding material will allow the water to percolate from the different strata of gravel which have been encountered and bring it to the screen. We had one well of this type in which we placed twelve wagon loads of gravel and when this well was first pumped It delivered very little sand, proving that the gravel had formed a perfect bed around the screen. Smoe of I out from the well which will show the water has dropped in the ground within a circle of a probable radius of fifty to one hundred feet from the well to a depth of say ten to twelve feet below where It stood before pump was started. This la the af fected zone over which this well Is exerting an influence and in many cases It enlarges to a greater radius than one hundred feet. In other words, if a wel lat a given point de livers 1,000 gallons of water per minute another one ' hundred feet away would probably not deliver ov er seven hundred or even less while the first well was ln operation, as well number one would be draining part of the area effected by well number two. This affected zone of course differs with different loca tions and with the velocity with which the water percolates through the sadn and gravel. This velocity In some tests made by the university, and shown in gvo ernnient report, along the Tlatte riv er valley has been estimated at from sixteen to forty feet In twenty-four hours, but later developments and tests have proved that it is much faster than this in this valley. Many people say, "Oh yeB, you can pump water for irrigation in the Platte valley, but you can't do it on the 'higher ground with any econo my." In fact most people do not believe that there Is ample water for irrigation in any district but the Platte valley. We would like to call the attention of these people to the fact that the city water works at Hastings, Minden and Holdrege, and in fact all of the larger towns, will demand from smaller wells which often are located within some ten to twenty feet of each other, as much water as would be needed to irri gate the ordinary farm and carry it through the dry periods which visit Nebraska every season. Through conversation with differ ent well men and through personal experience and talks with geologists, we find that there Is a stratum of gravel which probably underlies the larger portion of the state of Nebras ka and which was placed with the glacial drift which covers the central portion of the state and some think reaches further west into the moun tain drift section. In any event we find that there are a very few wells and ln only exceptional cases have any gone dry or even been limited in their flow of water, which are lo cated in the territory from York, Ne braska, west to the Btate line, south of the Platte river. This would lead us to believe that the Bam vein of gravel underlies practically the whole state and that the courses of ., i -' I. '.5 , .- C1 li ft. ""fT".'" ' w; 5 :?, IK m:1 m Si! fill ji Winn... I -m --r0" .- 3 Mesh, No. 143 Wire (Actual Size) g Mesh, No. 133 W ire (Actual Size) ioaai aoai ooooi 4 Mesh, No. 105 Wire (Actual Size) V V y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y x V y y y y y y coai iLlLlbNJLLL JLL From the Big Horn District Kirby No. 1 Nut IS ESPECIALLY trOOD FOR COOK STOVES AND RANGES. IT IS RECOGNIZED AS RETTER THAN MOST NTT COALS AND AS GOOD AS ANY NUT COAL SO LD IN ALLIANCE. At $6.50 per Ton THIS KIHHY NO. 1 REPRESENTS COAL OF f 1 TO 82 PER TON. A SAYING TO USERS OF NUT Telephone Us for a Trial of this Coal It Is an exceptionally good coal In a class with the Rock Springs Coal. The opening of the Casper division of the Burlington gives a freight route to Alliance via Guernsey instead of the former long haul around by Billings and the new freight rate from the Big Horn district Just es tablished, puts Klrby coal on the Alliance market now for less money than the inferior coals are sold for. WE ALSO SELL COLORADO COAL THE GENUINE MAITLAND LUMT CARNEY VILLE COAL EGG, LUMP AND NUT Our Cash Prices Mean Cheaper Coal Phone 545 Alliance Creamery Phone 545 Our Cash Prices Mean Cheaper . Coal IRRIGATION WELL USING DOl'liLE CRIMP WIRE STRAINER FILL ED HOUND WITH GRAVEL "Tnn rnn Tinrn lit run I mm E, OR ACHING FEET Ah! what relief. No more tired feetj no more buraing feet, swollen, bad smell ing, Bweaty feet No mors pin in corns callouses or bunions. No matter what ails your fees or what under the sun you've triad without retting relief, just use "TIZ." "TIZ- draws out all the poi sonous exuda tions which puff up the feet i TIZ" it mag ical; "TIZ" is rrand; "TIZ" will curs your foot troubles so you'll never limp or draw up your faco In pain. Your sGoea won't seem tight and your feet will never, never hurt or get sore, swollen or tired. Get a 23 cent box at any drug or department store, and get relief. these wells have been built by sink ing the large casing or blind, clear to the depth to which the bottom of the screen is to be placed, then in serting the smaller diameter screen such as we have mentioned above, filling around the same with the screened gravel and drawing back the large casing or tube allowing back water bearing sand to come in contact with the gravel. This also makes an ideal well but frequently it Is impossible to pull back the blind casing on account of Its size and length and the sand having packed around the same and this way of making a well does not permit a body of gravel as does the former way of sinking the casing. (ravel Takes Place of Sand There are wells of this tvn in Nebraska which are delivering as high as 1.500 gallons a minute from single casings and which we believe could be Improved until they would deliver 2,000 gallons per minute. Again, we would call attention of the people who are interested in ir rigation wells, to the fact that mere ly a hole in the ground with the proper size casing does not consti tute a finished or perfect irrigation well as It Is invariably the case that when the well is first pumped it will not supply but medium quantity of water and with the continued use and operation of the well, the deliv ery Is larger and cleaner as the veins or water passages are developed In the subterranean passage way by the water flowing from the surrounding territory towards the well screen. When a well of this type, is put into operation the water may stand with in twenty, forty or sixty feet of the surface near the well but after the well has been pumped for several hours there will be a circle radiating the different rivers have cut deep gashes into this vein as they plow their way from west to east. This brings us to observe the fact that where these rivers or creeks run to the southeast they never go dry, while those running from the south west to northeast go dry frequently. In the first class we would partic ularly place the North Platte, Lodge Pole Loups and Punklnseed, and a few of those smaller creeks on the north side of the Platte river which seem to ,ffow and sink out of sight and then appear again lower down. We would also include the north fork of the Republican river or the Frenchman river. While in the sec ond class or those flowing to the northeast, we would include the South Platte, the Platte river itself where it makes the swing to the north, and the south fork of the Re publican river. This would go to show that these rivers and creeks flowing to the southeast drop faster than does the general slope of the land to the east, hence they cut into the vein of gravel which 1b carrying the water and they all carry off the overflow from this vein. But the pump irrigation GAL THREE ... rivers and creeks in the second class flowing from southwest to northeast do not fall bo rapidly as the genreal slop of the land. These rivers and river beds flow immediately over a vein of gravel which is carrying wa ter and which acts as a sieve to the rivers above. From our observation and experi ence, we are led to believe that the water flows underneath the surface of the ground from the Rocky Moun tain watershed to the southeast, but considerably more south than eatt, hence the large amount of water that Is supplying western Nebraska, westeru Kansas, and Oklahoma and Athletic Entertainment by the Alliance Fire Department PIMXiRAM : Human Pyramids. Two Fast Boxing Bout. Two Wrestling Matches. Work on Parallel Bars. Tumbling. Barrel Jumping. High Diving. Kicking. And Other Interesting Features. The Fire Department will give the public of Alliance a clean, interesting athletic entertainment. Bring the whole family. Ladies invited. The proceeds will be uned for the depart ment's needs. At The Opera House ON FRIDAY EVENING DECEMBER 18th Remember the Date PLAN TO ATTEND The Morning Free Press GRAND ISLAND, , NEBRASKA THE ONLY DAILY PAPER WEST OF OMAHA AND LINCOLN WITH FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS SERVICE LEASED WIRE IN OFFICE $3.00 PER YEAR Address MORNING FREE Grand Island, Nebraska PRESS on to Texas. The reason this water is not pumped to the surface to make the thirsty land give forth its best returns is because the land owners who are living within from fifty to two hundred feet of an abundant supply of water do not realise the value of it as do the people in Colo- ' radond the western states who will ! go from fifty miles to one hundred ! A m 1 c tVia siurtia rua lilt LAND FOR SALE If taken with in thirty days, 160 acres about three miles northwest of Alliance. In sec tion 28. township 25. range 48. Price, $25 per acre. Terms, $2,000 cash. Time on the balance. Address John Rock, 214 Knepper Street, Council Bluffs, Iowa. rJpHE two distinct types of Eczema can be relieved redily by using Dry Zensal for the crusty, scaly skin and Moist Zensal for all watery erup tions. Get it from Harry F. Thiele. Not even our great faunal natur- fa genuine bull moose as far Bouth alist w ill question the appearance of I Louisiana. f y y y y y y y y y y y y y t y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y T y y y