THE 8EMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE. NEBRASKA.
4
N tho valley of tho Hio Grande
rlvor, on tho border between tho
United States and Mexico, engi
neers of tho United Statoa have
almost finished tho greatest
reclamation project ever at
tempted. At a cost of ?10,000,
000 tho Elephant Butto dam In
Now Moxlco, which will turn 180
square miles of almost worthless
desert Into fortllo fnrms, has
Imnn constructed. For throo
years from tho tlmo tho water was turned Into
tho gigantic reservoir, tho entlro flow of tho Ulo
Grando will bo required to fill It. This artificial
lake- Is forty miles long and from three to six
miles wldo. It will hold G50.000.000 gallons, or
enough to cover 2,000,000 acres of land with water
to a depth of ono foot.
Tho work on tho dam was started In tho spring
of 1911, and moro than ono thousand workmen
liavo boon omployed on tho construction over
Blnco that time. When tho project Is dually com
plotcd 110,000 acres of land In Now Mexico, 45,000
ncres In Texas and 25,000 acres In old Mexico
will bo Irrigated. Flvo hundred and fifty thou
band cubic yards of solid masonry will have beon
put In placo. This masonry forms a mass, which,
If placed on a tract of land of tho dimensions
of an ordinary city block, would covor tho tract
to a holght equal to that of a 13 story building.
This masonry has been placed at tho rato of
S.225 cubic yards dally.
All tho gates of tho dam liavo boon put In
place and tho wator In tho reservoir stands at 37
feet above tho old rlvor bed. When It Is filled
it will have an avorago depth of approximately
KG foot.
Tho Elophant Dutto dam project far surpasses
in magnltudo tho Assuan dam on tho NIIo In
iSgypt, which has In tho past boon rognrdod as
tho climax of possibilities In Irrigation. As a
Jmattor of actual figures, tho NIIo dam holds only
lialf ns much water as will bo contained back
of Elephant Dutto dam.
Tho dam Itsolf Is 1,200
'foot long and will bo 301
,fcot high at tho highest
jpolnt. A pormanont road
way 1C feet high Is being
constructed on top. The
dam gradually widens to
tho baso, forming a con
croto foundation, against
which tho raging torrents
.from tho streams of the
Rocky mountains will beat
.for centuries without of
'feet. In tho construction of
itho reservoir it was noc
essary to wipe out throo
small towns; and although
itho population was not
pargo, tho proporty valuos,
Hvhich wore mado good by
tho govornraont, repre
sented In tho aggrogato a
consldcrablo sum. Anothor town sprang up for
tho arm.y of workmen. A railroad 15 miles long
was built to haul matorlal to tho placo whero tho
dm was oroptod. In fact, tho preliminary work
was not a small part of tho undortnWng. Plants
for tho manufacture of comont, buildings for the
Rousing of tho workmen, a store, power station,
transmission linos and a great embankment at a
cap in tho hills northwest of tho dam proper had
to bo provided.
Construction of main flumes, cofferdams, exca
vation in tho rlvor bod and tho building of roads
wcro among tho preliminary tasks presented to
tho onglnoors. Tho cost, with tho oxcoptlon of
$1,000,000, will eventually bo paid back into tho
government reclamation fund by land ownors who
will bonoflt by tho dam, and will again bo used
uy tho government for reclamation work In somo
olhor section of tho country.
Tho $1,000,000 was appropriated outright and Is
jbolng usod for that portion of tho work which
will bonotlt farmers In old Moxlco. Tho appro
priation was mado to furnish this water in set
tlement of soveral million dollars in claims which
tho Moxican govornmont had presented to tho
"United States for damages to land on the Mexican
tsldo, as a result of tho wator from tho river bo
jlng used In small irrigation projects on tho
American side, thus robbing Moxican farmors of
-water which naturally would have gono to thorn.
i Something of what 1b to bo oxprcirf as a ro
isult of tho work Is demonstrated by tho small
tracts that havo boon irrigated by prlvato Irriga
tion systems. Tho great dam will connect two
division dams already completed. Ono of those,
at Lcasburg, waters 25,000 acres In what Is known
n8 tho rich Mosllla valloy. It has boon wondor
fully productive Farmers In this section havo
rocolvcd a profit of $600 an aero from truck In a
alnglo year. At other points along tho Itlo Grande,
In both Texas and Now Moxlco, smnll dams havo
brought tracts of land undor Irrigation and mado
It possible to ralso bounteous crops.
Tho samo fertility will bo found on tho 155,000
ncroB around tho now dam In Now Mexico and
Texas. Qreat valloyB which havo hitherto pro
duced only during tho Infrequent years that nn
turo was kind onpugh to sond moro than tho
'avorago rainfall, will bo roached by tho wator
Ifrom tho Irrigation canals and largo yields will
'bo assured.
Tho statement that tho reservoir will hold
throo yoaro' flow of tho Itlo Grando rlvor shows
tho greatness of tho project. Tho Rio Grando is
ono of tho Iongost rivers In tho United StntcB.
ilt forms far up in Colorado and Is fod by rivers
land streams oxtondlng much farther to tho north,
jit flows through a portion of Colorado, across
Now Moxlco and forms tho border botween Toxas
and Moxlco, finally reaching tho Qulf.
Extensive irrigation from tho river without tho
.aid of a great dam and rcsorvolr io Impossible,
ibocauso of tho rapidity with which tho strain
changes from a raging torrent to n bed of dry
.sand.
With tho completion of tho dam and other lrrl
Ration projects which will follow a groat future
for Now Mexico Is assured. Now Mexico lies In
tho heart of tho arid section of America. Sho
lias 122,400 square miles of broad plains, rugged
j -ountaliiH, sago brush doiorta; groator in extent
than all Nw England, With Now York and Now
K I 11 iV VJ
IS. GOVERNMENT ENGINEERS
HAVE JUS 1 HNlSiltD DAM
THAT WILL TURN 150 SQUARE
tfj d MILES OF DESERT INTO FER-
i . .. i i
FARMS IN SOUTHWEST.
r
HE KEPT HIS PLEDGE
u " " K J
i (
il
John N. Tillman of Fayottcvllle,
Ark., is an ambitious person with
cleanly chiseled, statcmanllko fea
tures, red hald red hair with a ro
mantic backward sweep and a dis
position to do thoso things that ho
sets out to do. ConBequontly, because
ho mado a little agreement in his early
boyhood to go to congress, ho has gono
to congress. Moro than thirty years
ago a pair of youngsters, ono of them
Tillman, sat undor a big oak trco and
offhandedly mado a boyish compact
to meet somo day In congress. Tho
plan entered into lightly was not
sealed in blood, Huck Finn fashion,
or anything like that; still, as Tillman
looked at it, an agreement is an agree
ment. No took tho thing seriously
and mado up his mind to keep tho
tryst. Ever since that day under tho
big oak. treo hohas conducted himself
as ono having nn appointment to ful
fill and cagor to bo on tho way. Both
tho young men who framea tho pledge became lawyers and each served his
district as prosecuting attorney. Then ono of tho young men blow up, bo far
as sticking to his agreement was concerned. Ho quit thinking about con
gress and became a Presbyterian minister.
Aftor serving as district prosecutor Tillman becamo a circuit judge and
then wns honored by being elected president of tho University of Arkansas.
That might havo been enough honor for Tillman, and doubtless would
have been, except for his agreement. Ho had told his friend ho was going
to bo on hand at a certain place, and ho meant to do just that. When ho
began his campaign ho frankly told tho voters about his boyish compact, and
put it squarely up to them whether ho Bhould bo ablo to keep his agreement (
or not.
What else was there for tho voters to do?
and force a man to break a pledge, could you?
You couldn't go to tho polls
,. oo
SUCCESSOR TO FRENCH
Jersey thrown In, but with n population of only
about 500,000.
So many generations ago that no records aro
loft, a mighty civilization is said to havo flour
ished in this territory. When Coronado sailed up
tho Rio Grando, Indians were leading tlw waters
of tho river over tholr fields and blossoming gar
dons. But with tho coming of civilization, led by
tho Spaniards, who sought only gold, tho ancient
irrigation systom was abandoned, and for many
generations this land which will now bo mado
fertile was loft Idle.
When Now Mexico be
came a nart of tho United
States fully one-third of
Its area was Included in
Mexican and Spanish land
irrants. which for years
nftorward wore uncon
firmed and theroforo paid
.,r tnvna. and wore not
avallablo to sottlers. Tho
Indians and tholr Moxican
neighbors had been irri-
rattnir tholr fow crops
throiiKh ditches construct
ed hundreds of years be
fore.
Llttlo moro than a quar
ter of a century ago,
with tho arrival of a rail
road, new sottlers began
to Inhabit the section and modem irrigation sys
tems were first thought of. Tho ditches theso
farmers mado soon decreased tho water supply in
tho Rio Grande, so that further development was
imnnsRlliln unless storaco water was provided.
This resulted in many of the old ditches bolng
abandoned and thousands of acres wore loft to
narch till the comlmr of Uncle Sam with his en
gineers, whoso work will turn tho arid desert Into
fertllo fields, which will again bo green with
crops, as thoy were centuries ago, before tho
white man invaded tho torritory.
Gen. Sir Douglas Haig, who has
succeeded Field Marshal French as
commander of the British forces In
Franco and Flanders, is fifty-four
years old. Ho began his military ca
reer with tho Seventh Hussars in 1885
and served in tho Sudan and South
African campaigns, in both of which
ho won distinguished honors and promotions.
At tho outbreak of the present
war ho was gonoral officer command
ing at Aldershot and afterward was
made commander of tho first army.
Several times during tho war Gen
eral Halg has been highly praised in
tho dispatches of tho general he has
succeeded. At tho battle of tho Alsno
his couduct was described by Field
Marshal Sir John French as "bold,
skillful and decisive."
Fiold Marshal French in his dis
patch to tho British war office describ
ing tho famous retreat from Mons,
credited Sir Douglas with having extricated his corps from a difficult position
at Landrecies.
General Halg is a Scotchman. Ho won his first honor under General Kitch
ener in tho Sudan, whero he was prfimoted to a brovot major on tho field for
gallantry at Atbara and before Khartum.
PRESIDENT OF PERU
A Military Surgeon's Experience in Berlin
By PROF. CARL LUDWIG SCHLEICH.
Thoy who return from tho fiold of battlo aro
changed men, with a peculiar expression of tho
faco which has becomo characteristic of thoBe who
aro fighting for tholr country. Though thoro Is a
uniformity of desire to sorvo tho fatherland fur
thor aftor as speedy n recovery as may bo pos
sible, on tho features of all theso members of tho
giant organism lies tho stamp of tho horrors of
war which thoy havo witnessed, and this expres
sion Is in direct relation to tho culture of tho
Individual.
Notwithstanding their Iron purposo to return
when their injuries shall havo healed, theso fight
ers are all, psychologically speaking, not quite
Intact. A tragic look in tbn deep-sot oyes, nn al
most stony rigidity of faco aro cfumtcterlatlc, es
pecially of tho officers who como under observa
tion. It socms ns if all t'-o horrors of conflict had
Impressed thoniBolves upon tho vision and had
given nn expression first of astonishment at tho
onormltlcs of destruction witnessed. Thon grad
ually as tho oyes becamo weary and accustomed
co tho flights of slaughter thoy mirrored tho full
picture of tho hnrrlblo.
This condition la followed by ono of uncanny
cnlm and fixity of expression, which, vlsollko, re
tains Its domonlnc hold upon tho fnco, causing
tho oyes to sink doopor Into tho head, to becomo
dimmed nnd tho lowor lid marked with tho
shadow and weariness within. Tho oyos Ho deop
In their bony sockots as In thoso suffering from
Insomnia or thoso who havo boon douply touched
by life's mlBorlos. This expression of tho fnco
wo find oven where tho Individual returns to his
homo uninjured.
Undor solicitous caro tho rigidity and look of
distress disappear In tho courso of a fow weeks,
but on tholr orrlval from tho fiold thoso men are
all Bllghtly changed as though thoy had lanrnod
to Bhudder nnd no longer know tho unrestraint
of JoyouB laughter. Thoy havo Boon tho Gorgon's
head. This changed expression of tho faco, this
deadly sorlous look, this aging of tho features In
a short porlod of tlmo Is woll known to rela
tives and friends. It is tho expression of n con
dition which tno tocnalcal physician character
izes as chronic Rhode of tho sympathetic system,
oxprossod particularly In tho arteries.
Tho effect of this is mnrked not nlono on tho
pulse, but also on tho heart Itsolf. Undor tho
constant Impulse of Its contracting muBclo tho
heart bocomeB dilated and hyportrophlcd. Thl&
physical condition results in that psychic unrest
which makes llfo seem unattractlvo and. gray,
and tho future veiled In leaden mists nnd with
out hopo, while all tho tlmo tho rocont past Is
lived over In tho mind and seems like an unreal,
not quite tanglblo dream. .
Insomnia Is tho worst of tho psychic dls
turbances that follow in tho wnko of tho heart
condition, and it may assumo a severe form
which cannot be alleviated by tho known reme
dies. Theso half-sick pcoplo Ho awako at night
racked by their momorlea, staring with open eyes
into tho dark. Thoy will hear tho rattle and
shriek of nrtlllory, tho crash of tho machine
guns and nn echo of imminent danger; these
memories will seem to them as tho flight of tho
Iron birds of destiny.
Wo have no sharply defined psychosis of war
with constantly characteristic symptoms. Tho
occasion of war may servo to develop tho latent
predlsposlttons of mental derangement, and In
this n habitual misuse of alcohol may play a con
Bldorablo rolo, but truo psychic disturbances, ns
such, havo their roots furthor back. In other
words, it is tho faint indication of psychic ab
normality which Is brought to rapid development
through war, but war In Itself does not develop
a symptom complex of Its own or n truo psy
chosis.
Joso Pardo has again assumed tho
presidency of tho republic of Peru,
and now that South America and
South American affairs are attracting
tho notlco of the United States, his
career and record of servlco aro of
special interest.
Mr. Pardo was born in Lima somo
fifty years ago, tho third son of tho
famous statesman, Manuel Pardo, him
self a former president of tho republic.
During tho Qarly years of his life Mr.
Pardo dovoted his attention to tho
family estates, tho principal produc
tion of which is sugar cano. Turning
to politics, ho was elected president
of tho republic for tho term 1904-08,
and it is his achievements during this
period that promlso a stablo govern
ment. Tho ben6flts derived by tho coun
try during Mr. Pardo's previous term
of office, whero tho reforms wore ef
fected, show that numorous treatlos
wore signed, as woll as diplomatic agreements, which paved tho way for tho
amlcablo solution of tho gravo frontier disputes with tho neighboring re
publics.
GALLIENI, ENERGETIC AND SIMPLE
Energetic simplicity is tho domi
nating characteristic of Gonoral Gal-
Somo unusual Instances of hystorla havo como ' Honl, Franco's now minister of war,
undor observation, patients In whom functional
derangements woro offoctod by purely psychic
menus. Ono Is tho enso of a corporal of an ex
citable, wild and unrestrained disposition.
Ho camo to tho hospital shot through both
shoulders and with profuso inflammation of tho
shouldor Joints. Aftor four months ho was al
most restored to health and wns amusing himself
by playing upon his mouth harmonica, tho child
ish and individual musical Instrument of tho
army. Oppostto to him In tho hospital lay a
soldier suffering from tho effects of a shot
through tho head, with stupor and violent convul
sions. Tho indications for a cranial operation
woro bolng discussed, and tho remark was mado,
"It mny bo a caso of tetanus."
it proved not to no tetanus anu tno spasms
woro relieved by tho removal of a bono splinter,
which resulted In progrosBlvo recovery. But his
neighbor, tho corporal with healed shot wounds
In tho arms, aftor throo days developed typical
symptoms of tetanus, without fovor.
Tho manifestations continued for aovoral wooks
and disappeared finally undor suggestion, on tho
omphntlc assuranco that no tetanus was present.
Now York Sun.
and ho gavo a good oxamplo of it on
September 3, 1914, when ho found him
Bolf suddenly intrusted with tho do-
fenso of Paris upon that crucial day.
Tho govornmont had lied to Bor
deaux boforo tho onrush of tho Teu
tonic hordes. GalUoni must defend tho
city. Ho folt that hla first duty was to
toll tho Parisians of tho situation bo
foro them. Ho summoned a famous
historian on his staff to prepare tho
proclamation.
Gallienl glanced at tho long, high
sounding phrases, thanked tho his
torian, handed him his pago and,
picking up a pen, wrote:
"To tho Inhabitants and tho Army
of Paris: Tho members of tho gov
ornmont of tho republic havo loft Paris
to glvo a now lmpulso to tho national
dofonso. I havo rocolvcd tho order to
dofond Parla against tho invader. That order I will carry out to tho very end.
Gallienl."
That phraso, "to tho very end" Jusqu' nu bout put heart into the
Parisians. It is tho most famous phraso tho war has given France.
