Items of Interest December 4, 1915 Issue

Items of Interest

About the last of the cheap irrigated land in the West is to be found in the Uintah Indian reservation, in Duchesne and Uintah Counties, Utah. These valleys are broken into separate topographical divisions by the "bad lands" breaks, but the soils of the valleys are deep, and when touched with irrigation produce bountiful crops. Five large rivers flow from the Uintah Mountains on the north to the drainage basin in the south and east, and fully 300,000 acres of land have already been brought under irrigation canals. The Government allotted some 112,000 acres of irrigable farm lands to Indians living on the reservation, and 250,000 acres of grazing lands. The balance of the reservation, containing some 2,250,000 acres, was thrown open to settlement. It was discovered that a great many of the Indians to whom the allotments were made were no longer to be found, and many more had become incompetent, so the department has decided to dispose of these lands, the interest they bear in the canals, together with the water rights, at public land sales.

In a formal petition which has been addressed direct to the King by the Chamber of Commerce of Bilbao, Spain, it is begged that the Government shall give its assistance toward the construction in that port of new jetties and wharves with all the latest improvements; that Government approval and assistance shall be given to the project for the establishment of a new line of steamships to ply between Bilbao and Southampton; that new public warehouses for the deposit of cargoes and goods under customs examination shall be established at the ports; that the assistance of the Government shall be given in solving the various difficulties that exist in regard to the building of minor ships of the navy at Bilbao; that a school of commerce shall be established in the city, and that special attention shall be given in it to training for the consular service; that a direct telephone service between Paris and Bilbao shall be speedily established.

The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway will soon try out the first of its huge new electric locomotives that are to haul freight and passenger trains over the mountain divisions from Harlowton, Mont., to Avery, Idaho. In January a trolley system is to be inaugurated and steam traction entirely abandoned over a 440 mile stretch of mountain country. The improved system of handling mountain traffic has required three years for its installation, and its cost will be about $15,000,000. Figures show that there will be an immense saving annually. The locomotives, of which fifty will be required for the mountain divisions, are constructed to haul 2,500 ton loads over 1 per cent grades at an average speed of 16 miles an hour, exercising 3,440 horse-power. The same locomotive geared for varying speeds will haul 800 ton passenger trains at a speed of 60 miles an hour. The engines are 112 feet, 8 inches long.

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