In  many  respects  Minnequa,  at  Pueblo,  is  one  of  the  most
remarkable  manufacturing  centres  in  the  world,  present-
ing aspects  that  invite  study,  in  its  extensive  resources,
the  vast  and  colossal  character  of  its  purposes,  and  its
remarkable  achievements.  All  employes  are  given  the
opportunity  to  acquire  homes  ;  and  every  late  ideal  in
the  way  of  providing  opportunities  for  their  care  in
health,  in  mental  and  moral  development,  and  in  recrea-
tions, is  carried  out  to  the  fullest  possible  extent.
The  company  has  recently  engaged  in  an  irrigation
enterprise  in  the  purchase  of  water-right  priorities  of  the
Arkansas  River  for  seventy  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second,
at  an  expense  of  one  million  dollars.  These  rights,  which
date  back  to  1860-62,  are  among  the  oldest  existing,  and
they  insure  to  the  company  the  uninterrupted  and  cer-
tain possession  of  the  river  flow.  A  court  decree  enabled
them  to  change  the  point  of  division,  and  they  have
constructed  a  new  head-gate  at  Adobe,  six  miles  east  of
Florence.  A  canal  fifty-eight  miles  in  length  is  being
constructed  from  Florence  to  the  mills  owned  by  the
company.  The  cost  of  this  canal  will  be  some  three
quarters  of  a  million.  These  mills  produce  over  seventy-


126    THE  LAND  OF  ENCHANTMENT

five  thousand  tons  of  iron  and  steel  each  month.  The
manufacturing  plant  at  Minnequa  includes  blast  furnaces,
converting  works,  blooming  mills,  a  merchant  iron  mill,
a  hoop  and  cotton  tie  mill,  a  spike  factory,  a  bolt  factory,
a  castings  and  pipe  foundry,  with  open  hearth  furnaces,  a
reversing  mill,  and  many  other  appliances.
