A crew of several men and a steam shovel started work this week on construction of a truck road from the mouth of dry canon, six miles below McPhee, to the top of the mesa, a distance of nearly three miles. A crew of men from McPhee went up the Bear Creek last week and loaded the big steam shovel left there by a highway construction outfit. The machine was taken to McPhee and from there, driven and hauled to the place of operations. It is planned to build a good road to the timber country with a maximum grade of about seven percent, it is said. The building of the new road will mean the accessibility of several millions of feet of lumber, and the shortening of the distance of haul from tree to saw mill of may miles.
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The fire alarm was sounded Monday shortly after noon and a blaze was found in the rear of Stroud's store, where an ice house and chicken house were considerably damaged. The fire force got on the job and soon had the fire under control, else the entire business block would have been seriously menaced. The property is owned by C. W. Lilly and the losss is covered by insurance.
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Fire of unknown origin completely destroyed the homeo f C. N. Morrison about nine o'clock yesterday morning.
The Morrison ranch is some four miles southeast of Dolores on Summit Ridge, and as none of the family was able to get to the telephone it was impossible to summons aid. The house and all its contents was lost. There was some insurance. Fortunately, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction for the flames to spread to the barn or other buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison were not at the house when the fire started and they saved only the clothing they were wearing.
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The Norwood Chamber of Commerce has extended an invitation to the other chambers of commerce of southwest Colorado to attend a joint meeting of these organizations at Norwood on Saturday.
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Word form Durango Wednesday was of the closing of the Durango Bank and Trust company, on of the basin's best known financial institutions. The bank is closed for liquidation and it is said that depositors will probably be paid in full.
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No beer of the three point two variety has been sold in Dolores up to the hour of going to press. Owing to the extreme demand in and around centers of production, it is extremely doubtful that any quantity of the fluid will be available in the isolated sectors for some weeks to come. According to reports from Denver, demand was three times what was anticipated and that meager stocks were soon cleaned up. As it required several weeks to manufacture and age lager beer, it seems probable that local people will have to be content with the homemade variety for a time at least.
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Mr. and Mrs. Chas Lee were dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. George Berg Sunday.
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Spence Thomas is helping sort and sack potatoes, for shipment, at the Taylor cellar.
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Little Miss Wanda Thomas left here this week with friends from Rico and she will spend the summer there.
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Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Orr, accompanied by Mrs. C. W. Lilly and Mrs. R. T. Speck, made a trip to Durango Tuesday.
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The Gaines Lumber co. hung out a splendid new sign last week, the work of the artist, DeVille.
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Dallas Hampton made Dolores a visit Tuesday in the interests of Swift and Company.
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John Morrison was in from the lower range country yesterday getting a load of supplies. He plans to start shearing operations shortly.
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