Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-04-03


Which horn of the dilemma will the Journal
take?
The Kankakee Draining Company.
Within the present mouth company has been
organized, by Col J. c. WALKER, Hon. GoRDoS
TANNER, and other gentlemen of northern In
diana, for the purpose Of Strengthening. deepening
and clearing out the Kankakee river The OBJ
jects proposed by this company are of such i'm
to the State, that we deem it proper to devote
some space to full discussion of the enterprise.
The peculiar character OF the Kankakee coun-
try has not heretofore been generally understood.
Marshes and swamps Of vast extent, on either side
Of the river. render access to the stream, in many
places. almost impossible Practically. it is a re-
gon of wilderness, in the very heart of the richest
and most highly improved section Of the State.
The soil is said to be an alluvion from six to ten
feet in depth, underlaid by stratum of black
sand or gravel, which, in turn, rests upon bed
of clay.
In 1852, the Legislature enacted general law
for the draining of the lands ceded to the Stately
the General Government as swamp lands; but its
provisions were such that the swamp land CON-
missioners of the several counties acted independ
emily of each other, and no comprehensive plan of
operations was practicable. The drains cut in
this region operate to run the water into the Kan
kakee narshe., wlist ,th;n, wis done, or could
be DONE to carry of the water accumulated in the
river, and upon the adjacent lands. The entire
proceeds of the swamp lands were thus expended
in the construction of bitches, which, in most
cases, have been of little advantage to the coun-
try; and there is scarcely an instance where such
drains afford the complete reclamation intended
to be effected.
In 1883. Col WALKkR, then a member of the
Legislature, submitted bill to the Swamp Land
Committee for the Strengthening and deepening
of the Kankakee river. BY his bill, the Swamp
Land Commissioners Of the counties bordering on
the river were made board, and required to act
in concert. His plan was to make the Kankakee
the grand center of complete system of swamp
land dr1,ining- Experience has shown that this
plan would have been not only more effectual,
but far cheaper to the State, than the miserable
system adopted. The State had not, at that
time, alienated any of the land and its provisions
could have been easily carried out, thus saving at
least million of dollars to the treasury and render.
ing the Ksnkakee marshes the best farming lands
within our borders.
The swamp land fund having been exhausted,
and the State thus disabled to undertake the ac-
complishment Of the work, Col. WALKER, still
hoping to attain the object in some other way,
employed competent engineers, and in the sum-
mer of 1883 made complete survey of the
river, from point not far from its source to the
State line Upon reviewing report of that sur
vey, we find that in distance of seventy miles
within this State, the channel, by reason of its
eccentric and innumerable bends, is over two
hundred miles in Iength--the distance by the
channel being about threefold the distance by
a straight line. 1t was frequently found
that in single days survey, en-
embracing but a short distance, TIE engineers
following the course of the stream, Travelled
toward every point OF the compass. Generally
the water in the channel, even in the dry months
of summer, stands above the level of the surface
of the adjoining or frst-bottom lands The
higher marshes, second grade, are so slightly
elevated to be, in most cases, unsusceptible of
complete reclamation, unless the water in the
channel can be lowered. For a few miles before
reaching the State line the stream becomes rapid,
and the water is confined, generally, between
banks of dry land Fortunately the fall between
the State line and the rapids at Momence is suffi-
GENTLY great to carry off any amount of water
that may be thrown into the channel The fall
for the length surveyed, will average about one
foot per mile. by straight line-a greater fall
than that of the Mississippi, or the Ohio, or the
Lower Wabash. The channel of the Kankaket
being about thrice the length from point to point
of a straight line drawn through the same points
it becomes apparent that its fall can not be more
than four inches per mile. If this channel, then
with four inches fall per mile, were only seventy
miles in length, it would carry off but one third
the quantity of water in given time that would
be conveyed away bya channel of the samelength
with one foot fall per mile. Having not only about
two-thirds less fall than straight channel would
have, but two thirds greater distance, it follow.
that the quantity of water carried off by thepres
ent channel, in given time must be but abou
one-sixt tn of what would be carried off by straigh
channel But this is not all. Il is well known
that every bend in river, while it increases tn,
length Of the channel, acts also as a dam, which
to greater or less extent, retards the velocity
the current Such is the crookedness of tn,
Kankakee, that, in the State of Indiana alone
the survey shows over two thousand bends o
every conceivable degree of tortuosity. Add t.
all this the fact that during the summer months
the present channel is almost completely clogget
with water grass and other vegetable matter, am
it is safe to say that improved channel, cleared
Of all impediments, two-t thirds reduced in length
with two-thirds more fall, and without bends
would carry off fifteen to twenty times more wa
ter in a given time than is conveyed away by tn
river in its present condition. The above calcu
lation is made without regard to the well know,
rule governing the increased velocity of waite
arising from an increased fall, which would show
that the quantity that might be carried of b,