, 1875-08-11
THE CALUMET FEEDER.

GUAHAlys
THE CALUMET FEEDER.
WHY IT SHOULD he DAMNED.
TIE Tn1n,ISE published last week an account
OF the damage dono 10 tho c,ops in tint part OF
Worth and Palos which borders on tho Feeder,
and also gnve tho story of tho farmors, who laid
all tho blamo On the shoulders Of tho Canal
Commissioners, who. by throwing a dam ncroea
the feoicr fow miles caHt OF the cann1, had so
backed tho water o. to cauBo It to flood their
fields. Tho following letter from tho General
Superintendent OF tho Canal gives somo facts
on tho othor side:
nthe stt:r r Jas cais.so ,,s. 1s's.n' an,,xrx,r.
OrYlcE, LocKrOn1, ill.,, AuB. 4.ln yolr lnsuu nf tho
III it*t., under the hcailng Of "cook County, aIe
pears article Rejecting tte Canal Commissioners
M account III certain dam across the old Calumet
Feeder. .-.......... .-..
ie Canal Commissioners will IL" high warr ut la
iaIle OH tll It,uis lyfr, anI with iluru r.akn. for
III the Of tho Frocr II ~ nut now, nor ever wan.
deepening Of tho su,ni.-scsc 81 always had II full Of
water. ii constructed for train for thss
the soeast end end of I'd sr @ IL; fscle1 as ,sen Re oie,.
and all tho water that w01d las be allowed To taAa
nu, at that en aud the people Of tiat Bag country
they never paid cent, and to the n which they
have been ii,a,Ie welcome. but Tho City VI Chicago,
while mailing tho deep cnt, Obliged to dam tAa
weat end nl md keep It 80, md doubted
tlrir rtRt to do TO- After tle city got through,
persons 10 unknown lrOk. tho dam, mud ict tho
trrIpg lfota down the deep cut ut The snR
bstlRs. protected eGatns the treHpass, nnd opened
correspondence with the Highway ConnipsionerR Of
tiuully ,,ale an arrangement with thcru by which
to Put III 1arGu trunk, with Ente sltlci"nt to
pass s The water except in the breaking NJ in SPHINX
damage to tho canal waa principal, dune earfiel
ont tho agreft ut IN my part, aud PIT the gate into
their hands; tnt sooncr *esc our Lacks turne
ill. sotnu ol,o tore tic trunk on dn al ont as.an
l *poka to tho Supervisor about theie rant 0! Eool
firth III a 5ts1 st oa e. " ~ Has aras5 .s
havo rebuilt thE dam, ~ II ~uh my duty to da. In Or
der to protect the canAl. .
ncsa to mto with lilo feeder now than they Ind lc-
fors the deep cut wHs nlata aud assure Ya and tho
,lcer e,tt Of ts Illinois Il Michigan Canal ore 1or
navigation drainage II tho towns Of Taos aslt
Worth, Of Jefferson anA Cicero, ant. oil the rest Of
nankind to bo allowed to centre tho dginagc of
one. two. tnmus Into i. A. IL it, Thu co1ts
rtcrce Of the country wants ami expects thu caua for
tic purpose o nayiHatIon sIl the CITY Of Chicago
,rcts ii to raln n.s eloaso all its nth. Next
Ogden and Wentworth, and empty tho whnlo Of the
DtaFainea River into It. mud IN their order come 1t
vhulc territory Into it. Dut 1t srens 10 that utcd
nn, regurs denial from tho Canal Con,nitsu1crs to
satisfy oil that 1t cannot Ie dnEe. WIZ. THOMAS,
General Superintendent.
In addition to uhat hr. Thomas says, it mny
he stased tllht when tho canal originally dug,
the cngiDecrB, for tito purpose Of iuaurng COLI
R.ant supply Of water tlraw l0-foot dam acroeB
Stony Creek, ngAe DiN0 lsfhnd. and then dug
from the hcalwatets ot that htreaul. in tho Town
Of Worth, a ditch duo westward to tho canal.
This excavation runs through depression called
tho Sag, and occupies tho bed OF wllht WAS ouce
a stseArn Or bayou, connecting tho lnko and ths
DeBplainea. Th.a ditch WRs dug by tho 6tato
aod belonged to 1t. ..
Whom tic canal Was deepcned, and It no longer
depended OH the feolur tor wafer, drawing it,,
supply from Lnko Michigan instead, tllo Doartl
1x5rI
had lien on tho canal. throw . dam across Tho
fecdor 1lear tie palos limo III order to prevent
tho waAAing OF dirt Or flowing OF water into the
canal. The llrHt made distractions. which had
| to 10 removed BY cxponsve dredging, and tho
second iutcrfero1 with tho low from tho Chicago
| liver southwark. This action was ali tho moro
necessary since tho people OF Worth and l'olos
| zero beginning To reap whoro they had moi
| sowod. by utilizing ditch they Aad no& dug
and by running north md south dEain8 into tlt
| Since II WAS in the ponor Of tho 6tate to have
filled up tho artit]cial chnnnol 1t lad nado, thort
ia no reason why they. should complain because
| at certain times. tho State chooses to dam TIM
| channel to protect its canal from injury.
But tllB caro- ts not one Of wrong without q
remedy. Now TINT tho Blue Island dam 70.
ferrod to above. which backed the Watcrs o
Hsouy Crock. has boon rn1noyeI, It becoulon eaAy
for tho residents OF MI Worth md pnrt Of ralo
| 10 run all their surplus water EASTWARD thronKl
tho crack, Instead Of pouring It into tito FeedeF
| This onco done, tho amount OF drniuage lnto th
latter eau bo eaetly managed. except in soasol
of auoA rains ~ NO have been having, and thel
tho HnR country In ovcshuwed. no lnnttcr how
many ditcslcs thcre mar bo or what way the
| run. Whoa tue waters havo snbsided, tue au
tlsoritiea Of Worth and phaos had beat got
cumpctNnt Gngiucar R1sd EGatEanY8 their drain
aso nyslem. Thu canal has oil it can do 1t pros
eut, aud to throw eeventy odd square Mile
moro Of wa.or-shcl III Just what 1t ca1,uo
xtand.