, 1875-03-07
THE RIVER.
commissioner Brainerd's Plan for
ATertins a Flood.
The Vessel Owners Do Not Fcal
Nervous,

The .Vessel-0wners Do Not Fca
Nervous.
/ Craft in the Harbor.
Yesterdays warm weather, and tho pudd1as n,
water which stood upon tho streets, reneye,1 n.
1eei1cg Ct anxiety as to 4 possible Hood. tn,
JonT7sa1 however, contained very sensibla 1at.
ter from
i CANAL coM,1lss1osEs ". n. BRA1yEnD.
who makes some very judicious Suggestions in
regard to preventing . disaster from the t.vsr-
hoT'ng Of the Desplaines. Mr. Brainerd says
beg2nd the flooding Of tho hssenenp Of building,
near ne river which is quito proosb!e, should III.
y no danger from the drainage Of the lands dowt -
- the branches Of ths Chicago River PeonIr sra ~
'hroah n tss fr he
Very cear that from t=t ousrter n the n, ~ =. Is
| that can be afrrehcn.see '''' p1ts osassef
THE pEspLA1sEs RIVER cuAyxF1
II now quits free f.o nny very serious os+tr,ct1.
so1tn Of Rvetside And south from the mouth Of 10
hour, 400 900 COO Of cubic feet ct va,er All ~.
feet above ts hanks would iucrese :ty csnarItr ~
over 1900 900 ooo of cubic fea. Of water eyer9 t1rt
II
on tho whola watershed drained by The De,plsipn
River Now - to the pruba bilies Of serious dam.ro
from the Ogden Wentworth Canal: Having for .ns
past two years giyea that canal and its surruuud
ngs careful attention, think per1ectly 1astasl
IN saying that we have aothfng SERIOUS 70 fer of
quantity of water would come down Tie csnI2raoss'
ably from CO. COZ to 75 500 Of cubic feet Of s.sr
every twenty-four hours. anil for t~o thrsa d4T3
verside,-hut sea difficulty in tue atilty os "a
Chicago k'ver and canal to take It away enectuaIIy
Chicago River, 4 oEen from the junction ot III
North and South Branches, 100 feet vide, With ca--
rent flowing at the rata Of miles Per hour woa;l
pass 200 100 Of cubic feet OF water evsT
twenty-four hours The canal can taks away 10 ou.-
IN The aooa Of 1sio, i understand the fact. IL.
channel e The Desplainea gorfed with Ice abort d.
''oopES-wESrwonrH" CANAL,
end turned the whole Of Desrafues River cas-. fnto
Mud Lake and tho wea: Branch Of Chicago River. lie
overflow extending aeross tho low country neaslya =
mile In width and entirely unchstrpcted IN ts couraa
directly toward tho city. Now the situation Is yr1
different. Tie Hon %. B. ogden haa built .ssre
margin Of the Desplanes its eassern bank sout TO
the mouth Of the ''oe,len-wentworth" C1a4l end
another eubankment that from the canal nc4vss
Mud 1akc, and connects with the higher gro14nd
toward Kivsssias TT Thts IL, hst-aued eno.nkasn:
River. There is openiug in It % feet wide chr I'd
with plank, for the passage Of the "os,=e weas-
could pass probably $1,000, ,oot cosi. feet Of VIZ
oyery twenty-topr hours It ia highly probable thntn
case q @ ran a. of ice th.. he 1osden;wen.vorEh
lat ID. current runs difectIy into The Isyoa from
.sxe, 'aa rom the sna a t,s ds s,vas north At
:hree four times wider than Ia
ANAL would float large Of see that wouli be
nost likely to banx up and choke the mouth Of Il.
hink 1t would b. good pl1n to have sone men II
hat point vaan the ice movea to assist In choking lie
hitch with ice. A. It seems to be impos.ie:e 70
fratus
ridge to the Lake, It appears that tho uext best
nng 70 do, and TO do At once, would be to cut o,t.t
possible vent hole asy 1oo fsat wide by ~ f.et
to ralieve the pressure when the water begins to
,ove- Th1t IS tho manner In which u4 1eivye Ito
hich IL very generally succeaefu1 in preventing
orge, while the current runn,n. under the tes wess
The limited watershed Of the Ch5eago River
My OF square mics,-and tho fact that ths
uslness paft Of tue city has been raised asYe.al
bet since 184s, practically obviate all danger u
food, unless the Desplaines. which dzA.oa 7yo
1uars miles. should turn its waters this rav.
.ow to avert that Mr. Brainerd has expla: ned.
nd there should the attention Of tha Doud of
ublic Works be directed.
TIE vEHsEZ-owgER8
ave been taking all possible precautions dsrins
10 last two or tl,ree days, to prevent ,Lelr
/ BY any food il tie Chicago RIVER.
very craft has been we'll secured
the dock, and tho ice around the yesse,; has
| como instances been cut Though : ri5 Of
:veral fee. and q strong current zrs EXP ocsed
tho river BY the vessel-men, they do not think
lat there will bs An overflow OF any dsnaga
DIG by it. Tho fact that there was tlcod ia
a9. when the ground was covered with Hno.
III ice just 81 at present, is not consiGc.eda
ason that We should have flood nov. Tho
nditions then we're very different from uhat
ey are now. At that tirne the river wa rar-
", and the bridges Were LOW, rckety Atract.
es. Since then the river has beea wh:eucd
d deepened, the bridges made strong ard
bstantial. and the streets rased many feet.
sides, the sewers which empty into tha :iycr
We tendency to rot the Ice, and make it
eak up easily.
Still there is possibility Of t.ouble, IT the
st wind, which has been blowing for tho Ias.s
rec OF four days, haa driven an immeE.e field
} river completely. Nothing but strong ueat
nd can remove this ice-oiocEade. Therefore
3 Of the greatest importance that every E,os-
le precantlon be taken to prevent 2 de:,t1ac-
n Of the largo amount Of property now hAr-
ing in tho Chicago River.
THE FOLLOWING VESSELS
at present laid up in this hasbor Two s.eam-
, I,083 tons thirty-eeyen prorellers. :l.Co3
8 mine barka, 2G7 toas; three brlSs, 76s IONS;
schooness, II tons n scows, 1.i0l
King total Of 4s3 veasels, with = tonnage Of
943 tons, representing value ot over
.000, coo.
eades this the following vessels are loaded
b grain: Schooner pensaukee, So 900 bus:,el5;
ooner E. l.. Coyne, 25,o00; schoonsr
okiyu, 20 ,0c0 schooner J. " Doane, IS coo;
aoner HiGgie i Jones. 10000; schooner
Ice Alfred, 10000; schooner ". b Allen,
90; schooner 6. c. Barnes, 40, 600.
TUE GAG-LAW.
Hearing In the EsueiE Eazes
I. LOUIS, March C.-The habeaa corpus case