, 1880-12-24

m1e1uat wow iheS fes"r" tae '97"ns y,
ea1'h "o'es ~ h'eie u.i'e. "t .''v ee"t
business OF uao country, o''onl" '.,oy "!u"r
arn" t1le't ho'es lucy VIII oatk oh ',1a. ~ c"
'ln'' anu no".a"rce III c"Iienes VIII w e"r
pnea Wy ulo oo'efl'"lch1 III 'Ae WY wv n"'e
po''''eo ou':
swAmp 1ANns AMI DRAINAGE IN 1LL1.
EoIs.
Atno time in tic history of tho State hnyo
tia mobile l,ccn moro uiye Ia tho necessities
of dra,noee than Mt the present, More miles
of drainage have been ,natle by the farmers
of Illinois within The lust six years t!nn thero
wrrc In the previous sixty years.
In 1874 tl,ere wero tWcnty-six estAbllsa.-
mcnts for the manufacture Of tile drains III
tho State: In 1850 thcrc nre lis, nnu tho lc-
mand Is greater tllnn tho supply. Tho larga
nren OF wet lands In Kankakce For.l, and
Verultlou Counties nro now being tlrnIned
by tho construction Of opcn litcl!es from
twenty to thirty feet wide a,,i three To fire
feet lcep, and tho wafer for mics OH either
sido drawn into tho,n by means Of titu aid
| mole drains,
| A few weeks since the writer mot Nfr. John
| SIdell at his pleasant home In tho southwest
pnrt Of Vermil!on County, md found him
actively engaged in digging s.nall cana1sov over
| M entire township Of lnl,d. Here, for ten
years past, thousands Of dollars HAYS been
spcut by different owners III both open arn1
! tic tlltcltnr without any gnod returns. from,
tic simple fact that ITO sufficient outlet l,ntl
beer, provided to carry oil tho water. Mr.
Sitie]l owns some 6000 acres in one body.
Over hye-stxths Of 1t wns swamp and over
flowed 1nnl from t85o to 1870. To-dayit il we'll
! fH.xl ~,
| ~ Ile could desire,
The Drainage law passed ut the Inst session
of the Legislature was thought by ,nNry at
tho time to be cumbersome In its details, nnd
| IN all probability would prove imperative.
| Tho experiments ,nato in 1871 and 1850 In
both tho northeastern and southwestern
pnrt of the State layc proven tho law to bo
good one and satisfactory to tho people.
| The bulk of the swamp lands lie along tho
| liue of tho Illinois Central Railroad and It's
Chicaeo branch. extending from Cllicngo to
Cairo. 'rho inv of Conercss passed Sept %,
1890 known as Tho Swulnu-I ,n1,,l net, granted
nil tho swamp md oyer1loScd lands to thu Stato
Of Illinois, and tho State III 1853 grantetl tho
snmo to tic several counties III whlcl, tic
lands might lie. Many OF these lands wcro
entered Mt tic local Luutl- Ofccs between
Scut, sS, 1850, and March ., 1855, and at this
lnttcr date Congress- passed mn net called the
swnm,-Lnrd Indemnify net. which paid
oyer to the Stnto nil tho money which the
Genera1 Goyorntnont hnd received for these
tnntla. To receive this money tue State was
obliged to prove by two good witnesses tho
fact of tho swa,npy character or overflow OF
| tho land to tho satisfaction Of tllo Secretary
NJ tho rntor,or, This was done In many In
atanccs hot,veen 1857 and 1861, when
tho Wnr Of tho Rebellion commenced
onI nj onorotions nf the stnto un11or
t,,ts not oaosoI IN 1sco 4ho oct admitting
nroonr and Minnesota info lin 1Inlon NJ
s,n,es ,vos ,os.ed mn, ono ssction nroyIlrl
t,,nt t,,o aai"ot,or nj awomn ,nn1s shonld
aaso ~ ,,uo ,,"ars nftor tto oIinur,ncrt ~ tho
o~t W.. o,,s,s.,ro T., o,o,, s,n,a from nn cftcr
49," ...as.s. ~ .,at aot trho sncrotorv