Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-02-18

location of farm was made over 30 years
ago on the American, four miles from where
the Pavilion now stands That farm is now
buried out of sight. The American had high
banks and clear sparkling water. and theitide
ebbed and flowed twenty inches daily at S c
ramento He shortly after located second
farm on the Bear. That, too, had clear
waite, was a deep s;re7m and had 2o-foot
banks. The Yuba's ban we're twenty
feet at Marysyille, al her waters
clear. So, too, with the Feather.
No sand. bar on the American could lie
found nearer than ten miles up from the
mouth. Ocean ships and great steamers cane
up to the mouth Of the American. A little
stern-wheeler can hardly get there now. He
improved his farms. married, and children
were born to him, and he began to build up
lovely home. Re spent 20 years of his
ago he had to abandon it. Now few Chi
nese, in low water, raise some struggling pea
nuts on bits of the place left by the river
but it is all under sand, and his old house
that he moved after the food of 1862 on
higher ground was this year reached by the
river. He had heard SO; he couldn't bear
to 90 and see il, and hadn't for many years.
Where the river banks were 20 feet high they
are now but four. In 1S49 thirty-six inches
of rain fell, and in 1852 nearly as much, and no
water ran from the river ON his place. But
in 1862 it ran five feet deep on it, and in 1867
left a foot or so of slickens on his
things go on, Sacramento viii be over
whelmed and covered. The only remedy is
to stop the evil and repair damages as we
may. He had been through floods and
studied them, and that was his conclusion.
His last farm he located in Yolo on high
land, so high and dry that it was not best for
farming, but this year the flood reached it,
and because the debris fills the rivers and
crowds the waters over towards the high
lands we must abandon this valley or the
hydraulic miners must cease their depository
of tailings in the streams.
GEORGE W. HANCOCK,
An old resident and farmer, formerly of
Suffer county, was the next speaker. He
had lately been up the river to Red Bluff
went to note the condition of things and re-
port for the RECORD. UNION, and his reports
were published in that journal. He had
since then formulated his figures and got
them in still better order. -Four townships
in Suffer, west Of the Feather and southeast
of the Buttes, are flooded. The land was all
a garden spot. Its profits were S75 per acre at
the lowest The loss there Is $3.50 COO. Two
thirds of the area west of the Feather
had been sown to the grain at So per
acre. equaling $276 600 more OF loss. In the
township above Moons Ferry the loss is S23.-
600. He made the total loss over 81, 247, 500.
These damages are largely consequential but
they are worse than if direct. He explained
at length about the river breaking from its
course, and how, three miles below Knights
Landing, it runs up stream, and at places is
slack water, and how it needs STRENGTHENING
and how at Giay's Bend the fall, by cut.
off. can be increased from two inches to six
inches to the mile. Mr.. Hancocks statement
was very interesting, and cannot well be con-
densed, as it necessarily is in this report. His
final estimate of damage in Suffer county was
81, C00.000.
Christopher Green was next introduced.
He uttered but few words, and simply said
that all had come to the conclusion that
hydraulic mining must cease, or the deposit
of tailings in the river cease. 1t had been
tried, but this time the people will go ahead
with it.
MAYOR JABEz TURNER
Was the next speaker. He spoke earnestly
of the great Importance of the question being
considered. He quoted from learned writers to
show the danger of washing down earthly mat
ter into streams. The conflict between CONNER
cial and agricultural interests on one hand
and mining on the other is upon US. We
must have relief. There must be law on
the statute book by which any man can IL
yoke the aid of the law to protect hisproperty
from destruction by the acts of others in prose.
cutting their business. Let the evil 90 on,
and in very few years this valley will in
winter be an inland sea, and in summer an
arid waste. Our little retreat here will not
then avail us-it viii be swept away before
that time, perhaps. We must have remedy,
and we must apply it.
a RESOLUTION.
G.. w. Carey here introduced the following
resolution, which was adopted, about twenty
noes being heard:
Res0Jred, That the operation Of the Debris Com
missicn after expenditure of nearly one-half
million dollars under the debris Act, has proven
wholly inadequate to relieve the Sacramento valley
from the effects of the flow OF debris from the by
draulic mining; that our representatives in the
Legislature requested to vote for and use their
utmost power to secure repeal OF the Act known
as the debris Act
j. WATSON
Was the next speaker, and was introduced as
the largest purchaser of goods in the country.
He said he had not before been so fully
aware Of The real amount OF cur trouble. He
had heard Of facts that deepaned his former
convictions. He had lived here twenty
years. He could verify all that had been
said. In 1852 he lived near F,lJom, and
knew the American well, and knew it when
there was % to 30 feet of water in it
all the year, where now, in summer
you can almost go across it dry-shod.
The city has spent enormous sums to protect
herself, but it is all folly. He saw it clearly
He realized all his risk-that all the labor OF
He had never believed we could get
relief from the Debris bill. He had
thought it impossible to detain the
Sacramento river in its banks,
because an eminent engineer not long ago
told him that the plane of the bed OF the
Suisun Bay is but six inches lower than the
bed Of the river at Sacramento, and the dis
tanee between the two is between eighty and
ninety miles by the river. SO it is child's
play to attempt to force it now to carry the
debris and It's waters They can't make it
scour out its channel with such fall. 1t
seems like baby talk to speak of such a
thing. Applause The river must have
other aid. If it had solid and high banks
like trough of iron it might be made to
carry to the bay, but you can't
make mud run up hill. He had
doubts if the evil can be stopped But if it
can be now, he yet believed the slums will
continue to come down for fifty years to
come. So he believed solemnly that we are
in a critical condition; that in the near future
the water will overtop any such defenses as
those we now have. Perhaps the farmers had
best give up their lands and roads and farms,
and build mounds, and get their houses upon
them, and be ready at least to save their
lives. We want for this citya levee. We
have never had a levee. [Applause. Enor-
nous sums we have spent-wasted foolishly.
Our levee ought to be on the slope, l
to or on the outside (applause), 20
feet wide on top, and 10 fest above
any probable high water. Then we will
have good lavees, Our S11, 000, 0C0 of prop.
erty will be safe, and people will feel
secure. The money we spent on the
Y-street levee was simply thrown away.
[ Applause. The American river should
bound us on one side and r street on the
other, out to Thirty-frst street. That is big
enough. Let us take care of that, it viii be
all right and we may live here III content
If we don't DO this our people viii
gradually drop out and in FIVE or ten years
the city viii be ruined. We must protect our
values. [Applause 1t is better to tax our
selves 81, 600, 600 now than lose all. APP
plause. Let us sacrifc one-eleveIths
rather than lose it and the other
ten-elevenths beside. Applause. Mr. Cad
walader here. with few remarks, announced
the close of the meeting, and led in three
hearty cheers for Sacramento, in which the
entire audience apparently joined with great
earnestness.
OAKLAND GUARD.-The Oakland Guard
will exemplify Upton's tactics in drill at
IL