Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-10-18
THE DEBRIS QUESTION
Tour Of Inquiry by the San Fran
cisco Committee.
TWO CONFLICTING INTERESTS.
Remarks of Members of the Delega.
tion and others.
From the RzcoRD-usIos's Special Reporter.l

tion and others.
From the REcoRD-UMoS's Special Reporter.l
MARYsvILLE, October 17sh.-The Debris
Investigating Committee from the San Fran
cisco Board of Trade, accompanied by the
delegation from this city who went to Sacra-
mento to receive them, left that place in a
special car attached to the 2:30 train this
afternoon. Soon after the train left the depot
the attention of the party was called to the
CONDITION OF THE AMERICAN RIvEE.
The location of the well known Smith Gar.
dens was pointed out and the filling and con.
dition of the American where crossed by the
trestle-bridge was viewed and commented
upon, comparing it with former years. As
the train passed off the bridge and upon the
high lands. Mayor Stone. of the Marysville
delegation, called attention to the tules grow
ing in patches ct various places remote from
the river upon the red lands, as resulting
from the annual overflow caused by the debris
from the hydraulic mines raising the river
channel and the former low lands adjoining.
GREAT QUESTION.
After passing on q short distance, one of
the committee remarked: This question
which is now before the people in this State
is great one, lock at it any way you may.
| It Is one for which there is no precedent.
| The two interests of farming and mining
have never before in any land come against
| each other, and the decision, which must be
| made sooner or later in the case. will of ne
cessity be al original one, although probably
based, when it shalt be found, upon prin-
| ciples and equities which are DID,"
Soon after passing Lincoln Mr.. Taylor re-
marked: "This is dry and free enough from
| water here"
Mayor Stone-Yes, it is dry enough now |;
but we are approaching the Bear river now,
and if you had been here last spring and seen
the water carry off the railroad track, you
might have thought il was not quite so dry
location.
THE BEAR RIVER BRIDGE.
The train was not stopped as Bear river
was passed, but was run slowly on thu tenn
porary track which extends a distance of two
| miles by reason of the grade and track being
| raised. The committee was informed that
| this was the third time that the grade and
| bridge across Bear river had been raised sirce
| the railroad was built. Congressman q. p.
| Berry stated that when the first bridge was
built it was high enough so that he could
| ride under it on top OF high spring wagon !;
| that since then the bridge has been raised IF
| teen feet, to keep it above slickens, and now
| is being raised seven feet more, and the ap-
| proaehes to this bridge are two miles in ex-
| tent, much of which distance is what was
| formerly high red land.
The committee evinced much interest In the
subject before them, which was Increased as
| the Yuba river was reached and passed, and
| the train arrived at this place, where tho
! members had been specially invited to come
| and fully examine for themselves the question
at issue between the farmers and miners.
AT MARYsyILLE.
| Arrived at this city, the party were driven
| they will be cared for during their stay in this
valley. In the evening meeting OF the COM
mittee aad several prominent citizens of
| Marysville and adjoining towns was held in
| the perlors of the Western House, II. ID.
Rideout presiding. George Ohleyer. Presi-
| dent of the Anti-Debris Association, was
called upon, and said that some time since {.
meeting was held in San Francisco, when e
! delegation went from this city to that place
and there invited a committee of the Board
! of Trade to come here and investigate for
! themselves the evils resulting from hydraulic
mining. Marysville was now glad to vel-
| come such a co,.,,nitsee, and desired that it
remain until made fanilisr with the subject,
which was of such vital interest TO this
section Of the State. 1t is the in
| tentiop, he said, to show the lands, levees
and debris in daytime and hold meetings
evenings, to enable them to meet and con-
verse with the people here upon thu subject.
During this visit the people hoped TO prove TO
tine committee, and all who accompany them
on the trip to be taken, what was asserted by
| the committee from this city TO San Fran
| cisco, as to the damages already Inflicted and
| those which now threaten.
| Question-Do not the miners admit that
| damage has been and still is being done?
| Answer-Some of them do. bat others
| claim that the slickens are an advantage to
the land. and is good fertilizer. It ia only
to-day that read such q statement in the
Grass Valley Union.
Belcher stated that another claim was that
| part OF the filing up of the rivers and
creeks, and the consequent damage to the
land, was caused by the natural wash from
| the farming lands.
| w. S. Green, of Colusa county, spoke of
| the fallacy OF this last statement by referring
| to the experience upon the subject upon the
west side of the river. where he said there
was an area of twenty by fifty miles of lands,
which were nearly all kept undar the plow
and drained into ore line of lowlands and
the wash was very slight and did not i'll up
| the basin to any appreciable extent.
| Mr.. Bingham, of Marysyille, spoke of the
| Importance of the present visit of tho COM
m;ttee from the metropolis to see for them
selves tbs real situation upon this question.
| He said tbat the valley residents only asked
such protection ss was legally and justly due
them.
| MIR. Webster. vino resides at Johnson's
crossing of the Bear river, above Whea1and,
said there is still from 5000 TO 10, 900 acres of
fine land on Bear river which has thus far
| been protected and kept from destruction by
their levee system; that the bed of the river
at this point, before the deposits from
| hydraulic mining commenced, was twenty
| feet below the banks, and now this has been
| filed up and the bed has continued to rise
until the river is kept within its present
| bounds by leeyes sixteen feet high that last
winter the bottom of the river, when meas
| ured by a member of the State Engineers
party, was found 10 feet IL inches above the
surrounding country, which is level with the
| former banks. The lands spoken of as pro.
| tected from destruction by the levees is there
| fore some eleven feet below the bed CT the
river, which ia held between the levees. It
is now three miles between tie leyees at his
| place on the river, and the bottom lands op-
| posite are entirely ruined.
Q1estion-Then no slickens or wash from
| the plowed lands run from the land into the
river along where your place is?
| Answer-Not much and there never will
| unless you can devise some way of pumping
| it up over the levee into the river. have
| been familiar with the locality where live
since 1854. The bed Of TIE river is now over
| thirty feet higher there than it was then.
| Dr. Durst, of Wheatland, now farmer,
said that about two hundred rods above the
place spoken Of by the last speaker, known
as Jchnsons crossing, the deposit Of slickens
| was forty six feet eighteen months ago. In
| future years the deposit, as high up the river
| IS Marysvils and Wheatland, will be less,
because the filling above makes the fall
greater, and the slickens will be carried fur
| ther down the river. If the debris could be
held from coming down, another channel
| would soon be cut down and deep bed
| reached and further overflow pre-
vented. If no other debris, therefore,
| is allowed TO come down, he
said. ws can retain the balance CT our lands
without difficulty. / think there ere some
few mines which possibly may be worked by
| the hydraulic process, and from which the
| tailings can be kept back out of the rivers.
| Ten years ago we had levee tax in our dis
| trict, which was equal to per cent. upon
the roll value of our property, and after ex.
pending that it only met about three-6fths of
| the expense laid out upon the levees that