Sacramento daily record-union., 1882-01-20
DEBRIS.
PogTY-sIXrH DAY OF TIE sLICKENs
CASE IN COURT.
Testimony of Prof Davldson-Ths Question
OF Title to the Mine-The Defend
ant Closes It's Case.

Of Title to the Mine-The Defend
ant Closes It's Case.
The case of The People vs.. The Gold Run
Mining Company was resumed in the Supe-
rior Court yesterday before Judge Temple.
Professor George Davidson was recalled
under cross-examination. He was examined
at length as TO the movements of sand under
currents Of different forces, the discharge and
wear of streams, etc. The carrying power of
water, he said. increases more rapidly with
its velocity. Rounded stones will move more
rapidly than sharp edged ones. The river Po,
he thought. is confined within levees in its
lower reaches, possibly for 60 to 100 miles
above its mouth; above that he could not
state as to the levecs. At times the water in
the Po in freshets is moderately clear at
times one of the torrential streams ceases,
and another is added, so that in the lowest
reaches it is generally turbid. As general
thing thought it did not run clear. Don't
know if it is generally clear except in
freshets. Don't know that the written state
ments about the Pc filling up are exaggera-
tions and generally accepted as such now.
Suisun bay is in one respect delta. The
bay is over twenty miles long. The whole
area of Suisun bay is not delta; the low
marsh islands form part of the delta area.
He meant by delta deposit brought down
BY a river VIII ich builds up above the general
water surface, and through which the river
may, in part, run. Suisun bay is settling
reservoir now; it is the lower part of the
delta, and the marsh lands forming the
delta NAV have so formed it for one thousand
years. There is a very broad channel way
for the egress OF waters from San Pablo Bay
to San Francisco Bay. There are two main
navigable channels to and from the bay, one
up ON the Petaluma side, the Other on the
Contra Costa side. The waters of the Sacrs-
mento and San Joaquin after passing
through the Straits of Carquinez. their main
axis fellows along between the shore and the
lighthouse at Pinole Point, but with cur.
rent also all over the flats, decreasing in force
as YOU go toward the Petaluma side. Below
Pinole the main current will be found to go
part to the southwark and part beyond Angel
Island by way of Raccoon Straits Witness
here explained in full by reference to chart.
Possibly two-thirds of the Bay of San Pablo
is represented by shoals, speaking of places
with eighteen feet or less depth at low water.
Tive thirds of the remaining one-third is the
ship channel in its narrowed condition. Be-
fore the narrowing the chanuel-way would
represent about sne-third of the whole bay
inside the three-fathcm mark, but now it is
decreased until there is about one-quarter, if
the other parts have contracted as has that
which has been examined by the coast sur
vey. II the causes that caused the narrow
ing of the channel continue it will be a SUBJ
iect of experiment to determine If the
narrowing will not go on. Anything lessen
ing the tidal prism tends to increase precip-
itation. 1t would be possible with all of San
Pablo bay to fill in, except a channel large
enough to carry the outgoing waters. at the
fastest the ebb tides in San Pablo bay run
from two TO three miles, and it would be
safer to say two. Would prefer to refer to
the actual figures OF observations. Witness
was examined at length as to the
action of rough stones passing over the
beds of streams, etc. The passage of coarse
or heavy rocks over the beds of rivers has
tendency to dislodge other matter, but the
great cause of sweeping the beds is the ac-
tion of the water itself. A mountain stream
becomes torrential st even less grade than
twenty feet. Witness and counsel at length
debate propositions as TO the ability of mouu-
tain streams to commute the heavy rock
and stone in them ard thus maintain their
| regimen, and soma sharp passages occurred
between counsel anu witness, the latter ad-
herring to his statement that the questions
were rot susceptible of categorical replies,
on which the former insisted. Ravensweod
is about thirty-hve miles from San
Francisco. Engineers say it is the
most difficult place they have encountered
with view to bridging. The hills on the
Buri- Burr ranch have soil with vegetation.
Don't know that the formation is of sand.
Don't know whether it is sand formation in
the mountains on the west of the Santa Clara
valley. Think Cache creek is one of the
streams where little change takes place till it
debouches upon the low lands, because it
flows from Clear lake, and there is little, COM
paratively, of erosive action, but he had seen
it carrying sediment. Gould not say if Cache
creek is among the clearest Of streams, though
itfows through an agricultural section. Putah
creek probably has nearly the depth now AMI
little more deposit in it now than when the
Americans first settled here It drains a
mountainous region and an adobe soil, in
part, not very easily cut away. Probably
some parts of the region drained
by Putah and Cache cresks is more easily
washed than that drained by the Sacramento
and its ailments, and other points bear
strong resemblance to the drained area of the
Sacramento river Generally the sections
nave y SbECUR GSSSLiBltLCSr Len htlOW JuGb
the whole Cache and Putah creek sections
have been tramped for many years by sheep
ard cattle. Do know that sheep and cattle
have been kept in that region. The greater
part Of the Kern is used for irrigation, the
chief grade used now being, he thought, 6
inches to the mile. He saw white sand in
the irrigatiug canals rolled in by the action
| of the water Saw no siickens there. Except
| in flood stages the Kern is not properly sed-
| iment-bearing stream. At flood is carries
great amount Of material.
Questiou-Is il not demonstrated by science
tn { rivers will take care of their natural
wash
Answer-I think not. l think engineers
are agreed that they must do something to
help matter If there. is special object in
view-as navigation. In Europe they have
bodies and Boards for the correction of the
rivers. Hence it is evident that the rivers
have not by natural action done as desired.
Cannot say how that is as to the upper Ohio,
the ST. Lawrence, the Hudson and the Ten
nessee. Generally the scooping process is
sufficient in rivers to carry the results of ma
tural erosion to the riyers' mouths. In San
| Francisco harbor on the water front it is
necessary TO drsdge to keep ship.wsys clear
| and get vessels to the docks. Over the part
| the witness measured the average fill in San
| Pablo Bay has bsea about three feet. In
places 1t Is over SIX feet. 1he greatest NIL
| is near or on the sides Of the channel. 1t
may be there may be such illing that new
channel viii be forced. If the deposit con-
tinues over the areas now filling the
result will be to make a river through
the bay. Such river, SO far as is
known now, would follow the present deep
channel, probably SO. Do not know the de-
| tails of the levees on the lower Sacramento.
Saw them in 1878 at food time. Some were
broken. Waters covered all the country as
he went down the river. Looked at the
matter to see if engineering science could
concoct any plan to so levee the rivers to
control the foods DON'T know how effective
the levees had heen up to 1873 in protecting
the lowlands, nor did he know that it was
necessary to set the levess the imme-
diate banks Of the rivers. Did not know
the width of the culti7atable strip on
the river banks. Knows that on the
islands on the lower Sacramento there is
scarcely any strip truly cultivatable The
| witness here addressed the Court, and said
he had come into the case unwillingly. He
had been told that he would be asked four or
five questions at the most. He had been sur
prised at the course of the examination, and