Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1884-04-30
"sLICKENSn
Joy on the Plains and Gloom in the
Mountains.
The Days of Caiifcrnia's Hydrauito
Niuing Mt an End---The
Rights OF Riparian
Owners.
Hartford Courantl

Monday afternoon, January Z, crowds OF
citizens were gathered around the telegraph
Offices in Sacramento. Marysyille, Wheat
land. and other California valley towns,
waiting. Presently brief dispatch came
over the wires from San Francisco, Ii was
the signal for such jubiiation as the towns In
question have not known for many a year
past Cannons doomed, bells clashed
and changed their merriest, steam
whistles fairly screamed themselves
hoarse. flags futtered in all directions,
brass bands paraded the streets impromptu
professions were organized, the populaee
gave itself up to rejoicing. Very different
was the eifec. produced by this same brief
dispatch Ia Nsvae.a City. Smartsyille, .ratcs
Fiat, and other mountain towns and mining
camps. There was no joyful racket there,
no display Of flags, no street parades. Men
went about their business with gloomy faces,
telling one another that they were ruined,
and relieving their feelings by indulging in
language Of truly Californian vigor aud
expressiveness
The dispatch which excited such dissimilar
emotions conveyed the news that in the test
case of Edwards Woodruff VS.. the North
Bloomfield Mining company ct al. the United
States circuit court had granted the prayer
of the plaintiff for a perpetual injunction
The San Francisco Bulletin describes the de-
cision thus announced as probably the most
important ever given by federal court in
California and the facts seem to bear out the
description. The real parties to the litigation
were the people of the valleys and plains, the
bay of San Francisco, river nav vigation, and
commerce on the one hand, and the hydraulic
miners of the mountain regions on the other.
Tie controversy dates back number OF
years, it has been steadily growing in bitter
ness it has entered into politics, it has given
fat pickings TO the lawyers, aud California is
to be congratulated that it is at last prac-
tcally ended, and ended in accordance with
the dictates of common sense and justice.
Hydraulic mining creates a vast quantity
! of debris. In its early days the miners used
, small hose, and the creation Of this debris
| went on so slowly as hardly to excite atten-
/ ton The nozzle usei by the North Bloom
/ field Mining company, as was shown on the
trial, discharges 49, 900 cubic feet Of water
every hour, with velocity of fifty feet a
second The bulk Of the debris yearly de-
posted in the river is. enormous Judge Saw
yer, in his opinion, estimates the quantity
now in the tributaries Of tho YuSa alone at
| 200, ,OO0, 900 cubic yards. They are fairly
! choked with it. When the foods come these
huge masses Of rubbish are hurried down
into the valleys. But the beds of the larger
rivers have been filling up for years.
The result is that in the food season they
overflow right and left, burying the farm
lands OF the valley under layers of saad aud
broken up stone. Up TO 1873, az the 1t lte
engineer figures it out, the Iuba has thus
deposited over Il, 900 cubic yards of de
bris, converting from l5,0OJ to 1900 acre.
of good arabic soil into desert. The state has
spent nearly or quito $500, 900 upon brush
dams; private owners have put up costly
levees at their own expense; but all has been
in vain. The damage TO property from thess
overfiows is only one item. The towns have
suffered, the rivers are ALREADY
badly injured, aud, the mis
chief had besn Suffered to 60 on
would presently have been unnayisab'e
While il was not shown that "slekens" hada'
vet affected the bar at the Golden Gate, The
Bulletin says that the presence OF the stuil
has been distinctly felt already in the uppei
! BAYS. Judge Sawyer holds District JGd2s
Deadly concuuiugl that congress cannot aa
| thorize the destruction Of the commerce OF q
state by the choking up Of its nav gable
waters; and that the state itself cannot au
thorize the obstruction Of navigation OF
/ trampie on tue riS MS VI iiPe'. ia' o''"0i9'
The first feeling in the Mountain towns
/ affected by this decision seemed to be one ol
profound dependency. The court, they say
has made hydraulic mining impossible and
taken the bread oGt Of 81, 900 mouths. MOS;
of us will pack our gripsacks," is the report
from Dutch Flat. "All the small places
above here" says a Nevada City dispatch
receive their dsath-blow. and viii be almost
depopulatei within q few months time "
But probably the mountaineers exsggerate
the hardship of their position, and VIII pres
emily find themselves able to take more
hopeful view of things. Suppose. however,
hydraulic mining has to be altogether given
up: that is clearly the less evil OF the two
and California is still 90 be congratulated on
her deIiyerance from "slic6ens," even at the
cost of reduced gold production,