The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-08

land or dry it at will. making Of it the best Of
rice land, aud equally well adapted to sugar,
cotton or grass The canals are twenty one feet
wide and six feet deep. The dirt taken
out, deposited equally on each side, makes
good levee about four feet high. The canals
running from the river back into tho interior
halt-rniie apart, and running at right
angles to these they are three and half miles
apart This cuts the land up into oblong
squares of 800 acres each. Inside of these
squares such smaller bitches will be made as
e2lgencleS may require At presentit is proposed
to cut them the square the short way at in
tervals Of 200 yards. Practical operations were
begun in the fall of 1888. The permanent services
of noted professor in a Northern college were
secured as engineer and mechanical superin-
tendent. He is graduate OF the School of En-
gineers of the University Of Michigan, and Is,
unquestionably. very superior man for the
place. In all, thirty-two boats have been built
including steam transports. tugs and yachts;
also dredge boats, piow boats, quarter boats.
barses etc Twenty-three miles Of canals have
been dug, and these are progressing at the rate
of 600 yards every twenty four hours. For this
purpose improvements have been added to the
standard dredges, 10y the engineer in charge,
until the results attained are most sur
prsing. A scoop said to hold two
cubic yards is filled and emptied, either side
desired, at the rate of three times per minute. Ii
the scoop holds but one cubic yard, the aegre-
gate amount per ten hours seems very large.
and, with two sets of hands, they are kept busy
going night and day. Steam plows harroTs,
and dtchers have been imported from John
Fowler & Co. g. Leeds, England, to the amount
of $50 tons. And here comes in another novel
feature in this enterprise 1t is proposed that
this land shall be cultivated, well as reclaimed,
entirely by steam power floated in these canals
Not a man or a beast IS to set foot upon 1T Tor
purposes Of cultivation. The blowing is done by
monster gang-plows, turning five burrows OF
ont " back
forth across the field two at time, with wire
rope, by an engine stationed on boats on either
side. 1t requires five men to operate one set OF
this machinery, and from forty to fifty acres are
plowed in ten hours. The narrowing, seeding,
reaping and threshing are all done in the same
way and with corresponding rapidity. By
having relief OF men the work can go on by
night Thy the use of headlight refectors) as we'll
as by day. In order to have fresh water for
flooding the rice fields no water will be admit
ted to the canals at high tide except far up the
river, where the water is always.fresh; and to re-
lieve the fields of this water the rain fall at
high tide, if it should be necessary, steam pumps
are provided, throwing million gallons per hour.
They also have ditchers cutting ditch three
feet wide on top, ten inches at the bottom, and
three feet deep. They are operated just as the
plows are and with them they cut two miles of
ditch per hour, So yon see the almost incalcula-
bic results possible. With 500, 900 acres of such
land, all the mechanical appliances tested and
found adapted to their uses, where will the end
be? 1t would seem that there can be no chance
of failure unless it is through mistake as to
the character of the land. About 3 900 acres
will be seeded to rice this spring. Many will
await development with interest AS before
intimated this is rot the only land of this kind
in this country Around this Gulf alone there
are untold amounts of it. AS it is, it is worth
less-a non productive part Of our territory
Heretofore nobody would pay the mere pittance
of taxes upon it for it. If this venture with
this tract proves successful it will settle the
fate of all the balance. A district large enough
for State hitherto lying idle an incubus to
commerce and breeder of pestilences, will be
transformed into the richest of farms. A desert
will become garden
Who is this who dares to undertake such great
things? 1t is done by company-The North
American Land and Timber Company. But,
like all great enterprises, it has man at the
bottom of it. In this case it is man unknown
to fame He is not man who blows his own
horn. For over two years he has been regu-
lar guest at the ST. Charles Hotel, New Orleans;
yet the proprietors did not know him by name
or know anything of his business when inquired
of as late as last week. Nevertheless,
his career is worthy of notice. At the
age of seven he was left penniless orphan.
The means for his education he earned himself,
working farm by the month part of the
time at &c. In 1860 he graduated at a Western
university without dollar in his pocket He
has wronged no man. He has made no enemies
Those who have dealt with him or worked for
him all respect him. STILL to-day. less than
forty, be has landed interests in every county in
Kansas. He is at the head of banking and
loan company at Lawrence, Kan, having
branches at Dallas. Tex, New York city, and
in England. He is also at the head of banking
company at Lake Charles.
1t was our intention to go around on the Gulf
to the mouth of the Sabine river and up that
river long distance, blt too much wind makes
it hazardous. The weather in this climate must
be at least two months ahead of Indiana X