Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-05
Interview with General A. Boschke on
Prevention of Floods.

Interview with General A. Boschke on
Prevention of Floods.
SAN Francisco. January 4th.-A. Bosch
Ike, the well known engineer and Superin-
tendent of the River Harbor and Canal
Dredging and Land Company, will start
this evening for New York and Nicaragua.
He expects to secure the contract for dredg-
ing the inter-oceanic canal. To-day he |as
asked what, in his opinion, would be neces-
sary to prevent the repetition of floods IN
the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys,
and said
Il have given much study and years of
labor TO this river problem. The ieyee sys-
TEN by which the people have attempted
to confne the flood waters in the rivers,
have proved repeatedly Intellectual, and L
hope this years disastrous flood will con-
vince one and all that the only remedy lies
in conducting all flood waters that the
rivers cannot carry in their natural banks
at suitable points through OVERALL weirs
and between parallel levees not less than
1900 feet apart, located in the greatest de-
pressions, on one or both sides of the rivers,
in the most direct course to the nearest tide
water.
The able paper recently published by DR..
Dyer states very clearly what ought to be
done to prepare the tidal estuary of the lower
Sacramento and San Joaquin, to receive the
flood waters of these relief canals When this
system is adopted and carried out, it will not
only prevent for all lime the disasters from
floods in the Sacramento valley but it will
reclaim about seven hundred and fifty
thousand acres of the richest agricultural
lands in the world, which now are almost
valueless, and the owners of these lands
can well afford to pay all costs, no matter
how large for their reclamation. Proper
legislation can provide enactments to place
this vast tract into one reclamation district,
bond it for twenty years for the sum re-
quired to carry out this work in its fullest
scope, provide for the collection of the
assessments, pay interest and create a
sinking fund to pay principal when due"
With regard to the proposed San Jose
canal General Boschke said: THE COM
mittee of fourteen influential citizens ap-
pointed by the Board of Trade are energet-
ically employed in obtaining TIE funds
with which to carry out this work. The
people of Santa Clara Valley by this time
understand the importance of securing a
harbor. In the opinion of the committee,
means will become available by the time
return from Nicaragua, when active opera
tons will be begun without delay"
He spoke thus of the Nicaragua Canal
project: The canal company is deslrouS
for US to bid upon this work, being favor
ably impressed by our improved dredging
and dirt-conveying machinery, believing
that the work can be completed in shorter
time and more satisfactory manner than
otherwise. For that reason 1 shall bid for
all the dredging on the Pacific and Atlantic
side. The estimated profits, made care
fully, show results that have induced our
capitalists TO protfer the necessary funds to
build the necessary machinery and prose-
cute the work without delay. 1 have fol-
lowed with the greatest interest the results
of all explorations by the United States
Government to find the most favorable To-
cation for this canal and / am convinced
its selection was faultless, as it offers no
engineering difficulties but what can be
easily and cheaply overcome. Its early COM
pletion is a foregone conclusion, and
hope 1 will be able to realize the dream of
my youth, to be instrumental in the con-
struetion of this grand engineering feat, by
being the successful bidder and employ the
experience of quarter of century in
dredging to overcome all difficulties in this
work"