St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-16

JOKES Is Tie outcome Oh survey
ordered by the last congress. The OBJ
ject was to see what means could be
adopted to improve navigation on the
Red River of the North, and the result
of Maj. Jones' survey and conclusions
are very satisfactory. The Red
River of the North TANKS the
border between the forest of
Minnesota lake land and the
great prairie which sweeps away TO the
West through the Dakotas. The river
winds its way i'll a general nOrtherly di-
rection to Lake Winnipeg. Indications
point to the time when the river flowed
in dire city oppositetlirection, carrying
the waters Of the Saskatchewan and
Assiniboine rivers in the mighty prehis-
tOric Mississippi to the gulf. Gen.
/ W arren aptly reasoned that the south
flowing waters were turned backwards
by lif ting up of the land, which had
its maximum effect upon the valley and
the river between the Great Lakes,
whose dwindled descendants are now
called Lake Bigstone and Lake Trav-
erse. The Red River of the North Is
narrow, sluggish, tortuouS stream, and
drains an area or $4,000 square
miles. The banks are of clay,
and in height increase from twelve feet
at Breckenridge to fifty feet at Penn
/ bina. The bed is mainly of clay, with
some gravel and powders near old Fort
Abercrombie and at Goose Rapids. In
the former locality there is strip of
about twenty miles of river which has a
considerable slope, 1.36 feet per mile,
resulting from great masses of powders
which incumber the channel.
Mr.. Jones says: 1T is more than prob
able that with the removal of these
powders and some dredging this slope
can be reduced so that with
A Uniform Discharge
of 1000 c. F. S. no further improvement
will be needed. The river flows through
plain of soft alluvion. interlaid with
great bed of clay. At scattering inter-
walls on this plain occur small
deposits of drift in the shape
of small powders, cobblestones
and gravel composed of several va
rieties of crystalline rocks and we'll
defined fossiliferous limestone. At
Connolly'S and Goose Rapids the river
is cut through number of these de-
posts, and the removal of soft material
has allowed the drift to settle and con-
centrate upon the surface of the river
bed until it forms sort of pavement,
which the river can no longer affect.
This material restricts the channel and
creates the rapids. Its removal will
distribute the slope and obviate the OBJ
structiOns. The slope of the river is
small and strikingly uniform. The i'm
provementS to be suggested promise TO
practically convert the river into great
canal. The total fall, over 595.5 miles
to the international boundary, is 1915
feet, or about 0.49 feet per mile.
Until 1856 the lowest volume at
Tn hn
500 cubic feet per second. In 1874 the
low water volume at Breckenridge was
placed as high as 1000 cubic feet per
second, based upon information that
covers the last twenty years. Since
1856 the low water volume has reduced
a half. During excessive dry periods the
Bots de Sioux is merely pools of water
connected by dry bars. The Otter Tail
furnishes the supply at Brecken-
ridge, about 200 cubic feet per Sec
ond. From here to Moorhead this
amount is increased by. say. fifty
cubic feet per second. Down 10 Grand
Forks another increment of so is added,
and there it melts about 20Ocubic feet per
second coming in from Red Lake river,
thus making about 500 cubic feet per
second as the low water volume at that
point. From here to the boundary line
probably 100 cubic feet per second are
added.
ALLOW Water.
For the extreme low water stage of
$50 cubic feet per second at Moorhead
the ruling depths are about:
Inches
Breckenridge to Moorhead.
A1oorhead to Goose Rapids. .......12
Goose Rapids. Observation-Disclosures. d
Goose Rapids to Grand Forks L
Grand Forks to boundary line so
For the stage corresponding to 500
cubic feet per second at Moorhead we
have:
Inches
Breckenridge TO Moorhead .......2
Moorhead to Goose Rapids. ...........1S
Goose Ia pids. .... .-.. .... Is
Goose Rapids to Grand Forks. Is
Grand Forks to boundary, say........ .....55
ssThn river yaripS in width hatyvapn