Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-08-01

wv nat the Government Has tx
pended More Than 100000 on the
River for, but Nevertheless Osh-
koSh Men Fear a Compromise.
Oshkosh, Wis, July 24.-Gen. J. B.
Doe, assistant secretary of war, is
examining the Fox river trouble, but
not sampling the water except by I'm
ger touch,-not he. ''The government"
he said, has appropriated S5O33, $50
for the improv ement of Fox river for
purposes of navigation, not for the
purposes of manufacture. The war de-
partment has considered it its duty to
take care of naviga ton, whatever the
consequences to manufacture may be-
Yesterday a tour Of investigation was
made, and the general was shown the
evil effects of low water, as they ap-
pear in the vicinity of this city. He
was accompanied by a party of over
one hundred prominent business men
and local mill owners. Among those
who went were Mayor Kellogg and ex-
Senator Sawyer. Gen. Doe and a
smaller party We're taken to Neenah
on Senator Sawyer's private yacht Mia
late in the afternoon. Today
a trip will be made down the river,
perhaps as far as Green Bay. The SEN
timent among Oshkosh boat men and
lumber men is decidedly against COM
promise which is suspected to be the
object of Gen. Does visit despite his
1,at bnr STR 70 oil thn rSF
money that has been expended for pur-
poses of navigation.
Gen. Doe and Major Marshall, who
came with him, were given reception
at the Hotel Athearn at which Gen.
Doe ands Maj. Marshall were visited
by many of the best known men of
the city. Later, conference was held
in the hotel parlors between the two
government officials and the following
Oshkosh boatmen and manufacturers:
o. Cook, G. NJ. Paine, eX-MayOr Dich-
mann, George Champion, Robert
Campbell, Capt. J. Ii. Crawford, Viii
liam Radford, r. MoMillen, j. Hime-
baugh and L. r. Morgan. Mr.. Cook
explained the situation. He claimed
Menasha The cutting away of Neenah.
point had widened the channel and in
creased the flow so that Lake Wineba-
bago could now be drained. The
dredging of Butte deS Morris bar had
been rendered necessary by this. He
also asserted that the water was
wasted and that enforcing the regula-
q SinRn
head the less power. 1t developed that
the water is now five inches above o
on the government guage, or half an
inch lower than on May %, when the
first government interdict was issued.
1t is now 16 ID inches below the crest
of the Menasha dam. Sixteen inches
means a difference of 12O tons a day
in freight to Mckenzie & Crawford,
and 100 tons a day to the Cook-BrOWn
Lime company. With the water at the
crest of Menasha dam there would be
a 6-foot channel between here and
Green Bay, and this Maj. Marshall eX-
planned was the intent of the Fox
river improvement. That the channel
is today less than feet, he said, was
due to the fact that the mill men have
been using more water than they are
entitled to. All agreed that the cutting
off of Neenah point and the dredging
out the solid rockbed of the MenaSha
channel had made the draining of Lake
Winnebago possible, but this would
not have occurred had not the mill
men violated the regulations.
G. NJ. Paine declared that the effect
on the lumber business was serious.
Millions of feet of logs had been car
ried in here and unloaded in marshes,
and were hung up here and up river
for lack of water, thus causing great
loss. The lower Fox men, Mr.. Paine
said, had had ample opportunity to
prepare for the present condition OF
affairs. For several years there had
been, he said intimatiOn of this trouble
coming. Even if there had been moth
ing of the kind, the shut down of May
last was sufficient to warn them that
the water supply was precarious.
Some had FASTENED to put in steam
and others were doing SO. Mr.. Paine
admitted that the temporary embar-
rassment in the valley might be great
but thought even this was no reason
why the industries of Fond du Lac,
Oshkosh and the upper Fox and Wolf
rivers should be made to suffer This
section, he held, had equal rights to
consideration with the valley men.
Menasha was fully equipped with
steam, and the other cities partially so.
r. McMillen also denounced the ava
rice of the mill men and intimated that
the improvement was done for their
benefit
Maj Marshall averred that all the
water flowing out of the lake was not
sufficient to run all of the big mills.
He said that the volume of water,
with a ten-fot head and fiowage Of
&C, 900 cubic feet a minute would go
through an aperture five feet square.
50 that there was little for the mill
men to fight over anyway.
The position of the Oshkosh men is
that the government strictly enforce
irs regulations and prevent any use Of
the water until it combs the Menasha
dam This, they claim, would be best
fer all concerned.
KILLED BY HER BROTHER.