The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-25

The now Justly celebrated" majority
report Of the grand jury special commit
tee on roads and drainage says, in refer
ence to the drainage of the Musgrove
watershed: "The carrying of this water
to the Ogeechee river will largely reduce
the volume of swamp water that is locked
up in this creek Ghe Springfield canaD
twelve hours out of every twenty-four, in
close proximity to the city, in consequence
of the tides IN the Savannah river"
There have been many wonderful dis
coveries of late years, and apparently the
majority of the grand jury's special COM
mittee has made one not the least of
them, to judge from this feature of the
report However, there is some difficulty
experienced in believing that the majority
of the grand jury's special committee has
not been made the victim of a practical
Joke; else its sentence quoted must have
been dictated by some one lacking in
proper Information and having an eye
solely 20 the vindication of Buckhalter.
Nearly every man, boy and child in
Savannah, and in this section of the coun-
try, knows something about tides; and
still for twelve hours or for one hour.
The tides are always in motion, except
for a few minutes of slack water" at
the change from flood to ebb, or ebb to
flood NO sooner do the tides reach their
highest point than they begin to fall, and
no sooner do they touch their lowest point
than they begin to rise
The Springfield canal is provided with
flood gates, which prevent the incoming
(aood) tide from flowing into it. The
tide is at flood at the canal gates some
thing less than six hours. Nautically
speaking a tide at sea is reckoned at
about six hours and twelve minutes, but
in the rivers there is a difference of du-
ration Of the food and the ebb, the lat
ter being the longer since the river must
discharge into the sea more water than
comes into it from the sea, the surplus
coming from the watershed of the river
At the beginning of the ebb tide the
Springfield canal gates swing open and
the water in the canal moves out into
the river. This water does not return
into the canal AT the time the flood
tide begins, the gates are automatically
closed by the pressure of the river water
and 4dmit nothing. The gates form a
che .k-valve, permitting a free outward
flow, but no inward flow. Meantime a
new head of water is being formed in the
canal from the various laterals and drains
leading intoit Clearly, therefore, the same
water is not kept locked in the canal
twelve hours out Of every twenty-four."
To state the case plainly, it is kept locked
in six hours or less and is then turned
INTO the river and another new lot is
penned in until the next ebb of the tide
when that is turned out.
All that is needed to make Springfield
canal thoroughly effective and what has
been urged by engineers from the time
of Gen. Gilmer's report to the present
is the charging of it. With that canal
enlarged and the Ogeechee canal utilized
according to the plan adopted by the board
! of county commissioners in 1891, the drain
age of the Musgrove watershed would be
solved, and the section Immediately west
and southwest of the city would be put
| in perfect sanitary condition.