Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-09-24
INSPECTED BY SENATORS.
/ wv con mIttee Will Examine the
Mississippi, River Next
Month.

Month.
From the Pioneer Press:
Senator Nelson, Of Minnesota,
chairman ofthe subcommittee on
commerce Of the United States
senate, has notified Col. Jones,
chief Of the government engineer.
ing corps at st. Paul, thai on Oct.
i the senate committee will begin
tour Of inspection OF govern
msnt work on the Mississippi.
This will include . trim to the
headwaters of the river and from
there to the mouth at New Or.
leans. The inspection was caused
by the unusually high water Of last
spring aud is principally for the
purpose Of ascertaining what i'm.
prov ements are necessary along
the lower river from St. Louis to
the gulf, where it is liable to over.
flow. Thousands and thousands
of acres of farming land were over.
flowed last spring, rendering home.
less hundreds and hundreds OF
people. 1t is the intention OF the
committee to find out just what
il needed in the way Of dikes, re-.
tanning walls, ETC., to prevent q
recurrence of such u disaster. The
committee will then report to con j.
gress, which body will be asked to
take whatever action Is outlined
BY the committee. .
This will be the first official III.
vestigatlon of the river by u
senate committee. Excursions
have been made to special points
on the river and Senator Wash.
burn, while representing Mime.
sofa in congress, made flying
trip once to the Itasca region.
But never before has COMMITTEES
of the senate started to make q
through inspection of all the needs
of the river. The visit of the
will probably lead to a
large and much needed govern.
ment appropriation for work on
the river. >
The committee will rendezvous
in ST.. Paul and will leave here for
Duluth. Arrived there the party
will proceed to Grand IA pids,
near i, which is located the first ofthe
Eve government reservoirs, which
are capable of storing up about
!, 200, 600, 900 cubic feet of water
per annum. The water in these
reservoirs IS turned into the Mis-.
river when the water IL
low in that great thoroughfare
through the country from north to
south, for the purpose of aiding
navigation. The first one to be
visited, located near Grand Rapids,
is the Pokegama Falls reservoir.
which holds 400, 100000 cubic
feet of water. Next is the Win.
nj bigoshish reservoir, the capacity
Of which is 40, 900, 900, 900, and the
largest Of the quintet and next is
the Leech lake reservoir, which
holds $4,000, 100000 cubic feet.
There are now IN these three re.
8 ervoirs stored about $4,000, 000,-
600 cubic feet, so it will be seen
that their capacity is not taxed.
The Sunday lake and Leech lake
reservoirs have combined capa-
city Of 10, 900. 100000 cubic feet.
Some idea of the' reserve force
Of water held lin these reservoirs
msy be had when 1t is known that
the most water that has ever been
turned into the river from them
amounted to 1000 cubic feet per
second. This was during one of
the lowest stages Of water in the
river and at st. Paul the rise due
to the added inflow from the res
ervoirs was about two feet. These
reservoirs are al in the northern
p,rt Of the state, and IRE located
in Cass, Grow Wing, sltasca and
Ajtkin counties. The government
contemplates establ fishing 4 sixth
reservoir next spring, o. o. soon
thereafter as the overffowage