The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-04-11

The following paper. written express
~ for the Record Union by }. X
Price. Chief Engineer Of the CommlS-
sioner of Public Works. will be read
with interest by persons all over the
State who are interested either in the
reclamation of the Sacramento and
other rivers or in the reclamation OF
the overflowed lands adjacent thereto.
The paper deals largely with the pres
ent condition of things, and treats Of
the laws governing the question OF
drainage In another issue Engineer
Price will discuss the practicability or
improving the river by means of the
dredger it is proposed to purchase.
The mef sure in the interest Of drain
age and navigation having passed the
Legislature and having received the APP
prevail of the Governor, it now seems to
be in order to discuss to some extent
the possii ilities of the work if directed
on the right lines.
There are certain fundamental prln-
ciples which apply to all kinds and
classes CT drainage, and it would be
we'll for us TO understand some of these
basic principles in order that we may
more fully understand the work about
to be inaugurated in the Sacramento
and San Joaquin Valleys.
NATIONAL AND STATE AID.
No false steps should now be taken.
The National Government should be
requested. through its able corps Of en-
gineers, to assist US in the use of our
money for the best purposes. The time
for action has come. Congress must
learn to appreciate the Importance OF
this land of ours, and we must from
this time on bend our efforts in the di-
rection of national as well as state
aid 1t will be the purpose of this ar
ticle to discuss some of the very simple
principles involved in the solution OF
the drainage question.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES.
We must understand that drainage
depends, like all other problems of a
similar nature, upon the vertical dis
lance through which the body of water
falls. and therefore the greater the
slope of the incline over which the wa
ter may pass, the more rapid will be
the drainage for the same amount of
water keeping in mind therefore, the
principle Of falling bodies, knowing that
all the laws governing the descent of a
the question of drainage. We may ar
rive at some important conclusions re-
garding the question.
The general formula known as an
expression for determining the velocity
OF a body falling through space in
vacuo is V equals (2gh) y, in which V
is the velocity of the body in feet pei
second: represents the force of gray
ity. or the acceleration Of a falling body
in one second, and Will represent the
hight through which the body falls.
LAW OF GRAVITY.
1t must therefore be evident from tho
above equation that If the velocity
through one foot of fall is sos. in two
feet fall Il viii be 11.41 feet per second
and if the fan is four feet the velocity
would be sixteen feet per second. In
other words the velocity varies with
the square root Of the distance through
which a body falls.
We cannot increase or decrease the
factor n the above equation. for it is
constant for the same latitude and ele-
walton, and is governed by one of the
laws of the universe called the law OF
gravity.
INCLINED PLANES.
The surface of a country to bJ
drained w.ll invariably consist Of a Sc
ries OF inclined planes, those planes as
cending and increasing in elevation
from tide water to the summit of oul
Hottest mountains. The result is the
formation of series Of Inclined plane.
over which the water passes, making VI
a series of distances in vertical through
which the water descends. AS intimat.
ed above increase the distance through
which the water falls. or the slope OF
the inclined plane, and you increase
the velocity of the water. IL the wa
ter should meet with no resistance IL
passing oser the plane, then would 1t:
velocity equal the velocity of bod.
falling through space in vacuo dis
lance equal TO the vertical rise of tn,
plane But unfortunately for man, ma
ture steps in and interposes an objection
as it were to the theoretical velocity II
the interposition of resistance. There
fore in calculating the flow of waite
over an inclined plane through pipe o
in a conduit or river, we are compelled
to consider the question of resistance
We find by actual experiment that thu
one little item of resistance determine
in a very great measure the quantity o
water that can flow in a stream, pipe o
in any conduit To increase thedeclivit,