Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-12-15

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE INVOLVED.
Gigantic Engineering sthcmc e. the out.
come OF the Deliberations and Careful
survey of the River

causes ana prevention. TIE suh-com-
mktcc. consisting q Senators Nelson.
E.klns. Vest. Mcbride. GlliiaF,r. Berry
and Cansfy. has visited many p9ln.s on
she Mlitiuppi aud ne irlbuiaricf. taxi
inn issilmony 40 various points. ana all
together giving the auhitc. very careful
attention. Th3 rcror. was prrplt.d 10y
Senator Nelson. chairman ot she SUBJ
committee.
In r,gafd % The cutting of climber a;
ihe hcudwatcrn " ih1 lir1am, she com.
mltior aawHs
"Noulng in the evidence or o;har data
obtained by your committee disclosed
th' fact that the deeiruciiun Of climber
at or near the h1ndwaicra of these
rivers tends 80 promote the floods -
ffrrcd in. where timber iH cut down
Tor purposes other ihan cultivation. the
uudrrbfuah rtmaina and grows more
luAuraui than ever. and such under.
brush reserves to rriurd rather thtn
hasten the movement % she water ON
she slopes and hlllsldcs And where
timber IL Gus down Tor the purpnas 90
cieafllg ana cultivation. ehe pl'wcd
area becomes an enlarged ahs1rhaui 90
surface moisture. Ana % a a general.
~ accepted opinion tina; ihc destruction
90 the climber tends rather To- diminllh
thtn 90 lncrraHc ihr falnfnll.'
With reference 80 th' i've reservoirs
IN a. head waters % the Mississippi.
the cummit.ee flys;
They rcprtrs 20 some extent Hoods
In M river bottoms nbuye Lake P0pln.
aud improve lhs navigation " ne river
10 low water down go th1t point. but
have M material erect upon the Hoods
or navigation of The river below that
pllut."
on the subjoc; " reservoirs In gsner-
al. be committee continues;
"rhr evidence dlHcl1ses no other
poinia On ihe upper Mississippi avail
Hhlr Tor rHHfrNnlf purposes.
"on the Missouri. thc only point where
nuiiicisnt holding could b. found FOR u
reservoir % any magnitude. IL on
reach " me river above Great Fails.
Ouch reservoir. n constructed hiHh
enough 30 hrlng he waters ~ the Mis-
r,ufi Into Miik River valley. would boz
valuable Tor purposes u Irrigation. but
would have 40 mhaiafiai bearing on the
floods IN the Mississippi river nor ON the
naylgail1n of thr Missouri river
The evidence. ~ well ~ the other
da.a, dlsclorga lha, on me ohlp river.
~ wei. az 70 main tributaries where
rsrrvulra could act more directly ON shs
iilpis than elsewhere, wish TIL 'pnc sx-
ccptiun ~ The H. Francis Basin, there
are not suitable ltcs for holding
grounds whcra reservoirs could az any
moderate or reasonable expense. and
without working f1r-roich ana cxisn-
aiye damages. b. constructed that would
40 all De adequate 10 pen up and ~
tain the great iuWnpDur from lnnumsr-
able mountain torrents durin glhe great
itgshc'a Of January. February ana
March"
The committee presents aul,. a COM
psehcnsiyc history of levces ana je;iy-
10 The Mlaslaalpnl lN,h reference 10
the lcvees. they say that experience ~
1877 Indicates that q complete enclosure
0f all tn river basins viii require ffan
three 20 four fctt higher irveca In Lott
lsiann, and from four 90 six feet on The
Naz0n levtra.
The committee concludes that no sub
riuniiil RELIEF from the Hoods can be- OBJ
inlncd 10y means VI outlets, hence 3hc
further conclusion that only through
properly rnnsiruri leV,os can the
proper relief Do secured. The commit.
tee lufniah0H go estimate N the cost ~
rompisilng Tho luNse ryn;tm from tho
head 81 ~ Francis lilfln 90 she head
~ lhg palnes, putting ihe figure az from
eighteen 90 tNraiy million dollars. and
me time necessary al from four 20 ivd
years, The opinion . expressed that
whh this expenditure, love suillrlcnily
| hlsh and aifunE 10 anufi complete pro-
lection could b. assured.
The committee states that good re-
Hulih In assisting navigation nave been
obtained from dredging with the new
style hydraulic drcdgrf which have
proved very effective and recommends
that ample provision be- made Tot con-
einulng this work Speaking Of reyet-
ment work they tay;
I'm view OF tho great cost especially
great In Wow of the results, n necmn
that u would BE- more Judicloun 10 limit
. aHHH
| protection, Contraction, by means OF
letiieH, dikeH and dams. supplemented
Icy dredging, Hrsma a. have given tho
best results nt least rndt. There IL
no doubt that reyotmenta arc very ciii-
caellua. but the eos. 80 immenge that
~ systematic. application IL scarcely
warranted"
OF the jettlcs IN gou,h pass. the com.
mltice says that neither chose. nor the
training dykes nor mattress stills have
been kept up 10 the condition they were
IN 1885,. but have been allowed 10 dim
Irish ana dotcriurute ana az conse-
qucnco shc channel has not been main.
tninnd without considerable dredging"
Hence they reach the conclusion;
on the whole u appears that all
hold the lcttieH have nrrn,npllHhrd
much good and great results. J have
not wholly succeeded. OWN. a. ,he
causes, enumerated In MAINTAINING thf
llut channel tnnk existed from lNth ~
1919. To maintain the good results thon
obtained the dykes, JetticR AMI hills
chen carried away should be replaced or
| restored as far a. practicable, Besides
| the ietties should be extended seward
further than originally built In order
70 keep pace with extension OF the bar
INTO the rulf
For pragtlcal purposes the pass Va nos
adequate for vessels drawing over y
% at most Is feet of water. This N IN
sufficient for the wants Of modern COM
tnercc. Ncsscln drawing from y 20 20
feet ana over are now quito common
nnd much more economical than small
vessels"
The committee concludes that II ~
very doubtful whether IA channel sum
Client for this larger class NJ vessels can
be obtained In the South pass, paying;
"unleaa the pass can absorb much
more water, the securing process cannot
| be increased nor "A deeper channel oh
talnod by that moihod, To secure n
greater volume OF water u would be
necessary 10 build ana prllong great
| training dykes az the head ~ the pnas
ana 20 fOrtify them with mattress, stills
| and other works 80 as 90 brnE hbrut
a larger inflow. In the next place u
would hn necessary 10 build strong ok
pcnnlve lcoVen on i1th sdos ot the pass
| from the head 10 The 1ostief There Is
searcAly sufficient foundation Tor such
leyces The earth aud rlpfappng would
have "a be brought FROM u great dls-
lance aud the embankmeht would be