The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-22
DRAINING LAKE COPAIS.
Reasons why 90 900 Acres OF Fine New
Farm Lands Have Not Proved Profitable.

The draining OF Lake Copats. which VIVA
begun about twenty years ago, purely as a
business enterprise, has not yet proved finan-
cially successful and the reasons are Interest,"
ing. Lake Copais. in Bnotia, was one Of the
largest lakes In Greece. 1t had some unusual
peculiarities. Il was without any visible out
let to the sea, but 1t was discovered after dill
gent search that about twenty underground
conduits carried Its waters TO the Eub9an
Channel. II could scarcely be recognized as
the same lake at different seasons Of The year.
In May II covered an area Of ninety square miles.
Early In the summer its area was almost in
variably reduced TO about nfty-eight square
miles, and rich vegetation gave the outer part.
that a short time before had been under water.
the appearance Of a fertile prairie. In a few
months the prairie lands were drowned by the
rising waters and were turned for a consider
able period into q most insalubrious marsh.
Lake Copais was regarded by every one Us a
good deal OF q nuisance.
A French company arranged with the Greek
Government to drain the lake and turn 1t into
farming lands. Ii began work in 1880 with q
capital OF nearly g.. OOo,oO but this amount
was insufficient. In 1887. having exhausted
its funds, the company sold Its concession to
Englishmen, who formed the Lake Copais Com
pany, Limited. A part OF the capital expended
In completing the drainage OF the lake was Sc
cured by the sale of stock bearing interest at
the rate Of Q per cent. per annum. No inter-
est has been paid on this stock since 1898.
The lake was drained by digging two great
tunnels through the hills, One Of them car
ried the waters Of Copais into Lake I.ikeri. the
Hylicus Of the ancients. Another outlet had
/, n ~ ,naA, frn,, \ III ort md cn n fuppal uaa
dug from that lake to Lake Paralimai. and thus
Copai, was finally drained 70 the sea. At last
90. 600 acres Of the finest farming lands were
reclaimed from the bed Of Lake Copais. The
land would have been worth millions Of dollars
II It had been situated IN any OF the densely
peopled parts Of western Europe. But, alasl
It is In thinly peopled Greece, and the rush that
the company expected TO this new area Of cul-
~tivation has not yet occurred.
The lands were for sale or hire in 1895. but
as yet only 20 900 acres are under cultivation.
Fine wheat. corn, barley, cotton, and other
crope are grown, but nearly two-thirds Of the
land Is still tenantless. and seems TO go beg
ging among the Greek farmers. So the COM
pany has decided 10 give the farmers OF other
parts OF Europe a chance. The fact has been
published far aud wide that here are some Of
the finest lands for tillage on the Continent
and they may be secured on reasonable terms.
About 5000 acres have been arbitrarily
seized by peasants In that region, without pay
ing the price, and as yet they have not been
evicted. They assert that the operations Of
the company have damaged their own prop
erty, mainly by raising the level Of the two lakes
into which Copais was emptied and thereby
drowning some Of the lands around them. The
Justice of their claims has not yet been Judlcbally
passed upon. and meanwhile the farmers re-
main In possession OF the holdings seized.
One result Of undoubted beneicence has
followed the drainage Of Copais. The pestl-
lent swamp that poisoned the air for several
months in the year has entirely disappeared.
There Is no longer any miasma In that part Of
the country.