Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1901-01-31
AFTERNOON.

Inc meetlng was called to order at
the appointed hour by Prof. Hover
stad. The question of practical meth
DIS Of drainage was taken up informal
" and a half hour was devoted to it's
consideration, during which remarks
were made by George Ralph and Will
liam Arnold of Crookston, Levi Steen-
erson: of Climax and Andrew Homing
of Lost River. The two latter gentle
men devoted their remarks to the i'm
provement Of the Red river, and open
ing the channel of Lost River respec-
lively. Mr.. Stcenerson though that the
Red river should be improved above
Belmont by a system Of locks and
dams, or it should be condemned :illl
declared non ma ayigabla above that
point. Several suggestions were ma ieI
by him which are pertinent 10 the
question of improyem ent of the water
ways of the Red River valley.
Mr. Homing explained the condt Oh
Of Lost River and the relief VIII IA t',e
petitions presented to the convention
yesterday contemplated.
Prof. Hoag was next introdu ,ul a
delivered an exceedingly thoughtful
and exhaustive address upon the sub
ject of Maintenance Of Drainage
Ditches," a synopsis of which is given
here. Following his address a series
OF stereopticon views were given to IL
lustrate the points made in his re-
marks.
Mr.. Hoag's address was as follow
Every work constructed under eco
nomic design under engineering super
vision must satisfy the rigid rp.,I,t:on
tions imposed by the commercial world
as well as by those fixed by the ma
terial and forces with which it has
to do.
Without tracing the controlling con-
siderations which should govern in the
selection of any design, in turn will
fix the cost and it's probable length Of
usefulness; we believe it will be grant
ed that small first cost does not argue
preference of design, neither does a
long life of an engineering structure,
of itself, constitute commercial econ
omy. Neither does small repair or it's
absence altogether, when considered
alone, mean engineering excellence or
business agacity.
Repairs are as legitimate as first cost
or cost of operation. The engineer dis
plays his skill as much in providing for
the harmful actions to which it is sub
jected, or the natural deterioration of
the material of which it is made, as he
does in fixing the general features of
the design.
The consideration of repair will hold
this Importance in design as long as
forces continue to be master over mat
ter, or as long as it costs hu'ull c!fo,t
to build.
The problem confronting the engi-
neer who proposes to provide a more
speedy removal of excess water from
a piece Of country presents no excep-
tion of the law referred IL abo,r.
That which claims our most serious
consideration in the matter of repair
Of such bitches as we have in the Red
River valley by the combined action of
sedimentation and vegetable growth in
the bottom.
while yet the bitches are new and
their bottoms are the hard clay, under
lying all this region, in which it is diff
cult for the perennials to get a start,
comparatively little difficulty will ap-
pear from this cause.
1t may require a half dozen years for
this tendency to develop to any apre-
hensive stage in the majority of the
bitches which have a sufficient slope,
j. e., from three to five feet to the
mile.
Those having less t.,on t:is sav
from one and one-half to three feet per
mile, have such a slight velocity that
even the first season resulted in a con-
siderable Ling up of sediment and the
following year brought considerable
growth of flags, rushes, arrow-wort
anu other aquatic plants.
The uninterrupted growth of these,
of course, will soon terminate the use
fulness of the ditch.
These same conditions, however, es-