The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-18
DRAINAGE AN ISSUE
ENGINEERS DISCUSS IMPORTANT
QUESTION PRO AND
con
DRAINAGE OF LAKES MISTAKE
So Thinks N. Y. Taylor, but Other
Engineers vigorously Disagree
With Him-Society Elects
Officers.

Surveyors and engineers to the number
of twenty-five, representing about twenty
counties of the state, met yesterday in
Parlor B, of the Windsor hotel, for the
eighth annual session of the Minnesota
Surveyors and Engineers society. While
the papers were as a rule, purely tech
nical therefore unintelligibIe to the lay
man, those on drainage and county bridge
construction presented ideas worthy of
consideration.
After the adoption of the reports of the
secretary and treasurer, President VIII
c. Fraser delivered his annual address
Mr.. Fraser called the attention of the
members to the necessity for co-opera-
ti0n among engineers, pointing out that
in this age of great engineering develop
ment, the best results could only be OBJ
tanned in this way. He spoke glowingly
of the future of the profession, maintain
ing that the big work being done in New
York city and other places was merely
the beginning of what was to be. He
believed that it was only a question of
time until England Ireland and France
would be connected by tunnel, that the
Western continent would be joined to
Asia by bridge.
Norris Y. Taylor, of Litchffeld, spoke on
drainage, and started a discussion of aon-
siderable proportions. Mr.. Taylor thought
that in many instances the draining of
lakes to secure ground was a great mis-
take, and a presumption on the part of
man altering natures handiwork To this
he attributed the constantly recurring
periods of drought, claiming" that there
would be more rainfall if there was more
water in the form of lakes in the state.
Many of the members of the society
took issue with Mr.. Taylor, claiming that
the drainage of lakes had nothing to do
with the rainfall, as the water that fell
was evaporated from the ocean. Mr.
Taylor came back with the statement
that if that was entirely the case whv
were there deserts. He said there must
be local conditions to assist in rain-mak-
ing.
Value of Drainage.
State Drainage Engineer George A.
Ralph, of Crookston, read a paper that
was diametricalIy opposed to that of Mr.
Taylor's in a great many respects. 1t
was on Drainage of the Red River Val
ley and Mr. Ralph had figures and
statistics galore to demonstrate how the
running off of water from the low lands
had resulted in the richest kinds of farms
the annual yield of which had more than
paid for the cost of constructing the
bitches.
The paper did not confine itself exclu-
sively to the Red river valley, but took
in Russia and the Nile valley as well,
showing the vast amounts that had been
expended by the Russian and English
governments for the reclamation of arid
and swamp lands that had for ages been
considered absolutely worthless by every
thing except water fowl
Mr.. Ralph contended that the western
part of the country was yielding but e
per cent Of its capacity, and he said the
day was not far distant when the adj
vantages of drainage and irrigation would
cause great many bitches to be dug
He showed how in the northern part OF
the state the construction of bitches had
only cost the property owners from E
few cents TO 81. % an acre.
County Surveyor George w. Cooley, of
Hennepin county, spoke on the construc-
ton of county bridges. Mr.. Cooley said
while steel bridges were. being put W
every day, there was still use for the
wooden structure as frequently the ma
ture, of the foundation was such that il
would not support a steel bridge and
as a properly constructed wooden bridge
could be depended upon to last for fif-
teen years, it was cheaper to put I'D three
of that kind than one steel one. There
was some discussion on this question