The Topeka state journal., 1903-06-18

lakes covering from forty acres up.
There is one a short distance east of
St. Marys which must cover several
hundred acres. Then there are other
vast stretches which have been COW
cred by water and on which this sea-
sons crops have been destroyed, but
where the land itself is unimDaired
Indeed. the deposit left by the recedins
waters has doubtless enriched the sOil
in many instances. Then there are Oc-
casiOnal stretches of land which were
high enough to be out of the water,
doubtless occasioned by a wide valley
on the south side of the kaw On
these higher stretches of ground there
are fields of wheat and corn which are
looking all right The railroad track is
firm except where cross gullies have
caused short washouts-
One of the most peculiar stretches of
country is east of the Blue. The Blue
left its banks several miles from the
kaW and cut across country to reach
the river. In places the erosion of the
water has worn away the soil in gull
lies and cross gullies to depth of sew
eral feet leaving small patches of
earth between, like the formation OnS
sometimes sees on alkali lands
The farmers are getting back into
their fields as rapidly as possible. a
considerable acreage of corn has al
ready been back-listed. but there is
still a great deal of land which is in
accessible In some fields the farmers
work the higher portions While waiting
for the lower part to drain. There are
many instances where the farmers are
listing down to the edge of lakes which
stand in their corn 1elds and then turn
around and go ba *. They are not
waiting for whole field to drain be-
fore beginning work in it,
Where the water has eyaporated from
the lands instead of draining the heat
is causing the crust TO bake and crack
In some places the crust is so tough
that it can scarcely be broken. but un-
0pTnnqfh it the still
the consistency of mud
While there are innumera BILE washouts
all along the Union Pacific and while
trains are compelled to run slow be-
cause the ballast is washed out, the
worst places are between Topeka and
MenOken and in the neighbOrhoOd of
Eureka Lake. west of Manhattan. Just
west of North Topeka there is a wash
out and a sinkhole of such extent that
1t was necessary to build new track
around it and up a little hill. This has
OccasiOned a great deal of trouble and
trains still run over this ground very
gingeriy- The WashOut is where a
strong current cut across the tracks
from the river north just west is a rise
of several feet The WashOut is prob
ably $50 feet across and the old track is
hanging suspended across it. A hun
dTed yards further east is the sinkhOle
was more particularly to get around this
that the new track had to be built In
working west trestle even was built
on the old track leading up to the sink
hole but after repreated efforts to fill it
the attempt had to be abandoned for the
present The hole extended clear across
the right of way and it was necessary
to cut out through a neighboring grove
to get around it.
A mile or two east of Manhattan big
engine lies on its side in the bottom of a
slough by the side of the track. 1t was
aiding in building new trestle across
this slough and when the trestle was
completed the engine went onto it slow
". Suddenly one side of the trestle be
gan to sink and before it could be back
ed off the big engine toppled over into
the mud where it lies half buried The
crew escaped.
About three miles west of Manhat-
tan tne track ran around the north
edge Of a big bend in the river Where
the right of way formerly stood is now
the bed of the river with a swift, deep
current. While ON the opposite side Il