The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-06
LAKE IS A MENACE
1t Reaches From North Topeka
to MenOken.
Presents a Problem That Must
Be Net at Once.
DAMAGES PROPERTY.
Is Also Putting Health of People
in Jeopardy.
County Should Do Its Share to
Abate the Nuisance.

IF the city allows the lake to stay
there, we are ruined" said a man who
lives near the great sheet of water which
extends from Taylor street in North To-
peka west as far as Menoken. The man
was in dead earnest. He saw his prop
erty being rendered yalueless and he
was, as he himself declared, getting
desperate"
Wednesday, the streets and walks
committee of the city council visited
the lake and tried to decide what could
be done. 1t was plain that the health of
all the people in the northwest corner
of North Topeka made immediate action
imperative The most feasible plan, it
was decided, would be to create
benefit district and build tile drain
from the lake to Soldier creek
The lake in North Topeka which be-
gins near Tyler and St. John streets,
and extends westward, a quarter of a
mile wide in some places, has ceased to
be a joke. For while, people thought
1t was quite an interesting thing to
have cat fish swimming around in their
back yards. 1t was necessary to only
go to the banks of the lake to find a
good place to fish. The hoarse honk of
the bull frogs tempted riflemen to try
their craftsmanship.
The lake was created at the time of
the great flood. Taylor street which had
been filed up formed dam and held
most of the water outside of the city
limits. Since the flood people have
found that every rain fills up the hole
washed out during the time the river
swept through the valley. The Sunday
morning rain filed up the valley to a
greater depth than at any time since the
flood.
But the novelty of the thing is wear
ing off. Typhoid and malaria are begin
ming to prevail. Doctors have ordered
several families to leave the vicinity of
the lake without delay. Hundreds OF
houses are standing vacant because no
one wants to live on the bank OF a
great body of stagnant water People
whose income depends on the rent of a
few houses. the product of lifetime of
So wing, are in distress because they rear
that their properties will not rent, and
they will be left without means to sus-
tain themselves.
MAY SUE THE CITY.
There is a prospect that the city will
reap a large harvest of damage SUITS
from it's failure to take care OF the
flood water which has formed the lake.
The people living there claim that the
city is responsible for the trouble
AS a matter of fact. the water is not
in the city, but is under the jurlsd1c-
the people who live in the city, how
ever who suffer from the lake. The
city thinks that the county should at
least help to get rid of the water. The
through Taylor street, because all the
water would then flow down through
town, and might do damage to the
streets or to private property
To the people who live near the lake,
it looks different They say that while
the city may have the right to inter-
fere with the natural waterway for the
drainage of the lake, the city also owes
limits, and who live near the lake, to
protect them from the menace of the
sta sna=t water.
If nothing is done, there will be legal
proceedings to determine who shall
drain off the water. There will also
be a large crop of damage suits. Peo-
pie will try to make the city pay Tor
the damage which has been sustained.
If such a course is followed. it means
big fight in the courts, for the dam
age suits would probably amount to at
least SO. 600.
LIST OF THOSE WHO OBJECT.
There are probably none who live
close 20 the lake who do not object to
its presence there, and who will not
stand ready to back up some radical
action. Among those may be mentioned
the following:
L. l. Frantz. 1904 Western avenue.
Clarence Dolman. owns three houses
and a store
l. Ketcham. owns a block of land for
which he paid $4,000, which is still un-
der water: also owns five houses near
the lake,
Fred Deppe owns six houses.
J. w. Blossom, councilman, owns two
houses.
George Meadow, Western avenue,
owns two houses.
Albert Meadow. Western avenue
A. Sheetz, owns house at 1927 Taylor,
which is standing in the water.
Fred Horst own a house at 1872 Tay-
Tor, just at the edge of the water.
- Marker, owns house next door
to Sheetz property in the water.
T. Small, Shorey, owns three houses
near the lake.
c. c. Lang, 1918 Western avenue.
Scott Myers, Western avenue.
T. D. Nash, 1914 Polk street.
- Davis, Morse and Taylor streets.
- Kelly, Polk street.
A. Henderson, Clay street
J. Tolliver, (colored) house in the