Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1905-07-05
lake |. !. l!LLIAN !! !. / |. A | DITCH |
Extension and Completion Of Thi.
Piece Of Property Now Un.
+. der Consideration. !.

"A matter which IL OF considerable
interest especially to the residents OF
the southern: part of the county is the
extension and completion OF the Lake
Lillian ditch, which has been under
consideration for some time and which
has aroused considerable agitation
among some of the residents of the
county. The object is to secure the
drainage Of the slough lands in the
Lake Lillian country and vicinity and
In order to have this properly done
an appropriation has been secured
from the state to cover part of the ex-
pense and the balance must be raised
by interested land owners.
On Saturday, June "a, a meeting of
the state drainage commission was
held in the state capitol building in
st. Paul and by special appointment
the following delegation from this
county met with the commissioners to
consider matters regarding the Lake
Lillian ditch: John S. Anderson,
chairman, and Henry Feig, of the Lake
Lillian drainage committee; John
F'eig, chairman of county commission
ers, and surveyor B F. Jenness. The
commission has decided to furnish
free the services of State Engineer
George Ralph and to allow the appro.
priation of $1,000. It is estim ated
that q total investment of from S1O,-
600 to $4,000 will be necessary in
order to finish this ditch, which has
for so long time been in an incom-
plete condition. ~
The matter will be discussed at the
mass meeting to be held next Satur-
day at the Thorpe school house and
1t is now up to the interested residents
OF the county to use the good judgment
necessary in order to secure the IS, 900
appropriated.
A member of the Kandiyohi county
delegation who was present at the
meeting held in st. Paul gives out the
following facts.
The entire commission consisting OF
Governor JOhneOn, Secretary of State
Hanson, and Auditor IversOn, were
present and all of these gentlemen
manifested keen interest in the pro-
posed work, for which, at 4 previous
meeting, they had allowed 5000.
This allowance WAS on condition that
Interested and owners 4 raise 3: the
balance. The comm issl lUner 8 engineer
estimated the total cost from Lake
Lillian to the end of the ditch in
Meeker county at from ten to twelve
thousand dollars. Thus from FIVE to
seven thousand dollars will have to
be raised by those who will be bene-
flied. ,
There we're those who wanted the
commission to spend the S5,0 COO and
partly complete the work, leaving the
balance to be done at some future
time, but this proposition the com
mission refused to entertain. It is
now up to the citizens of the southern
part of the county to do their share.
A ditch OF proper and sufficient size
from Lake Lillian east to q place
where the river has sufficient fall, will
be of greatest benefit to q large num-
Der OF land owners, not only In the
Lake Lillian country, but as far west
as Wil!mar. All these waters have
their natural flow in that direction
and in many cases already have
bitches been made and it is proposed
to make many more. The Lake Lii.
lian people cannot be expected to take
ali this water without getting rid OF
it, nor will they do SO. We under
stand that number of land owners
will resort to court proceedings at the
very first instance when by ditching
the natural flow is, to be increased.
All this litigation can now be averted
by Intelligent action OF those inter-
ested. Seven Thousand dollars in ten
years means seven hundred year.
It's small amount when assessed to
the thousands OF acres that will be re:
claimed or partly reclaimed. The
addition to the taxes will hardly be
felt. Now Is the time to act.