The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1905-09-29
Proposed New Channel for the Paw
Paw River.
Another Answer to ii. A. smith by j. j.
Woodman.


drain, who circulated the petition for
the said drain, in answering my arti-
Gle in your paper of July %, plainly
contradicts my statement that the
Paw Paw river is a beautiful stream
of swiftly running clear water, and
that the sanitary condition along its
borders has never been questioned.
l intended to be truthful, but Mr..
Smith says, 1T is not the beautiful
swiftly running stream sitting and
bubbling over a pebbly bottom that
but ~ miles of river channel filled at
all times of the year with water to
within a few inches of the surface of
the land through which it flows, also
filled with an unlimited amount Of
timber and debris, and constituting
an uubroken series of bends and an
giles and return curves to retard the
performance Of its functions
flooding 1850 acres of land nine
months of each year, converting
them into an insect breeding, malaria
generating, fostering swamp" And
he declares that every assertion
made in his article he stands ready to
prove This plain and emphatic con-
tradiction Of my statement seems to
raise a question of veracity between
Us, but I will not be discourteous
enough to charge him with misrepre-
sentation or put him TO the trouble Of
proving his assertions, but leave that
question to those living near the river,
who see it every day of their lives. to
decide.
am aware that our opinions and
conclusions are generally formed from
our environments and observations,
and may sometimes be influenced by
self interest. Self interest, under
proper influence and control, is one of
the noblest attributes Of the human
character. It gives inspiration TO all
improvements and all progress. But
when self interest degenerates to mere
selfshness with no regard for the
rights and interests Of others. it be-
comes one of the most despicable
traits Of humanity.
have lived near the Paw Paw RI
yer from childhood, have owned land
on the north branch over so years
and have pastured the bottom land
for q years. l well remember when
keel boats built upon the st. Joseph
river, namely the Colon, the Goshen,
the Mishawaka and the Bertrand,
landed freight at Paw Paw. The
boats were decked over and propell-
ed by setting poles III the hands of
strong men. I. w. Willard built two
boats. carrying between 200 and 800
barrels of flour each, which were
loaded a little below his mill. A lit
tie below the village on the farm now
owned by Bruce Cummings was an In
dian trading post, where a warehouse
was built, and farmers of Prairie
Ronde stored their wheat to be ship
ped down the river.
y large appropriation of public
land was made TO clear the river of
distractions. In 1888 J. c. Gould
sold timber on section 10 of Almena
to parties in Lawrence, who cut it
and foated it down the river to that
village.
/ drove along the water edge on the
north branch in my pasture lot few
days ago, and Notwithstanding the
unusually wet season and recent
heavy rain, the water was about two
feet below the surface of the land,
which Is about its normal condition
except for a few weeks during spring
freshets and Immediately following
very heavy fall of rain.
Ny impressions and conclusions Of
the condition of the running water of
the Paw Paw river along that portion
with which have been most familiar
have been formed from long exper-
fence and observation. That there
are some distractions in the channel
is true, but as far as my observation
extends not enough 60 produce the
condition of the channel and flooded
bottom land SO graphically described
by Mr.. Smith or 70 seriously obstruct
the current. Hence it is presumable
that serious conditions of the channel
do exist, mainly in his vicinity, where
lac and other parties recently pur-
chased land for the timber and put in
mills TO cut the same. and in clearing
roads for hauling out the logs and /
wood, piled BRUSH and refuse timber
into the river, and, l am informed, I
built dams which still remain for