Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-08-30
shown in the following picture.

of the most pathetic in all history,
had its saddest chapter on the spot
where the marker furtherest to the
left now stands. Unlike many royal
wives, she loved her husband as
earth loves the sun, and his untimely
death destroyed her reason. She
lived on until some months ago.
contending at all times that her
royal spouse was not dead, but was
on his way back to her, and that
when he arrived she would be SUI
premely happy. May they who were
such loving companions in life be
twin spirits in death.
TIE DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF THE VALLEY
OF MEXICo
The Valley of Mexico is shaped
much the same as saucer. 1t
consists of about 5000 sections of
land. around which nature has piled
up great mountain walls without
leaving a single natural outlet for
the twenty-three rivers which flow
down their sides.
| The fact that this country is about
to spend hundreds of millions Of
dollars on a canal at Panama, induc-
ed me to find out all that | could
about the canals in the Valley of
Mexico. The present government,
| the Spaniards, the Aztecs and the
people who inhabited the valley
before the commencement of history,
all have struggled with the drainage
problem and all have found it an
engineering feat of the first magpi-
tude. Were it not for natural evap-
Grafton, or artificial dykes or canals,
the greater portion of the valley
would be covered with water. In
ordinary seasons evaporation has
usually been sufficient to keep the
lakes within their banks, but during
wet seasons, and more particularly
when several wet seasons have fol-
lowed in succession, the water il
! the valley has became serious
menace to both life and property
, Many times it has ran like rivers
: through the streets of the City
During the great flood of 1924 il
was estimated that no less than 30,
A 600 people were drowned during {
4 single month, and that was only
1 one Of the many disastrous floods il
the history of the valley. For many
centuries heroic attempts to drair
] the valley resulted in dismal fail
l ures. 1t was not until the early
part of the year 1900 that the strug
gle OF the ages became an a. com
plished fact. A book might be
written and not the half be tolc
, about these dykes and drainage
4 failures. In this article | shall
e briefly refer to but one, and to tina
S one Tor the reason that it may have
/ some bearing upon our proposed
e canal through the mountain range
: down at the Isthmus.
J, In 1887 it was decided to cut al
open ditch through the mountain.
: which encircle the Valley Of Mexico
; an undertaking at that time of mucl
e the same magnitude as the presen
G attempt to dig a canal across til,
Z lsthmus Of Panama. With tin
0 excavating tools and apparatus i,
S use nearly 300 years ago, this cana
If was a gigantic task, and for fit,
d years the work was carried on witt
j. undated energy. 1t was nearly al
e done by hand, and the material
e removed were all carried up seriel
II Of slopes on the backs ola vast nun
e Der Of men. The deep portion o
o the cut is about IL miles in length
II and in places more than 20 rod
d wide at the top and 200 feet il
S depth. examined several miles tn
e deepest part and found that the Gu
n had been made through almost soil,
n rock, yet notwithstanding this tn
S great ditch was failure because
could not be kept open during sea
n sons Of deluging rain storms. Ane
y in this connection let me stat
d another fact not generally known t.
d people living in this latitude. !
n person who has never seen rain
: storm in the Tropics has a very i'm
:. perfect knowledge of the quantit
o Of water that can fall from the cloud
y in short period of time. When
It rains down near the Equator,
e many times rains nearly Who'll
r water. talked with an intelligen
e mechanic from Panama, who sal,
3 that we'll informed men at the 18th
h mus were Of the opinion tina
S a deep canal could never be KEEP
: open in that country on account Q
a the Tropical rain storms, which Ii
S said were far worse there than il
: the vicinity Of the City of Mexico.
4 In 1856 great convention wa
y held to discuss plans for draining
e the valley. The best engineers il
r the world were invited to attend
: and $4,000 was guaranteed to til,
+ person whose plan should be adopt
y ed. One engineer proposed to drail
: all the lakes into a canal, which
o would find its exit through TUNE
: under the mountains, and his view
!, were approved. But largely on &C
$ count Of the unsettled condition O
y public affairs, the work made littl
k Roadway until after the reign Q
), peace inauguratedby President Diaz
t After thatit was vigorously prose
e cuted and completed about five year
/ ago. The canal is about 30 mile
], long and the tunnel six miles il
o in length, and together they solv'
. the problem of the ages, now AM