Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-10-06

age districts opened up in the state,
and close enough to Wood county and
TO Grand Rapids to be of special in.
terest to the residents of this city and
county. The one in particular is the
Beuna Vista district, over which there
has been so much controversy during
the past eight or ten years. Ever
since the marsh was proposed and
thought of, demonstrators have en-
tered their objections, and through
the courts have tried to prevent its
being put in and instituted, but it
finally was made a surety, and now
the work has begun.
Three Dredges to Do Work.
The first dredge, or ditching ma
chine, started work about two weeks
ago, and second Que started in work
last Monday. Still another is being
constructed, and will be finished in
time to do some work this fall, and
will be ready for completing the con-
tract OF ditching the big district next
year. The company that have the
ditching contract have three years in
which to complete the work, and get
trenches dug that will carry off
the water from these lands and make
start toward producing fine farms
in the country that was formerly con-
sidereo good for nothing but blue ber-
rieS and cranberrieS. These dredges
are remarkable engines of industry,
and will be described in another Sec
tion of this article, together with an
outline of their work.
Big District Well Ditched.
When the dredging is completed
there will be in all 50 miles of bitches.
most OF which will be main canal,
with dimensions of thirty feet in
width at the top. twelve feet wide at
the bottom, and from six to eight feet
in depth. Part of this SO miles will
be laterals as they are called, empty.
ing into the main bitches. All the
water finally empties into the main
bitches. and is carried off into the Wis.
cOnSin river. The marsh is a large
Ione. being abOns ten by six miles In
size, and will require great deal OF
work to finish it's drainage. About
$4,000 acres are included in this dis.
trict, the eastern end of which is near
Bancroft, and the western end. near
the county line between Portage and
Wood counties. Grand Rapids is the
nearest large city to the district.
Ditchine Starts Near Bancroft.
The ditch in which the first dredpe
to be put in operation in this district
is now working, begins about a half a
mile south of the Chicago and North
| Western railway tracks, about one
mile west Of the Bancroft station.
This ditch runs directly west on Sec
tion line, seven u lies, close up to the
Wood county line. The other dredge
has another line to follow, and it's first
ditch will be nearly as long as the
other. The third, which is now under
course of construction, will work
near the others, and in a similar
manner.
i District Drains Into Wisconsin River.
The water from these bitches, and
coming from the whole marsh, will be
carried off and emptied into the Wis.
consin river. This fact is not gener.
ally known, but it is true. By means
of Four Mile, Five Mile, and Ten
Mile creeks, the drainage water is con-
veyed from the lower end of the main
bitches to the Wisconsin river through
the regular channels of these creeks,
They are believed to have sufficient
capacity to carry off the water with.
out any special dredging in their beds
but if they prove insufficient for the
purpose of properly draining the
marsh. they will be widened and made
proper size for this purpose.
What the Dredges Can Do.
The work Of the dredges is very in
teresting to watch, for one who sees
them in operation for the first time
Without seeing what they actually
perform one would scarcely believe
that they will do some of the thing:
done by them every day. For in
stance, every scoop full of dirt con
tains one yard of earth. Nearly every
one knows how much earth there is tt
cubic yard. There are five of thes<
scoopfuls brought out and deposited
On the edge of the canal every two
minutes. This means that every hour
of the day when the dredge is at work
$50 yards of earth is taken from the
ditch, or as much earth as would hal
fill the new bank building. The
work for twenty-four hours of the day
having a day and a night crew, ant
/ get seven and half cents per yard TO
Z removing the dirt from the bitches
The crew that work at night hay,
4 their own electric lights, generated b,
| the engines on board the dredqe,
Dredses Are Powerful Machines.
These engines are of 40 horse power
\ and are so connected TO work tn
whole machinery of the digging ma
chine, beside generating electric ligh
for the men to werk by at night. Tn