Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1907-11-25
NATIONAL Il
DRh|AAGE: ~
CONGRESS

N~Ay 1OSles - GolNSfl. GtUorc
Pinehot. chief OF the forestry ser,
vice. and F. Il. Newell. director oil
thu government reclamation service
are among the. distinguished speak.
ers on the program of the National
Drainage congress. opening today a,
Johns Hopkins University for = ges.
sion OF three days. I.e.cyates ar.
here from all ths southern. eastern
and Pacific coast states. Senator
Fiat of California. the. author OF
tho general drainage bill. will udvo.
cate the adoption of that measure
by the congress, IL Is declared by
leading delegates that the work oil
draining the swamp lands OF the ma
ton is even more important than the
reclamation OF the arid regions. and
that the congress will use its infiu.
ence 10 secure largely increased APP
propriauons from the government
for this purpose, t1af
According 10 statistics compiled
by officers OF the congress, there are
approximately 100000 acres O.
swamp lands scattered throughou;
thirty-scyen states of the Union, the
reclamation OF which would mean
the addition of millions OF dollars
annually to the business interests o.
the country. cef .nt
II is pointed out that IL these lands
were drained and subdivided into
4o-aere farms they would afford
homes for 20.000.000 farmers, in
dependent of the urban population
which would inevitably follow. The
crop values of these now worthless
lands. at s25 an acre, would in
yolye an additional of s2.00O,000,.
600 yearly. These figures are CON
sidered conservative by drainage ex-
perts. as reclaimed swamp lands arr
usually very rich. Ie
~ In addition. to-the economic ar
sument. advocates OF drainage de-
clare that the reclamation OF swamp
lands is a public necessity, because
OF their pestilcntial character, Al
the present time they are the breed
Ing places or malaria and mosqui-
toes, and the 'decsying vegetable mat
ter on them is constant menace to
the health of the entire country.
e." If the plans OF the leaders in the
drainage movement are carried out
many parts of the country win as
ssum q a resemblance OF Holland with
dikes, commandments. canals and
windmills as the striking features
or the landscape This is especially
'trhe OF Maryland. which has half
million acres OF partially submerged
lands part of 1t in fresh and part IN
SAT- water swamps The southern
and gulf coast states also have mil
lions OF acres of waste lands. az have
New York, New Jersey, Indiana
Missouri and all the states bordering
on the Mississippi. the Missouri and
other big rivers! The delta OF the
sacramento and San Joaquin riverr
forms the most fes!ilo body OF land
to be fodnd In California, but IL
subject to periodical overfows.
The drainage expertsin attendance
= at tho congress point 70 Holland a.
an example of what can be done an +:
what pront There lies In fdfaInage.
That country has just conrpieted the
reclamation ofdtpns of'thousands OF
acres Of land under part of the
Zuyder Zee. Two centuries ago til
Dutch did o similar work, ana 20,-
600 people are living on the site of
the former Harlem lake. The fefis
of England form another illustra-
ton of draihags on a large scale. In
France and Italy similar work has
been performed 10
The bill introduced by Senator
EliRk of selsfssnls sRroylaeszfor an
appropriation of $4,000, 900 to start
work. The method is to build dikes
a1d embsalmeptb and, esnplgs ana
IN sonscsO casess windmilf.dtfyer4
lamps 20 carry off the surplus wa
ter. Manly things viii have TO bf
donsidetqd Including the elevation
md conformation of the land, the
local ral9fall tho absorbent quality
q the sdil and the tendency, Of the
dfsined land to sink. It IS admit.
tal that the reclamation OF these
a~smp lands will form big on.
fanoering problem. but, the enthua
DTS say. tic cost Is insignificant
compared with the BENEFITS to be re.
ceived.
incidentally, it is alleged that the
selution Of bthe mosquito problem
depends upoh the drainage of these
sS'amp lands Health authorities
vii discuss the drainage movement
fkom this standpoint. and will urge
that the expfBaiture Of a billion dol
lers TO getrid' Of the mosquito pest
would befnoney we'll Invested.
INV tn Ax-AsV, rAHr-xrr,r<, ysor