The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1909-02-18
CONGRESS- UNANIMOUS
7 aft Said to Favor Power De
ve1opment IN the Ozarks.

The Republican is In receipt OF a
letter from General w. II. Standish in
which is detailed his recent correspond
ence with the chief of engineers of the
war department, which will prove in
structive to its readers, and may Incl
dentally remove some misapprehensions
in regard to the effect of the proposed
use of White river for the development
of power. The correspondence is con-
densed as much as possible without OBJ
scuring its clearness.
General Standish addressed two let
tiers to General Marshall, chief of engin-
errs of the war department., the first
bearing date December IA, 1908, and
the second January 9, 1909, in which
he asked these questions:
Where the war department builds
timber dams above steamboat naviga-
ton does it usually construct them with
or without locks?
Please explain how these timber
dams benefit in getting logs and timber
RATS over bad places in the river.
I am informed by an experienced
lumberman that a properly constructed
sluice at dam will carry raft over
better than it can be done at Batesville,
Arkansas; because at the locks the raft.
if large, will have to be cut in pieces
and the pieces taken singly through
each lock, and then re-rafted, while the
whole raft could go over properly con-
structed sluiceway intact and then pro-
ceed on its way down the river. I
should like to know the views of your
department on this question
To these questions the chief of en-
gineers returned answers of which we
give the gist in a somewhat condensed
form hereunder:
''One of the timber dams referred to
(The Sandy Lake, was constructed with
a lock.
If the interests of navigation require
a lock in connection with timber dam
it would be recommended; otherwise
probably not, action depending on the
necessities of the locality.
Dams are of assistance for logging
purposes, either by backing up the
water above them, ahording greater
depth over the shadows, or by storing
water which may be released as required
to increase the depth on the shadows
below.
Four of the dams referred to above
are provided with log sluice, eleven
feet wide in one case and twelve feet
wide in the other three. The only in
formation found in the reports concern
ing the rate at which logs may be passed
through these sluices is that about
IS, 100000 B. M. went through the
Pokagama dam in thirteen days.
A sluice to carry RATS must have a
gentle slope and requires large amount
of water, but if large enough and prop
erly constructed would be preferable to
lock-"
Following this correspondence we
give hereunder facts, figures and COM
ment by General Standish, and COM
mend them to the candid consideration
of all readers of the Republican, wheth-
er they are in favor of or opposed to the
Standish, or any other power develop
ment proposition:
/. A dam and reservoir at the Wheel
er bend mile and half above Forsyth
would give slack water at all times back
to Branson, where cargoes could be
loaded directly from the river to the
cars, and from cars to barges on the
river. That would give the region
tributary to Forsyth almost the benefits
of steam railroad to Forsyth. And