Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-11
Iowa
ON THE DES MONIES
Government Engineer Believes River
Will Be Made Navigable.
POWER SITES IN PROSPECT
pitches Dug 20 Drain Northern
lows Land Are Inadequate and
New Ones Must BE
Made.
(From a Staff Correspondents

From a Staff Correspondent
DIES MONIES, Oct. 1O.-(Special)-A. c.
Miller. chairman of the Iowa Conservation
commission. believes the Des Moines river
not only may be made navigable. but that
1t will be made navigable. Mr.. Miller has
Just returned from the meeting Of the Up
per Mississippi Rive improvement conven-
ton. held at Winona. MINI, and while
there he had a conference with Major
Rochet, who has charge OF the government
work Of improving the Mississippi. Major
Rochet estimated that the Des Moines river
could be made ~navigable for Sis, 900. 900 and
that the sale of water power sites along
the river would bring in to the government
81. 900, 900, making the net cost but 1900, Oo.
AS a result of the conference with Major
Rochet, Mr.. Miller believes that a survey
Of the Des Moines river will be recon-
mended to the Improvement board. Major
Rochet will come to Des Molnes in a few
days to make a further investigation and
will then confer with business men here.
One question stands in the way and that
is whether the government or the adjacent
landowners would own the water power
rights. Hon. Jerry Sullivan OF this city is
now investigating the legal phases Of that
question and will give a brief and opinion
on the matter soon. Mr.. Miller was placed
on the executive committee Of the improve
ment association.
70 Drain Northern Iowa.
Most of northern Iowa must be ralne
over again. The costly bitches that were
built with the idea of draining the swamp
lands Of northern Iowa have proved made
quate and it will be necessary for the next
legislature to act In the matter. Commits
sioner 1. w. Keerl OF Mason City and
Secretary George L. Dobson of the lows
Conservation commission leave tomorrow
on a tour OF inspection through northern
Iowa to get information to lay before the
next legislature in a report.
The fact that the bitches in northern
Iowa are more or less of a failure has been
brought to the attention OF the legislature
and the state officials before. 1t is claimed
the bitches are too small and have not
enough fall and the construction is faulty
and many of them have filled up with mud,
end there are scores OF other complaints
against them. The one fact is undisputed.
that in most cases the bitches have failed
to drain the land as it was expected they
would. and something must be done to re-
claim this swamp land.
COMMISSIONS Keerl and Secretary Dob
" vi AAdNN a AOuA u NtAN AANAlS " AAC "a
section of the state. They will take photo
graphs and will get the original drawings
and specifications for the bitches when
possible and will endeavor to discover just
what the trouble is. II is expected, too, to
secure the services of ar expert drainage
engineer to look over the old bitches be-
fore the report is made to the legislature.
1t is claimed that the bitches first built
were surveyed by engineers who were not
drainage engineers, which accounts for Their
failure. ''.
Watching Telephone War.
All Iowa is watching the. Des Moines
telephone fight. The Illinois courts have
held that the Bell system cannot buy up
an independent competing system. The
proposition has never been decided in the
Iowa courts, however. and the independ-
ent telephone business in this state has
grown to such proportions that the de-
cision, when it comes, will be one OF great
Importance, not only to the Independent
company in Des Moines, but to those over
the state as well.
The hearing on the application for a tenn
porary injunction will be had before Judge
McHenry next Friday in the district court.
The Iowa COMPANY already has all but a
small fraction of the stock and bonds of
the Mutual company and the Mutual is
being operated under its directions at this
time. The Iowa has submitted to a postal
card vote of the subscribers OF the two
companies the question Of whether or not
the two systems will be combined. OF
course, such combination must necessarily
depend on the motion of the courts. as
the case win be APPEALED to the supreme
court in any event.
The Iowa company has offered to make
the rates on the basis of the present Iowa
rates. This was at first taken as mean
ing that the rate for a business phone
would be $50, as it is at present. Then
it was discovered that in reality It would
be about S1O2 a year because of the in
creased number of phones the enlarged
system would have. In the meantime the
city o~fficitls have asked the people to
delay the matter till the city solicitor has
had time to investigate the legal phases
of the question. 1t is not unlikely that the
city may become an in0ervenor in the
suit.
Attorneys are investigating now to as
certain il there is not some way Of throw
ing the Mutual company into the hands
of a receiver in order to get 1t out Of the
hands Of the Iowa. 1t is charged that
the Iowa is liable to get the Mutual
equipment and services run down in order
to throw all the subscribers over to the
Iowa.
In any event it is claimed that the situa-
ton here will throw the matter into the
hands OF the legislature next winter and
that some legislation looking to a solu-
ton Of the problem is almost certain.
October Period of Court.
The October period OF the September
term Of the supreme court opens Tuesday.
october 10. The cases TO be submitted
for oral argument during the sitting, which
will continue till the following Tuesday,
will be cases from Scott, Muscatine, Clin-
ton, johnson, Iowa, Blackhawk, Blu
chanan, Delaware, Boone, Webster, Ham
Story, Harden, Mitchell and Polk
counties