davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
HowD1rcHES ARE DUe
cByDREDGEs

away and a channel sufficiently large
for the river created.
About the same might be said of the
lower Mississippi valley. 1t is still earth
in the making. The Gulf of Mexico. so
the scientists tell me, once extended more
than 900 miles farther north, and all the
land of the delta is made up Of the rich
earth washings brought down by the
great river. They have built up the bed
of the gulf and forced the sea back.
Moreover, the streams have dropped
their deposits close to their banks, and
have thus gradually built troughs on each
that We now find the swamps. The Mis-
sissippi carries more stuff into them at
every flood. 1t comes down loaded with
the richest materials of the uplands and
the mountains and drops a great part
of it there. From the state Of Missouri
alone, it is estimated, enough soil to
make a shaft one mile square and higher
than that of the Washington Monument
Is annually dropped into the Mississippi.
Within this same period the Missouri
carries down pile of equal area which
Is 400 feet high, and this is mixed with
billions Of tons of rich mud taken from
the states of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.
This work has been going on throughout
the ages, and the earth washings are now
Increased by bad cultivation. They are
carrying away the best elements Of our
soil, and much of these. are stored up in
the sWamps. Indeed, the swamps con-
tain the richest fertilinZing materials on
earth They are full of the stuff for
which our farmers give their hard dol
lars to the chemical companies. They
are loaded with phosphates and lime. the
latter coming largely from the shells of
minute crustaceans, including crabs and
craWfish, which live in the swamps, and,
dying, leave their shells there in such
quantities that they have permeated the
mud with phosphate of lime. This rich
stuff is found in all of the swamps. and
there are great quantities of it in the
delta of the Mississippi.
And what a mighty delta the Missis-
sippi has. 1t is one Of the greatest
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
Ridiculous.

EDGAR A BROWN, the Denver MIL
- lionaire, who is writing a book about
his two years voluntary experience as an
'iout-ofwork, said the other day:
''One trouble about poverty is that it
makes you ridiculous. You need shaving,
your trousers are fringed at the enus,
your coat has a hole in the elbow Yes,
to be poor is ridiculous-as ridiculous as
being misquoted in the press
Mr.. Brown laughed gently.
"A friend of mine" he said, was mis-
quoted in the press last week Ny friend,
in a sociological address, said:
Whisky makes men genial for a time.'
But his favorite paper reported this re-
mark as:
Whisky makes me genial for O
time"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

We call the hill. Walnut street, our pref
test resident section. and there l lived
until 1 married. My father built us
home, which. by the way, is right next
door to the famous Mckinley homestead,
and here We lived like in the story book,
happy and forever afterward.
~
Then I attended school in Canton, and
all my memories are centered about the
little city which is known the world over
as the home of William Mckinley. Since
coming to Washington 1 have been in the
whirl which attends the entrance of the
novice. but it has been an exhilaratlng
experience. l thought that living in a
hotel should lead a leisurely existence.
with abundant. time to visit, to see the
wonderful sights of the capital and to
take such friends as passed by to see
them also, and above all to catch up with
long arrears of letters. ! was never so
busy in my life, yet at the end OF the day
1 could not show very much for the wild
pace at which l go. l answer letters
and they do come in disheartening num-
bers. and see my callers and make some
calls myself, and my day has melted
away. OF course, the sessions of Con-
gress are a great lure. and / spend much
time In the galleries OF both Senate and
House.
Canton in my girlhood was a village.
NOW 1t is busy, busting manufactur-
Ing city OF more than $1,000 inhabitants.
We are being crowded at the elbows by
the growing business interests until the
suburbs are getting quite imposing. Every
one at home, Is homekeeper and | have
been amused at the thought of going to
one OF those houses in a row and calling
II home. The idea of a front door
and back door and the sides all crowded
IN would make my neighbors gasp with
horror. We still demand plenty of room
about our homes. and the fashion OF
houses in q row will. | am sure never
take hold of the citizens of the middle
west. Keeping house is one of the most
absorbing OF occupations, and it IS need
less to say that the women Of Canton do
not find time hanging on their hands.
We have the servant problem most acute
ly. because SO many of our manufacturing
plants use women in many departments,
and nearly all prefer that life to domestic
service. However, l have been rather
fortunate, and. as setting my household
treasures in Washington is one Of my
tentative plans. ! hope to bring all my
home stan here. We get excellent maids
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

When l was small child her father,
Mr.. Saxton. owned the property which
Immediately adjoined my fathers, and
after my marriage Mr.. Mckinley bought
back the old home in which had been
spent his early married life. This is the
house which figured so largely in the
public eye during the second campaign
made by Mckinley. 1t was in this house
Mckinley were born and died. After
Maj. Mckinley was elected to Congress
he sold the place TO some very wealthy
people, but they had ambitious projects
afoot and soon erected larger and more
modern home in the most extensive
grounds which Canton boasts. Maj. Nc
Kinley then bought back his old home at
the earnest wish Of his wife, and here
they lived.
Living as we did just next door to
President Mckinley during that mo-
mentous summer of 1900, l feel that l am
versed in republican princi-
pies since / heard all his porch speeches.
But my poor lawn suffered as the Nc
kinleys' did aud my fence was taken
away and felt that it was not an I'm
mixed blessing to live next door to
national celebrity. The old Mckinley
home is now a hospital
Senator and Mrs. Pomerene have now
an apartment in the Highlands and they
are prepared, should the session of Con-
gress fulfill predictions and last until
August. Their rooms face the open coun-
try, high up from the street, and they
look forward with perfect composure to
passing the summer al the capital. Whiie
their plans are yet tentative, Mrs. Pom
creme inclines to the purchase of a home
and getting some of her own things about
her. She does not contemplate closing
her Canton home or even to taking much
of her furniture from it,
81 contend that no one can have two
homes. Still six years is long stretch
and have always lived at home and
cannot endure the thought of the narrow
quarters which even the most spacious
hotels or apartment houses afford. Then
do not wish to move my treasures. They
just fit my own home and they would not
appeal to me here. But our favorite
chairs, some pictures and some familiar
belongings, l should like to get about
us in order to get the strange feeling off.
But l am just feeling my way and have
not decided definitely how We shall live
next winter.
The pretty apartments are filed with
dainty water-color sketches, for this is
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

CHE Is a Tactful, Progress
- sive Woman, Who Will
Be Leader in the Middle
West Coterie-Is Unique in
That She Never Lived But in
Three Houses in Her Life,
and the Nomadic Existence
Which the Legislators Lead
Makes a Special Appeals
Native of Canton, Ohio, and
All Her Life Was a Next
Door Neighbor of the Nc
Kinleys.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
Spirit of Yachting.

CIT HIS Is good weather for Mediter-
ranean yachting" said G. A. Cor
mack, the secretary of the New York
Yacht Club. Some Of our finest boats
are now cruising in the blue waters.
How fine and luxurious yachts have
become!' Mr. Cormack resumed. In
the past it wasn't So A spirit of gayety
took the place Of luxury in the past. An
old seaman, you know. was once asked
by young lady for the definition of a
yacht. and correctly replied
"'Well. my dear young lady, a yacht is
any old tub with a bottle of champaign
on board"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
Touching the Spot.

GORGE AIDE. at recent farewell
~ supper 70 departing London celeb
rity, hit off the latters besetting weak
ness neatly.
You sail away, sir said Mr.. AIDE.
with the assurance that Americas press
thinks highly of you. her stage thinks
highly of you: her people think highly OF
you. but. sir, nobody thinks more highly
of yolr than Won DO Yourself
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
Cheap and Cynical.

MISS VIRGINIA GIIDERSLEEVE, the
AVA new dean Of Barnard College. said
at recent tea:
There is nothing ] dislike more than
cheap cynicisms at the expense Of matri-
mony. Nothing is easier than to excite
the mirth of the foolish by some such
glib epigrams as Rogers:
d" 1t makes no difference whom you
marry, for you always find next day thai
sou have married somebody else''
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

back to America and finally drifted to
Ohio in the early part of the last GEN.
fury. Mrs. Pomerene's father was Louis
Valentine Bockies. a successful and high
~ esteemed manufacturer of Canton.
Her mother was Caroline Graham and
came of a sturdy stock which the land of
the heather sent to the middle west.
For several generations her kinspeople
on her fathers and mothers side have
taken an active part in the upbuilding of
the state.
Canton will always be of special in
terest as the home of Mckinley. | lived
next door to Mrs. Mckinley all my life.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
Ups and Downs.

ICDSON SWIFT, the secretary of the
} American Tract Society. was deliver
ing, at dinner in New York, an elo-
quent address in favor of temperance
when a listener shouted:
But, Mr.. Swift. lots of babies are
brought up by the bottle"
Yes. Mr.. Swift retorted. land lots Of
men and women are brought down by
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30
A MoraIiSt on Man.

ELBERT HUBBARD said at a reception
- at the Portland Press Club:
Man Is too commercial an animal.
What is mans most valuable possession?
Time. And what does man say of time?
Time, he says, Is money.
What a betrayal Of commercialism.
Time is not money. Time is something
infinitely better than money. Time is
thought. Time is power. Time is knowl-
edge"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

has a valley several hundred miles
long, and in that basin there are some
millions of acres which the govern
ment geographers have just finished
mapping. Great drainage works are
going on there, and these include some
Of the biggest swamp reclamation
schemes of the Union. few years
ago that land was worth nothing. AS
fast as it is reclaimed it will sell for
from 500 to $1,000 an acre. and some
of 1t is already covered with farms
where asparagus, celery, tomatoes and
potatoes are raised for shipment to
San Francisco and other parts of the
west. In the Sacramento river they
have put bikes about an island and
pumped out the water and that island
has the largest asparagus farm of the
world. They have made great drains
which have redeemed lands now de-
raised which are shipped from there to
the east Some millions Of dollars have
already been expended upon that work,
and now that the surveys have been
completed the drainage projects will
increase manifold.
X *
In talking with the geographers as
to the Sacramento valley one of them
told me that the trouble there was that
man had taken possession of the
country dUout d THOUSAND years too
soon. For ages past nature has been
bringing down the earth washngs
from the mountains, but she has not.
by about one thousand years, finished
her job. The silt has lodged along the
banks of the rivers and built up the
land there, leaving troughs on each
side which the floods have turned into
swamps. These can be reclaimed, but
channels must be cut. and the land so
protected that the streams will not
overflow. Some of the islands which
have been redeemed at the mouth of
the Sacramento will have to be taken
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

there for the remainder of his life He
took part in the Napoleonic wars and his
son at the tender age of ten became a
drummer boy in the army which Napo-
leon took into Prussia. The Rhine coun
try was then French country and the
natives were wildly enthusiastic over the
Corsican conQueror.
This second Valentine Bockies, who is
the grandfather of Mrs. Pomerene, tired
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

The government geographers have al
ready made topographic maps Of great
part of the lower Mississippi. They have
gone over the swamps on foot. on horse
back and in boats, and have charted it
section by section. / have before me, as
l write, one of their maps. which covers
an area perhaps the size of township in
a levee district of the state Of Louisiana.
1t is about the size of a mans pocket
handkerchief, and it is peppered with fig
lres each one Of which shows the height
of land or depth of water on the spot
which it marks. 1t gives every stream,
and the character of every hill and hol-
dow The bayous are drawn to a scale,
such a way that a civil engineer could
make working plans for its drainage. 1t
is this sort of work that is being done
throughout the Mississippi delta to fit it
for private drainage enterprises, or for
the time when the states or the national
government may adopt some plan to re-
claim the lands
And just here I would say that the
draining of the swamp lands of the
United States should be in the hands of
Uncle Sam. Indeed. it will need to be SO
controlled before the work can be done
for the good of the country. AS it is
now % per cent Of these lands are in
the hands of private parties. They were
relinquished by the general government
to the states about fifty years ago on.
the understanding that the states would
inaugurate works to reclaim them. The
states sold them out to individuals on
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

tion waste land which contains some OF
the richest earth on the face of the globe
and the creation of new real estate
wealth which will aggregate from ten to
fifteen billions of dollars. ] refer to the
drainage of the swamps now scattered
over the Union. The scientists OF the
government are engaged in surveying
them They have already plotted some
thing like ten million acres and there are
sixty or seventy millions yet to be map
ped They are going over the country
with spirit levels measuring the hills and
hollows and sounding the depths. Their
work is so carefully done that the civil
engineers can run their canals by look
at the maps. and they really form the
basis of the working plans for the
swamps
This great undertaking is in the hands
Of the geological survey. 1t is done by
the topographic branch, and the scien-
lists in charge of it are known as geog-
raphers. The chief of them is Mr.. r. B.
Marshall. and under him are four others.
each of whom has one great division.
The swamps of the Atlantic states are
under Mr.. Frank Sutton: those Of the
central states under Mr.. w. II. Heron,
while the Rocky mountains and Pacific
coast are respectively managed by Mr..
Sledge Tatum and Mr.. T. G.. Gerdine.
Each Of these men has a large corps OF
surveyors and all visit the various sec
lions and work together after fixed plans.
During the past week / have talked with
these geographers, and through my in
vestigations at the geological survey and
In the Agricultural Department am able
to give some idea of what may be done.
Talk about your acres of diamonds!
These wet spots on Uncle Sans farm are
worth more than any diamond field in
the plateau of South Africa. They con-
tain thousands of millions of easily avail
able wealth and they are scattered all
over the Union.
First let me tell you what they amount
to. The experts of the government have
estimated their area at between seventy
seven and seventy-nine million acres, and
the probability is that they will run mill
ions more. AT the lowest calculation they
represent a country bigger than Great
Britain and Ireland, and equal to the
three states of Indiana. Illinois and Ohio.
They have a soil which is richer than
Holland, and their area Is ten times as
great Holland is now feeding almost six
million people and at the same ratio
these wet lands have a potential food
supply for almost sixty millions. or ten
millions more than the half of our whole
population.
And now take your map Of the United
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

than anything else. Reading is Senator
if she found him sitting idly without a
book or a pencil in his hand she would
be seriously alarmed about his health.
and she might even call in a physician.
The books-that Is. a certain portion OF
them-will be among the first Of the fur
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

nishings that will come TO Washington
from Canton. Meantime, Mrs. Pomerene
is getting much interesting material from
the Congressional Library and spending
her morning there just as often as she
possibly can. Mrs Bockies. her mother.
is her guest al present and will remain
here during the spring season.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

Mrs. Pomerene's favorite pursuit, sketch
ing. painting and reading She puts read
ing first. She reads daily and always
in a systematized way, the current events
in certain specially beloved journals and
magazines then history, geographic and
general information about notable living
people. People interest her much more
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

original Dismal Swamp Company. which
was organized by George Washington.
who believed that the swamp might be
drained. 1t will thus be seen that the
father OF our country was really the
father of the reclamation and conserva-
ton policies of the present.
This Dismal Swamp and the great marsh
lands which lie adjacent to 1t would be
very profitable if they should be reclaim
ed. They are close to the water routes
to Boston and New York. and would be
a winter vegetable garden for those cities
and other parts of the north.
The swamp lands Of the north are Of
enormous extent and they are being re-
claimed in many of the states. Some
Of the richest lands of northern Ohio
We're once under water. They are now
covered with orchards and farms and
are worth hundred dollars and upward
per acre. Wisconsin. which has enough
swamps to drown the state of Connect
cut or flood the whole island of Porto
Rico, has patches of soil reclaimed from
the swamp which produce, twenty tons OF
cabbages to the acre. Illinois has wet
spots fatter than her latest corn fields,
and Minnesota is doing an enormous
work in making dollars grow on her wet
lands.
The great tract which belonged to the
Chippewa Indians, lying in the northern
part or that state bOrdered by the Rainy
river and Lake of the Woods, has been
recently surveyed by the government ge-
ographers, and their maps outlining the
possible canals and bitches now lie be-
fore me. In preparing them the geogra-
piers had to make their way over float
ing boys and travel by launch, canoe. on
foot and on horseback for hundreds OF
miles. Much of their work was dore In
the winter when the swamps were frozen,
and they carried the shack In which they
lived along on a sled. They found farm
ers living on some Of the islands Of that
great swamp and grazing dairy cattle
there. The butter could oniy be gotten
out in boats or over the ice, and yet it
brought several cents above the mark ut
price when shipped to New York.
AS to the cost OF these great reclama-
ton schemes, the geographe,s> estimate
that those of Minnesota word range all
the way from 40 cents to 81 per acre, and
it is safe to say that there are many
million acres in different parts of the coun-
try which could be drained for 81. while
others might cost as much as so per
acre or more. Much of the draining can
be done by gravity, and some, as in the
tide marshes. will be controlled oy flood
gates and bikes. In other places there
will have to be great pumping stations.
and in others, as in Holland, the wind
mills will aid in the work. AS to this, !
may write in the future.
FRANK q. CARPENTER
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

on earth You could lose that of the Nile
within it and its lands would make a sec
ond Egypt. 1t Is bigger than the delta OF
the Gauges. 1t Is many miles wide and
is as long as from New York to Cleve-
land. The swamps in 1t comprise alto
gether over twenty million acres, and
they are so rich that any forty acres
would make a good farm. The lower
part of the delta has millions Of acres
which will raise sugar and rice. North
Of them are millions that could be de-
voted to cotton, and still farther north are
millions fitted for corn. We all know
what Holland has done by diking the
sand hills of the North sea. This land
might be diked the same way. but it
would be walling in hot beds, rather than
sand.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

WRITE today Of
one of the biggest
schemes of Uncle
Sam, patriarch. 1t
is a scheme which
means the crea-
ton of millions. of
farms, and of new
soil W h j C h will
feed more than fifty
millions of people.
1t means the bring
ing under cultiva-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

DECENT Investigations of
IN the Government Geog-
raphers-Ten Million Acres
Already Mapped-Where Our
Swamp Lands Are and Their
Enormous Value-The En-
pire of the Mississippi Delta
and How It Can Be Handled
The Everglades of Florida
and the Marshes Below the
Great Lakes-Recent Work
In the Sacramento Valley,
Where Some of the Land Is
Worth a Thousand Dollars
an Acre-Drainage by the
States and Nation-The Great
DismalSwamp, Which George
Washington Planned to Re-
elaim-The Chippewa Lands
Live Matters About Some
Of the Big Schemes of Uncle
Sam, Patriarch.
Copyright. 1911. by Frank c. Carpenter)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-30

Copyright, 1911. by Frank C. Carpenter.)
The Coconino sun., 1911-03-24
Soon Receive Wireless Messages

Dr. A. E. Douglas, professor of astronomy and physics at the uni versity, announces that the wireless telegraph station now being in- stalled at the science building, will be completed within a few days and at the end of that time mes- sagos may be sent and received at the university. The past several weeks have been occupied in the tedious task of tuning" the re- ceiver, this work being done by Dr. Douglas and George Nishihara.
 George Nishihara, who has been experimently with wireless teleg- raphy for the past several years, is also engaged upon the construc- ton of a sirnplihed instrument for the sending of wireless messages. His apparatus is practically com pleted and is being installed in one of the buildings on the university campus. The wireless station at the university, according to Dr. Douglas, will be able to receive messages from San Francisco on  the west and Fl Paso on the east, there being large wireless stations at both places. .-Tuscon Citizen.