The Washington herald., 1911-11-11
VAST SWAMP LAND
NEAR WASHINGTON
Could Be Easily Reclaimed,
Says Expert Engineer.

That there are hundreds of acres of
swamp land about Washington which
could be easily reclaimed at a small
cost and transformed into productive
farm sites was the assertion of Arthur
Powell Davis, chief engineer of the
United States Reclamation Service, in an
illustrated lecture last night at the Com
mercial Club on the work being under
taken by that branch of the govern
ment. Mr.. Davis said that the feasibil-
ity of the reclamation of surrounding
swamp lands is obvious.
In Virginia there are 1900 square miles
of swamp land, and Maryland has about
800 square miles of such land. In the
great Dismal Swamp alone there are
l6O, 900 acres. The question OF draining
the Dismal Swamp was first suggested
by George Washington, but his plan for
reclamation was not executed, and the
land still remains a waste. Mr.. Davis
said that the presence of such large
areas of swamp land in the East well
illustrates the difficulty Of conducting
such projects under private management
The speaker said that in the entire
United States there are between 10000 900
and So 900, 900 acres of swamp land which
it is possible 20 convert into rich and
productive soil.
Describes Roosevelt Dam.
The lecturer stated that reclamation
work is now being conducted by the gov
ernment in fifteen different States.
Twenty-eight projects for the reclama-
ton of arid regions are now being con-
Quoted in the West. One of the largest
Of these projects is the Salton un-
dertaking in Arizona. In connection with
this project is the massive dam which
was named after former President Roose-
welt. BY means of a large collection Of
clear and graphic slides, Mr.. Davis
showed progress of the work of con-
structing the giant dam.
He also spoke of the Yuma project on
the Colorado River at Laguna, Ariz, and
of an extensive project in Southern
Idaho, on the Snake River. The lecturer
showed the practical results of the
reclamation work He displayed scenes
of the land before the work had been
undertaken-arid and desert, with sage
brush and cactus growing here and there
and then scenes OF the land after the
completion of the work by the govern
ment-rich and fertile. with wheat fields
and productive orchards covering the old
waste.
Great Wyoming Project.
Mr.. Davis spoke OF the great Wyoming
dam, which is the highest now in exist
ence. being 32S feet from the foundation
to the crest. The height of the dam was
we'll illustrated when placed on the Ian
tern slide side by side with the Capitol
building The dam exceeded the Capitol
in height.
All of the dams are built in an arch
form to insure stability. The great pres
sure of the large volume of water con-
tained in the reservoir and of the crash
ing blocks of ice floating down from the
mountain heights in the early spring
would likely cause a rupture in an or
dnary straight wall.
The lecture last night was one Of a
course of Friday evening entertainments
at the clubhouse, and was arranged by
the entertainment committee, of which
Fred S. Lincoln IS chairman.
Mr. Davis. upon the suggestion Of John
Hays Hammond, was recently sent to
Russia to act ip an advisory capacity to
the government of that country. Since
that time he has gone to Hungary in
similar capacity.