The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1911-04-07
! fDRA|NAGE
|I0C0MMENCE
,,,vators to be on the Grounds
Within Sixty Days
he FORT PIERCE FARMS
.,ouso,s Drainage Expert Approves
O,,,s and Declares System will Take
49,. If Water Even ia Flood Times

as ~ drainage expert of the Depart
l as, Of Agriculture at Washington Of
e' as =, plans for the drainage of
q farming lands west of the city by
EIarida East Coast Realty Company
",t On this great Improvement VIII
Ssin within sixty days.
snbough criticised by some for not
,sS;ng into the drainage question IN
S,anhszard manner the officials OF the
nmpany have persisted in their org
III idpa of taking their time in order
;0.,re A system of canals that would
al that was needed to make the
Snd dry at all times. e.
The report approving the plans Of the
omnanv has Just been received from
G. Elliott, Chief Of Drainage lnveS-
cations for the Department OF Agrl-
sImre and in his report he declares
y system as outlined will take care
the surplus water even in flood times
bch as experienced last October in this
cinlty. -, ru;,
mail and the various smaller ones has
een ordered by the Farms Company,
nj will be on the ground within thirty
nd sixty days respectively.
To insure against mistakes the Realty
'bmpany, when undertaking the pro-
hem of drainage, engaged the services
| some of the best known drainage eX-
erts and engineers in this country, and
nese gentlemen, after making a
bOrough investigation, outlined a plan
Id submitted it to the company.
This plan was in turn, placed IN the
ands Of Civil Engineer Elmer Robb,
10 went over the entire situation,
becked up the original plans and al
bred them in several particulars.
This report, as altered by Mr. Robb,
las then gone over in a careful manner
the officials of the Company, aud
ben forwarded, with blue prints, etc,
Chief Elliott of the Drainage lnves-
gations Department.
After going over blue print of the
IND and the drainage plans submitted
him Chief Elliott has just written to
be Farms Company, in a lengthy and
Ftailed report, supporting the plans as
ltlined and declaring that the system
i'll not only care for surplus water in
be time of ordinary rains hut in times
small floods such as experienced last
ctOber.
Although the contract has not yet
zen LET for the digging of the canals
be Florida East Coast Realty Company,
order to hurry the work, have order
Austin Excavators, with a guaran-
e they would be on the ground within
period Of sixty days.
This type of machine weighs twenty
hree tons, digs a ditch fourteen feet
ide at the top, four feet wide at the
pttOm and makes a hard surface road
one side of the ditch at the same OPP
Fation. This machine is for the bitches
inning north and south, where roads
I'd bitches will be one half mile apart.
The main canal will be sixty feet wide
the top and twenty-four feet wide
the bottom and will run from the eX-
eme west side of the company'S pro-
erty to the Indian River, via Taylor's
reek. This will be dug by a large
rag scraper which will be on the
round in thirty days.
On tomorrow, Saturday, the company
~ decide definitely whether or not tc
pdertake the work of digging the
Anals themselves or awarding the con.
Fact to the Miami Engineering anc
obstruction Company, the represent
owe Of which is now in the city.
In either case the work of clearing 6
pc hundred foot wide strip for the
aln canal will begin on Monday next
ns will insure, beyond any question
Doubt, the perfect system of drain
y which the company has guaranteed
ln every farm tract sold during the
psi few months.
Al the outset of the company's cam
hlsn to dispose of their farm lands i
ss announced that the first one hun
red tracts of forty acres each wOul,
SOLD at the rate of $50 per acre. will
right to advance the price at tina
@e, by giving thirty days notice, t.
1atever price they might agree upon
on March oath, last, the allottmen
one hundred farms had been sold
10 inc various agents of the compan.
,toughout the country were notified t.
vance the price to $40 per acre on an
l S; Monday, April Oath.
once placing the land on sale it !
"sservatively estimated by the official
.ne company that seventy-tive pc
n' OF the purchasers of their land
we been settlers. and many have an
onced their intention of returning t
y. vicinity within a short while.
v.hers have gone so far as to con
set with officials of the company +
mat their land was plowed and pu
proper shape for cultivation durin
coming fall.
CLOSING his report to the company