The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1911-06-03
THE CITY CANAL.

Ou Friday morning Of last week
We had The pleasure Of visiting
The drcdge boat then at work on
he last hap of The New Iberia
Sou bern Drainage Canal. The
dredgo was making :.o"h head way
at the time, With the basin some
thing lnSa than hund,c, wards
aheaa OF her. II was expec''d
that tn" end Of her ny country
\ journey would he reached hy the
following Saturday night.
4 On thursday morning Mr..
Thomas, he contractor, appealed
! II the commissioners Of the Wa
works, requesting thar he be
permitted (" open the city mains
on Weeks street. IL this would
he granted Ic would, by a series
~ dams, direct the water into the
canal he was then cutting The
reason for the request was based
ur"n he inability OF his pumps to
supply the requisite amount Of
water Owe, he dams back OF the
hicdgr, On" 70 the extreme dry.
bess of the earth aud the very
rapid evaporation lie stated thar
he was willing to bear The expense
OF any extra fuel needed Nv the
WatrrwOrks IN consequences Of
this extra undertaking. The re.
quest was granted and The mains
were opened on Thursday after
noon
On Friday morning the dredge
was again freely afIoat But The
tates had to be IeckOned with; for
on Friday afternoon the first dam
back Of the dredge gave away, al
lowing q great part IT the water
OF the upper section to escape into
the lower This grounded the
d'edge All energies were then
directed towards repairing the
broken dam, which was soon nc
complisbed, but il required much
pumping through the ely mains
to restore the water level in The
upper ~ last section Of the canal
and 10 float the dredge again.
THIS untoward incident delayed
the completion several days and
into this week
Late Tuesday afternoon of this week
the continuous blowing Of the whistle
OF the dredge boat announced to the
people 81 this city the completion OF
the canal according to the last con
tract, made with Mr.. A. q Thomas.
Large numbers were attracted to the
scene to witness the last swing Of the
dirper.
This canal Was planned and promoted
by the City Administration, over
which Hon. Jules +. Dupuy presided
as Mayor. A special tax of J mills
was voted by the property taxpayers
in aid Of the project and bonds to the
amount Of $50. 900 were issued. predi-
Gated upon the special tax The speci-
tications called for a canal with u 20
foot width Of bottom; with a slope OF
depth OF q feet of water ut mean tide
level. The contract WAS let to +. s.
Hoyt, who was the civil engineer for
The Council. and who drew the plans
and got up the specifications, for the
sum of $50, 900. including a preliminary
Of the Board amounting
o $500. u w. Thomas went Hoyt's
,ond for $4,000.
Hoyt started the work in the eavly
pring Of 1908 with land dredge ut
he basin end. contracting to complete
he canal in eighteen months from
april 18th, 1908.
II soon became evident TO Thomas
hat # he did not interpose Hoyt
would forfeit his bond. The succeed =
ny administration, with MIR. X. +
)ela houssaye president Of the Drain.
ge Commission. allowed Thomas to
ssume Hoyts contract. and extended
he time for the completion OF the
'ork. Thomas was unable to procure Il
dredge OF ample power which would A
'ork IN. a 20 to"t canal; 80 he pur-
hased dredge boat Of some thirty VII
id feet beam and started her up Ba- tn
on Carlin. His chance Judgment, or VI
God luck, in the purchase Of the
'rge drtdge wasamply demonstrated,
n the submerged forest was enconn- ID
red at the beginning Of the work n,
nd STAYED with the course OF the W
ute for many months.
When the +. Il Az X. K. crossing 40
a. reached Thomas threw up his T !,
'ntract, resulting in a suit, which has -"
en- pending in the Circuit Court OF
g United States for nearly two years. u
q decision has not yet been -,
ached. thl
The people, upon seeing the larger
nal T. 10 feet or more in width .
'mored for the continuance Of the -
,rk with the large dredge and ex- o.
essed the willingness Of n greater paI
cation In order to raise the greater
'ount needed. The DeIahoussaye
took up the work. lat
'ere Thomas dropped it, and brought
up 10 the southern boundaries OF 4
g Barthe place-about 10 900 feet RIB
m the basin-wi,h day labor. Here Rr.
E treasury became exhausted. and -
tn an osershadowing city campaign :.
the work al lOQ