The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1913-12-21
HILL FIGHTING TO
GET half MILLION
FOR CA|ROLEV
Government Money So Appropriated
to Raise Drainage District and
Rip-rap Levees.
ANSDELL-HUMPHREY PLAN
ONLY HURDLE IN THE WAY
Congressman Working On individual
Members Showing Money Neces-
sary to Protect Work Done
By Stuart D.. Lewis.


The bill appropriating 100000
for the further Strengthening, .1.5-
ing and improving" of the leyees of
the City of Cairo, and tho Cairo
Drainage District, introduced stimuli
taneously in the House of Represen-
tatives by the Hon. r. =. Hill, and
in the Senate by Hon. James Hamil-
ton Lewis, the money so appropriat-
cd to be expended under the dlrec.
tion of the United States Govern
mcnt in raising the lcyee system OF
the Cairo Drainage District from
fifty-eight foot guage to Sky foot
guage, and tho riprapping with
stone from base to top of the en-
tire earthen system Of levees in the
Cairo Drainage District and the City
of Cairo, wherever necessary, is
now before the Rivers and harbors
Committee where Congressman Hill
hopes to have an early, and po ossibly.
favorable hearing.
That there may be obstacles rails
cd against the successful recommen-
dation of the measure, is due to the
pronounced policy of the Committee
of Rivers and Harbors of the House
of Representatives, and the Commit
tee on Commerce Of the Senate, Of
which Representative Sparkman of
FLORIDA, and Senator Clarke Of Ar
kansas, arc the respective chairmen.
to abide by the plan of Senator
Ransdell and Representative Hum
phrey, to appropriate no more
money for spots or local work.
but rather to expend large amounts
upon a general plan Of levee eleva-
tion which will bring the levees in
the entire Mississippi Valley up to
the samo height at practically the
same time
Congressman Hill however, lis
trying TO persuade individual mem
bers of these committees that while
such a plan as embodied in the
Ransdell-liumphrey Bill, will no
doubt be of inestimable value to tho
whole Mississippi Valley, it is alb,
solutely necessary that the levecs
of the Cairo Drainage District
should be brought up to the sixty
foot stage, and that the entire ieyec
system OF the CITY of Cairo and tho
cairo Drainage District should be
rip-rapped with rock as measure
done where earth has been used in
the construction.
The annual Rivers and Harbors
Bill will probably not pass Con.
eress until the latter part of this
session which, it is predicted BY
many, will not end until September
!, 1914
Congressman Hill is subscriber
of The Bulletin, reads it very closely
and depends upon for all the in
formation relative to events in Cairo
ana Mound City. Every morning |
carefully open his mail and the first
thing spread the paper open upon
his desk where he can obtain it the
first thing upon entering his office.
tie therefore keeps. in very close
touch With local conditions and the
progress of the work on the levees.
Helm his endeavors to convince
the two committees in Congress. in
whom are vested the authority TO
make or break the $4,000 appro-
priation, shows them the absolute
necessity for the passage of the
measure without further delay by
pointing out to them what has been
done. He cites the expenditure of
$250,000 by the National Govern
ment, $4,000 of which was spent
in the enlargement of the Cairo
levce on the west side of the citv.
anu 1oc,VUV III tue Drainage DIS
trict, of the expenditure of S44S,O0
by the drainage district and its
allied interests and the 100000 by
the City of Cairo on the levee sys-
tenn already costing approximately
$4,000 900 He shows in his argu-
ment now the levee at Cairo has
been -ir-rapped with rock from the
Illinois Central elevator to the
crossing of the Illinois Central and
the Big Four tracks at the bridge
and how the Big Four is trying to