Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-12-29
BIG SUNKEN RIVERS
Once Surface Waterways Now Never
See Light Of Day.

Once Surface Waterways Now Mover
Sec Light Of Day.
The Arkansas river in southwestern
Kansas, and the Republican, through
the extreme north western part OF the
state, are now the two rivers Of conse-
quence that point to the days Of navi-
CATION in western Kansas, writes
New York Suns correspondent. The
bed Of the Republican, except for
narrow strip in the center Of the orig
inal course, is covered with rich fields
of alfalfa. The Arkansas, either from
tn, fact Of its being g. large stream
originally or from some other cause,
has battled with more success against
the elements and Is now dry only
portion of the time.
But the Arkansas is fighting los
ing battle and the winds and drifting
sands are slowly but surely accom-
plishing their ends, and the day Is not
far distant when this once mighty
stream will be buried forever from the
eye of man. But these streams, like
their predecessors, will continue to
dow as subterranean rivers.
Thus we have the underflow Of west
ern Kansas fed from the unending
SHOWS of the mountains and ceaseless
rainfall that seep away. The under
flow Is nothing more or less than the
buried streams Of the plains. Alfalfa
planted along the lowlands or bottoms
finds it's way to these sunken streams
and has an inexhaustible supply Of
water.
It requires only few test wells and
an expert driller to locate the very CEN
ter of these buried streams in a short
time A test hole is put down to shafe
and the log of the water-bearing grav-
ell accurately kept. The drill Is then
moved north or south some fifty feet,
and another we'll put down and the log
kept. The bed Of gravel will be thicker
or thinner. If thicker the driller knows
he Is nearing the center Of the stream
so he keeps putting down his test wells
until the gravel bed begins to get thin
ner.
The last quarter Of a century has
served to prove conclusively the theory
Of the sunken rivers Of Western Kan
sas. Bridges that were installed In the
sos were built high enough from the
river bed to allow a man sitting in
wagon to pass beneath them. Now In
many places it is impossible for man
to stand erect beneath the bridge
Trees that a quarter Of century ago
stood on the very brink Of the stream
are now far back on the prairie.
In the spring and summer when the
rain comes down in floods these
streams become roaring torrents
mile or more wide. Deposits Of earth
and sand to the amount Of millions Of
cubic yards are washed down until the
water loses it's fury and carrying
strength and is then left to assist the
wind in the filling up process.
The big bridges at Syracuse, Garden
/ City, Wichita and other places prove
only too truly the passing Of the once
mighty Arkansas. Bridges across the
Republican river in northern Kansas
now serve their purpose only In flood
times. It Is no longer considered
| necessary to build the bridges even on
piers. Cement roadways are laid right
on the sand Of the river bed and a
perfect crossing is thus made.
The cement remains intact against
the washing and wearing Of the annual
freshets: there are no piers to repair or
broken boarus to replace. and the items
Of expense to the county commission
ers cease when the last shovelful Of
cement is dumped in and smoothed
down.
The exact course of the largest Of
these sunken streams Is not known at
the present time. Places where 1t
touches are known to certainty. The
most notable of these is northern Fin
ney and southern Scott counties One
we'll south of Scott City supplies 1000
gallons Of water a minute. 1t Is 65
feet to the water and 1t Is impossible
for the large centrifugal pump to low
er the water more than twelve feet.
| The we'll was tested for forty days
and nights Of uninterrupted pumping,
and the water never fell lower than
that At Garden City series Of wells
form a battery supply Of 1000 gallons
minute. The width or depth Of this
Il ta1l "a
or twenty miles in the height Of it's
glory Is only problematical. The gray
men Of science will wide. with a cor
responding depth.
Remove twenty feet of the surface
soil from the 100 meridian west to
the Colorado state line and western
Kansas would be covered with streams
Of sparkling water flowing in the gen.
eral direction of the Missouri river.
Remove 100 feet and the number OF
such streams would be doubled. Geol-
ogists tell us that ages and ages ago
the Gulf of Mexico covered what Is
now Kansas.
| An age passed and the gulf receded
and the highlands were islands and
the lowlands were in the form Of flow
ing rivers. The winds swept over the
highlands for another million years
and the soil loosened and drifted and
the rivers began to fill up. Then shall
low valleys became broad prairies and
the banks Of the flowing streams be-
gan to close in. Thus ages passed and
the wind blew for centuries and the
soil drifted until today flowing streams
past in western Kansas
| - The matter Of the bond of Ware
| house Commissioner McIaurin has