The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1915-03-05
Petty interference.

~
but in this case the interference,
backed by what appear to be selfish
motives, has been pronounced.
'The law was passed in the face of
this opposition, and In order that all
might be secure, it was tested in the
courts OF the state on UP to the su-
preme court.
1T stood the test of the most emf
nent jurists the state has, and after a
delay of two years it looked as Though
the citizens of Ohio were to be in a
position to get the protection to
which they were entitled; but not yet.
''These same influences have nJw
introduced in the legislature bills
which will not only amend the law.
but absolutely destroy its usefulness
as food protection instrument. Way
it is done no one seems to know
THERE HAS NOT BEEN A SINGLE
CONSTRUCTIVE REASON PRE-
SENTED
THE matter has finally settled to an
exchange of opinions between engi-
neers of local experience on the ore
side and men on the other side who
have had such varied experience as
that Of General Ernst, one O; the
United States engineers on the con-
struction of the Panama canal and
other important works; Professor
Meade of the University Of Wisconsin,
who has had unlimited experience in
food prevention work in many parts
of the world, and the Morgan Engf-
neering company, noted food prevsn-
tion experts, men who are consulted
continually by the government on i'm
portant subjects of this nature There
are many others, General Chitte lden,
for instance, and the board of army
engineers, who have inspected the
plans made possible by the vonder-
heide law, and they have, to man,
said that this was the only plan that
would save the Miami valley from fu-
ture action Of foods.
A Constructive plan.
MANY things nad to be considered
in working out a plan for protection
to the cities throughout this valley,
Arrangements must be made to take
care Of a fiow Of water that would BE-,
a certain percentage greater than
that of the 1913 flood. for no alals
could be considered safe that did not
make ample provision for a f1tu1s
possibility. With this end in view,
the next big consideration was that
OF conserving the greatest amount Of
land throughout the valley.
An extensive survey was maze. not
only OF the Miami valley, but OF others
throughout the state. in order that
high water marks mignt be astab-
hshed and that past rainfall might be
known. This being done, 1t was pos
sible to make estimates of the amount
Of water that would have to be taken
care OF in a given time, and the PLANS
for the proposed dry reservoirs in the
Miami valley have been made along
these lines.
We will not enter farther into the
technical phase Of the question. The
discussion OF the plans thus far has
only been for the purpose OF show
ing the reason for the establishment
Of the proposed dry reservoirs, and
for the amount of land that Will have
to be included within the area of
these proposed reservoirs.
The word reservoir, as used 10 this
instance, must not be misleading. 1t
might be better termed an emergency
basin for that is what it is in the
true sense of the word. There will
be no water in any of these basins
until the river shall have reached a
certain height, and then only for a
short time or until the flow below has
run of sufficiently to keep the river
within its channel
I'VE do not know when there will
be another food such as we had in
1913, nor 60 we know when we will
have anothor worse than that, and it
is just such uncertainties as these
that keep the value Of property down
in the CITIES as well as in the country
lowlands. The object of the proposed
dry reservoir plan is to make this
property az valuable as that on the
highlands. and this can only be done
by checking the flow of the river to
q certain extent when it has reached
a certain height.
Current Is Destructive.
Perhaps the most feared OF all dis
asters by the farmer in the lowlands
is the current which always comes
with the hIgn water. Valuable lgrms
are ruined in night or a day by
having the rich loan secured of and
receiving in return a deposit of gravel
During the high water Of 1913 more
than 100,oc acres were flooded IN the
Miami conservancy district alone.
Throughout the state there were per
haps more ehan 100000 acres flooded.
How Msry Acres We're Destroyer
In the Miami valley alone r3any
hundred acres were absolutely ruined
by the action of the water, and
throughout the state there were un-
doubtedly many hundreds of once
prosperous farmers ruined in q day
THIS IS ALL THE EFFECT OF
CURRENT, the worst enemy the man
in the lowlands has to contend with,
because in its power he is helpless, so
to speak
Thereto 2. it seems that the first
duty is to destroy this current, if pos
sible, and this is just what the stor-
age reservoir will do.
where more than 100000 acres
were flooded by swift moving cur
rent, the reservoir plan will. under