Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-03-02
MATTERS Of MOMENT AT
THE BIG CONVENTION

| his was a very uue paper VI SOHi'
length regarding the subject of wei
or vertical drainage. An outlet chan
mel should not be too small or be OBJ
structed in any way. The aim o.
the average landowner is to secure
proper drainage without the neces
sity of securing the consent of Other
landowners. The principle for well
drainage is the same as that of ditch
or tile drainage. A passage way &c
permit water to pass as fast as il
comes must be provided. There are
as we know, underground channels
which carry away vast quantity OF
water. Drainage by wells in farm
ing communities of Europe has sue
ceeded in many cases and many have
also failed. There is the danger 81
| communicating the underground
water supply. No stone was left un-
turned in this paper, which was all
exhaustive study of the entire situ-
alton pro and con. In places where
the underground water supply comes
to the surface, drainage wells are OF
no use. A drainage well may give
satisfaction one season and be an en-
tire failure the next. Illustrated
charts bearing upon the subject
were then shown and hearty ap-
plause followed this.
President Sparboe here read the
appointment of the committees:
Committee on resolutions-John
I. Stewart, st. Paul; ]. H. Mayne,
Council Bluffs; L. L. Harris, Grin
nell.
Committee on nominations-Joh ohm
M. Wells, Nevada; Geo. L. Meacham,
Clarion; F. o. Nelson, Toledo.
Soil Moisture; Under Drainage
and Crop Production" by w. ].
Schlick, of the Engineering Expert
ment Station, Iowa State College,
Ames, was the next paper. He stat
ed that the finer grained soils have
the greater capacity for moisture.
There are three types of moisture
gravitational, capillary, and hy-
droscopic. The capillary moisture
Tis the only one available to sustain
plant life. This is where thin film
of moisture surrounds each soil
grain. 1t has been proven that July
growing corn will take up 1.55
inches of moisture day, and from
80 to 35 inches in Iowa in a season.
is the rainfall. This subject was
treated scientifically and was an in
teresting topic given in an interest
ing way.
Drainage improvements and
Their Relation to Sanitary Condi-
ton" by Lafayette Higgins, SAM
tary engineer of the State Board OF
Health, Des Moines, followed. He
said in part that no city had the
right to make use of a river for the
disposal of sewage. Half Of the pol
luton of the water supply in cities
is due to seepage especially in small
towns, where the surface waste finds
it's way into drinking water. In
stances are not wanting where the
water pollution by surface system
of drainage is permitted. Drainage
is not a sewer system and should not
be called upon to dispose of danger
Gus surface waste, although it does
improve the surface condition and
sanitation. There is now a bill pend
ing legislation, taking up this i'm.
portant subject, problems such as
were discussed in this paper. 4
short discussion followed this paper
Some Sanitary Benefits Result
ing from Drainage" was the topic
taken up by VIM. Grant, consulting
sanitary engineer, at Lincoln, Ne5
Usually the commercial benefits ar;
given a place before those of san
itation. The floods of Ohio in 191;
were spoken of, that being one o.
the recent great opportunities O
modern science in drainage. Specific
cases were cited, such as the i'm
provement of malarial conditions II
the south; the improvement of thu
terrible mosquito scourge in New
Jersey by modern methods of drain
age. In Panama, where the Frencl
working upon the canal lost 100 GU
of every 1000 men by yellow fever
and where the death rate is nov
142s for every thousand. Wher
drainage cannot be resorted to, OF
is used. In Havana, Cuba, santa
ton was introduced by the Ameri
cans with astonishing results. TIL
, Iowa State Board of health has is
, sued a pamphlet stating that it ha
, been found that the ordinary low
, MOSQUITO does not transmit malaria
!, Anti-mosquito measures, however
are adopted wherever possible. FIJI
! tering the public water supply ais
L..