Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1915-01-02

Washington D .
Ny Dear Sir:
1t affords me much pleasure to
get TO correspond with you, in
reference to the proposed artificial
river, L hope that L will not be
tedious or disgust you with my argu-
ment. You must remember that
have my whole heart set on this plan,
that my all is in this semi-arid coun
try and my life work is its develop
ment.
1t will be my purpose, if you will
study the plan with me. to try to
prove to you the advisability of an
Investigation followed by expert
mental survey 1 recognize that your
influence in Congress is more than
dozens of congressman, who are only
favoring it for perhaps sentimental
reasons.
Then 1 hope you will not think me
unreasonable, if l try to keep you in
correspondence with me, until you are
thoroughly convinced of the practical
bility and feasibility of the project
or you convince me that l am dead
wrong.
To the subject then, 1 agree with
you that as a navigation scheme it
would not pay at least the probability
of its paying is SO remote that it
would not be advisable to spend any
money for that purpose
As 10 irrigation 1 very much disa-
gree with you on results but not on
your opinion of rainfall and stream
volume. Our rains are spasmodic,
usually fall in small radius. and is
soon gone down through draws,
ravines and rivers. WaKeeney is on
~ 40 miles our north, they may
have foods while we are as dry as
bone, and SO we might every locality
in a like manner, and too the usual
thing is that we get the rains when
we do not need them, and dry wealth
er is ours when We are in need of rain,
or think we are.
Now this illustration, in the spring
of 1912, about May 5th we had rain
in Ness City and vicinity covering an
area of about $50 square miles, it was
about 5-inch rain. The Walnut
creek running by Ness City, received
the total of this rainfall. Two days
al Ter the rain / went to Hutchinson
over The Santa F'e, the bridges at
t5azIne were all washed out, beyond
BaZine and for distance of 20 miles
the creek was on rampage sweeping
every thing before it. At Heller. the
first station this side of Great Bend,
there was but little rise in the creek.
II In h1R
Hutchinson and two miles east Of
Great Bend our train had to pillow
through wafer running over the
track About four sections of land
was inundated and crops ruined.
though no rain had fallen there, none
except in the locality of Ness City as
above referred to. Now if the Wal
nut had been damned, canal cross
ing north and south, could not much
of this water been turned to good use
and stored in natural basin for flu
ture use2 This case is not unusual in
this country, on the contrary it is
quite usual, a general rain is the US
ual thing.
Ransom is IA miles north of Ness
City, there is draw called Dry Creek
heading southwest of Ransom run
ming east about six miles and eight
miles north of Ness City. it runs east
until it is about a mile east of Ness
City, then it turns and goes almost
due south and runs through my farm
located one mile northeast of Ness
CITY. On my farm | have dam a.
cross this creek. Last spring year
ago, 1913, the dry year there came one
of those dashing rains, between Ness
City and Ransom, it did not lay the
dust either in Ransom or Ness City,
but along the head of this dry creek
it rained terrifcally. l caught over
ten million gallons of water in my
dam and more than ten times that a.
mount went over. the spill way
coursed on to the Walnut and again
raised it, but not sufficient TO wash
out bridges or do any damage I
procured three cuttings of alfalfa
and would have had the fourth had
it not been for the grasshoppers.
| These dashing rains are a daily
occurrence somewhere along this pro
posed canal, and I contend if these
flood waters were all that we could
| get that the canal would pay. The
average rainfall over this semi-arid
district would probably average from
16 to 18 inches, it is over q at Ness
City, yet we get but little good Of