The farmer and mechanic., 1915-11-02
(By JOHN P. BROSS.(

-
ing the fruits Of their year Of toll |
taken from them in a few DAYS by |
the noodlng of their Well-tilled fields |
Ihey love Malta muskeet for its bean |
ty, but they hate it for the many
fortunes 1t has taken from them, and i
tor the many good citizens it has
| driven from their community
The Dream of \ yankee,
| When q thing is thought about.
dreamed Of and longed for, it is to
be expected that many Plans Will be
| evolved for its accomplishments This
has been true with reference to the
drainage Of the rich Mattanuskeet
lands Some years before the Civil
War an attempt was made at drainage
by the cutting Of the Lake Landing
canal from the southeastern corner Of
the lake TO Wysocking bay. This at
tempt resulted in some little success
by lowering the water level in the
lake. But the peculiar situation Of
this section renders any ordinary
method Of drainage unsuccessful. I
have already made mention of the
; water that flows down from the high
er lands to the northwest in seasons
, of excessive RAINFALL this, the back
: pressure from high tides in Albemarle
; Sound, through Alligator river on the
north and the very slight elevation
:, Of the land above sea level, renders
: | drainage by gravity out OF the oues-
!. ton. Some plan had TO be devised
: that would not only take the rainfall
y off the land to be drained, but pro
F. tect ii against the water from the out
, y side.
l. Sometime after the war there came
y to this county an old man by thf
e name Of KnickerbOcker. [ don't Know
where he came from, somewhere u
Ie North l believe, and because OF thi
= Eot N {
n man was some sort Of genius. II
IS was a magician with machinery, an
ia told, and was an engineer, by inStlnc
if not by training. He spent mucl
TO time in thought upon the great pro
Il blem that was uppermost IN the 1llnd
in | Of the people here. L have been tnl
of that he was the first man to advanc
ld the theory that the country could b
se drained by pumping out the water
of the lake. Much sport was mafe {
Mt "Old Knick's dream" by some OF tn
he people, but others believed in the tAt
ed sibility Of his idea. Nothing was don
-ly however, until about eight years az
on Along about that time there came
&c. succession of very wet years and tie:
ct rich lands hardly yielded seed for II
Al soWer and bread for the eater.
Ice this time an appeal was made TO Il
Department of Agriculture at WaS
ed ington for help to solve the dralnaI
dc problem. In answer TO TINS appe
IN the department sent drainage eHpe
20 TO Hyde county to look INTO the ila
ter. After a thorough canvass OF I
situation this expert recommend
Ike s'Old Knick's Dream as the only pfa
IL tical solution OF the difficulty.
'es An undertaking of this magnitu
in required more money than the Pc
It ple in the district felt that they COZ
but raise and the situation was besinni
for TO appear hopeless, when somebo
nd thought OF the lake bed. A soil 81
UP yev was made OF the bed of the ia
les. hy experts from the Department
ori- Agriculture, and it was discovered Ii
was all the land covered by the lake
and very rich, and would pay for !
:. drainage work many times over. 1
OF lake was at that time the property
| 1t the State Board of Education. ORA
Ve0 age laws were passed by the LeSls
two ture, the Drainage District was ors'
va ized, and plans We're beng TORN
um- for The iauanching Of this great ent
mir prise when the Board of Educat
cen, gave an option on the lake oeu
the some North Carolina people anu
was second yankee" steps into my ST.
rom ! His name is il. \. Graves ana Is
iyeC from Boston.
ling "And II Came To Pass
over When | was a child we used To T
huge . arame with the old family Bible
but vourpStpr would get the OLD DoOh
have hold. it closed, the others would m
2 of a "wish," then the book would
opened at random, and IL the w
for "And il came to pass were foun'
dges the place where the book was o2-
shes 4 was an omen that the WISH ">
only no realized
face T don't know that old NICK
land t,ind this method of prophecy on
,ther dream. but ] do know that II IS :
;ulti- ing TO pass" Things have been
acres nen;ng ever since this man Graves
'htiy' neared upon the scene down ner
,ba Hyde.
and tie lorllr.' '. nd when
ands. "iama'lon "ii!ps'!-s ,a-ra111, com
rs in Drainage ihstr''t N's 1,..a5 NE
been ed tbs companN p'' -oo