The herald., 1916-06-15

At conference held in the Nav
! or's parlOr last Friday afternoon
| attended by the promoters of the
| Hero drainage project, and a num-
Der or property owners of lower AL
giers, headed by Mr.. J. X. Norman
! OF the Aurora plantation. Mayor
Herman, at the suggestion OF soy
eral OF the citizens. decided to re-
quest the Sewerage and Water Board
to withhold the $3.50 being annu-
ally turned over To said drainage
district, and to divert said sum to-
wards the extension of the present
municipal canal TO the city's lower
limits. This action on the part of
the city, followed the uncontradict-
ed statements made by Mr.. Norman
and others. that they We're not only
not receiving any drainage benefits
from the Hero pumps. but on the
contrary were walled OFF from said
pumps by the Outfall canals banks
which they understood we're TO be
crossed by lateral canals passing
through the lands along its sides.
Mr.. Hero and his associates set M
the contention that they had no le-
gal right TO dig canals within the
limits OF the Parish OF Orleans where
most OF the property of the COM !
plainants is situated. but that they |
were ready 10 take care of this
drainage if it were conduct
ed TO the city's canal. The citizens
that the city of New Or
leans owns in fee simple the main
canal, (Which indeed forms the bas-
IS OF the Hero scheme) took the no.
;ition that their annual tax contribu-
ION of $3.50 which they had in
luced the city TO pay to said pro-
ect, was certainly not made for the
privilege of conducting their drain I
Ige through their own canal TO '
3ayOu Barataria which il tanned.
me Mayor at once saw through the {
whole situation when it was further {
hown that the drainage company .
lad not built or even cleaned canals ,
where they had a legal right to do {
o. and promptly took 1.-The action {
Indicated. q
The result of this change will be q
nat as soon as the property owners
rom the new Bonner Home to the I
arish line at Point Beka, will do '
ate the necessary 200 feet right of v
'ay, (as was done III the case of the c
resent canaD the city will have this C
anal extended as was originally in '
ended, over tn remaining six miles i
+ the city's river-line. r
III the Orleans Levee Board would
cooperate. with the city in this Il
ew and needed enterprise. by with A
gliding the $4,000 it has voted n
'Wards the Hero back levee, (cross- II
lg from point 9 miles behind
retna to the Cedar Grove planta-
on IL miles below our parish line) 0
would also do the sensible thing, S
cutting out this 20 miles of alb "
unnecessary exposure. If 81
lie cltys dredge, operating on the n
yamp side of the 40 arpent line b
Id placing the entire excavation of it
us new canal Go feet deep by SO Il
ct wide) on the field side of said CT
NAL, would be followed by the n
evee Boards dredge, working on ii
id field-side, Gaping said levee 'n
it'll excavations from flat" ca ii
i, the result would be a Protection al
ID Drainage system, which similar W
eatment of the two miles towards til
e Algiers pumping station, would tn
mplete from one end of the dis to
ct to the other. The scattering I'll
of land within the parish m
Orleans and beyond the 40 arpent m
Re, in the main swamp, may well Ii
left for the development of the Sc
clamation project whenever this bi
prosecuted along feasible lines no
theory being, Safety first" for tic
; cleared land Gu
As for the suggested cooperation les
the Levee Board, it is a matter of iii
I that it is this Levee Boards pr
linden duty to protect the Fifth u
strict of New Orleans from rear VIC
erf1ow, now that the city's river CO..
ees have been practically COM iro
ted if If can no sbowr thot +ho sci
r of the city proper is not pres 'h'
ly exposed in greater relative 'h'
,ree. In other words, considering 10
the