Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-07-25
Mass Meeting Authorizes Chairman Boyce Appoint
 Finance Committee.
SENATOR CALDWELL
 MAN OF THE MOMENT
When There Seemed Likelihood of Meeting Ending in Chaos. Jefferson Senator Comes Forward with Talk
 That Saves Situation.

Following a discussion which lasted nearly two hours, and in which the statement was made-as it has been made in the past to the city council by D.. l.. Trimble, that the problem was easy and cheap of solution, by cutting off the Mallory ditch at Sec ond avenue and pumping the lakebed water into the river, a mass meeting of citizens last night decided to con- tlnue the committee of fifteen at it's labor of studying the proposition, and decided also that Chairman J. E. Boyce name committee of three to solicit contributions to a fund with which to employ competent engineers to make definite report on the sev- eral propositions.
 At one time it appeared that the meeting would discharge the commit tee of fifteen and adjourn, leaving tor-elect Creed Caldwell came forward at the psychological moment, however, and in a talk that was short, sharp and strictly to the point, brought the 100 or more men upright in their seats, and plainly changed the whole course of the meeting.
 There had been several talks prior to that time, each of the speakers, apparently, taking it for granted that the report of the committee was the last word and must be adopted if any improvement whatever was to be made in. the lakebed situation or the city sewer situation. Chairman Boyce sought time after time to make it clear to all the speakers that the re- port of the committee was merely preliminary report, the figures being only rough estimates based on the data at hand, and that the committee desired to know only if the mass meet ing wanted it to study the question further, and to know if the people of Pine Bluff would raise a fund with which to employ engineers to make a definite report after thoroughly sur veying the entire situation:
 Fear Drainage Too Costly.
 w. L. Dewoody, Col. J. w. Merriam and D. L. Trimble did the most of the talking. Each expressed the opinion that the estimated cost of the work to drain the lakebed into Bayou Bartholomew was far too high, and would be too great burden on the already overburdened taxpayers. There was frequent reference to the dissatisfaction which followed the re- organization of big improvement dis tricts in the past, and the free bridge was often mentioned.
 MT. Trimble said there is no neces- sity of draining Pine Bluff into Bayou Bartholomew. He said common sense was needed for this work, rather than expert engineering. He said 2,2OO feet of levee will separate the river from the lakebed, and that a pumping station can be built and operated to pump the water from the lakebed into the river, during highwater stages. At ordinary stages of water the pump would not be used, because the gates will be open and the water will flow into the river as it does now. He said he believed for $20,0O0 or $30,000 the whole matter could be arranged in satisfactory manner.
 Rural Sections Object.
 Joe Clement and MT. Mcintyre, property owners in the Bayou Barthol- omew section, objected strenuously to draining the lakebed section into and through the bayou, which, they said, has all the water it can handle at high water stages, and this additional water would cause heavy damage to lands in that section.
 MT. Clement said it was his belief that even if Bayou Bartholomew. is made 25 feet deep it would be unable to handle this extra amount of water: and the result would be overflows of those farms whenever hlgh-Water stage was reached. He admitted the cleaning out of the bayou might be good thing, but said he does not be- iieve the city should cure it's troubles at the expense of it's neighbors in the country.
 that he believed it the sense of the people of Pine Bluff that they would welcome the cooperation of the people of the Bayou Bartholomew section in reaching solution of this trouble: but that there was no intention of fore ing anybody into anything.
 Eff the people there do not want to come in with us on this work" he said, "I am sure nobody will try to force you" p