Pueblo chieftain., 1921-06-30
Messages From
the People

The following letter from W. e. Mil
ler formerly superintendent of the D.
& R. G. at Pueblo. was received by c.
G. Nikirk, of the Santa Fe railway,
and relates to the flood situation and
future safeguarding of the Arkansas
river. as viewed thru the eyes of a
practical railroad man, experienced in
handling flood situations in the line
of railroad duties:
My Dear Mr.. Nii<irk: When in Pu-
ehlo Sunday, which was my second
visit since June ard, talked to you
and several other business men Of your
city as to your future in general. and
particularly. as to what was to be done
in the way sof water protection to
avoid possibilities of future disasters.
Since returning home I have been
unable to dismiss the matter from my
mind for the reason that ] was alb
solutely appalled, at the terrible cal
amity that had befallen a city where
had resided for 10 years, during which
time / was intimately associated with
every industry of the city as well as
being in social and neighborly touch
with the good people of the town.
Therefore. l do not feel that it would
be display of assurance or egotism
to offer such ideas of water control
that l gained by is years of almost
continuous fighting the waters of both
the Arkansas and the Fountain rivers.
Hence / will submit such ideas as
briefly as possible and you can handle
the communication as your judgment
dictates
No one will disagree with me when
I say that the direct cause of your re-
cent trouble was due to the many
streams and waterways tributary to
the Arkansas delivering to that
stream. at a very high velocity. large
volumes of water which by reason OF
the reduced gradient of the. river east
OF Canon City. channel distractions OF
all kinds, chiefly huge drifts of logs.
tree tops. bends and curves causing a
greatly retarded now allowing the fol-
lowing waters to crowd upon the for
ward flow, coming to you in great walls
ana OF such volume that the chan |
mel would not carry 1t thru the city. |
Now in talking to you and others as
well as by reading your papers / see |
that many wild and visionary schemes |
are being presented some of which ap-
pear to me TO be prohibitive by reason |
of cost. others by reason OF property |
movements and disturbances which |
will mean the expenditure OF unwar-
ranted sums OF money.
So let us pass up such Missionaries |
and devote ourselves to a careful COM |
mon sense solution of tho trouble.
1 can only assume as to correct dis |
tances gradients and so forth, but let i
us go to the South side reservoirs and /
starting at this point cut channel 1
direct as practical to the Fourth street
viaduct intersccting the old channel
at this point
will assume the distance to be one
milo as against three miles by way OF |
oldchanncl This will give you the
n % n hA fzh
have thru the old channel thereby null
upiyins your falling grade three times
As well as reducing tho distance three
times and cutting out the curvature
0bstrucuons which. will mean one or |
two times moro. Now can there be any |
doubt as to the Increased carrying ca
pacity up to Fourth street bridge and |
can there be any Doubt an to what |
the increased velocity will mean as to 1
the advance waters passing thru the |
city. thereby keeping out of the way
OF the sluEgish and retarded movement |
west Of the reservoirs?
II would he an additional safeguard 1
10 enlarge the present channel from |
Fourth street bridge well thru the city. |
either by dredging. widening. or per
haps better still by raising the side |
walls. clearing the channel of all |
obstructtons such a. bridge nbutments |
and by smoothing the walls by con-
s''t'ihk N oruef 10 reduce sh~ fH1c- |
uonal resistance to the minimum
Your north side water reservoirs need |
not he disturbed ms tho old channel |
could he kept open by a trap or t,iil- |
way allowing sufficient water To fol- |
low tho old channel to caro- for the /
city's needs. In fact. during tho greater
part of the year the entire fow could |
go thru tho old channel. And rgain /
1t would be OF great value in caA- OF |
n similar Hood TO tho ono OF recent |
occuranc.. I am not sufficiently posted |
as to storm rrwernro facilities to say
whether or not additional sewerage /
precautions should be taken to care /
for the water that would naturally /
accumulate from adjacent territory by |
reason Of raising river emba ankm~ntr. !
btu these are minor details that could 4
be worked out hy any OF the several |
competent engineers In Pueblo.
assume. OF course that tho city /
will call in all possible expert advice 1
to pas, upon tho remedy. and you .
should never sacrifice common. prac- |
teal hard sense for any so-calird cx-
pert. theoretical, wild or visionary |
idea.
have hcrn greatly impressed with |
tho common senss advice from Mr.. |
Wildor's editorials of The Chicftain and /
N they are properly regarded you will |
not get into very deep water.
Hoping that some idea herein ad- |
vanccd may be OF somr hencnt. am. |
Yours truly.