The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1922-11-22


rainfall. during which time Panther,
unable to carry its burden, would
resort to the simple expedient of ov-
erfowing
Panther's Rich Deposits
The drainage canal will reclaim
from waste $500 acres adjacent to
It and the old creek bed. Here It
should be said that condemnation OF
Panther should not be complete, for
1t has permanently and remarkably
enriched the land with its deposits.
Supervising Engineer Clarence
Brown, who made some borings IN
Panther creek valley incident to the
drainage work, reports that in many
places the same fine soil that exists
on the surface extends to a depth of
twelve to fourteen feet below. Pan
Tiers process of filling and refilling,
therefore, has left the soil almost
inexhaustibly fertile. And to show
how Panther's bottoms are valued,
some of the wettest land has sold
for $50 an acre, the buyer assuming
the drainage tax.
No wonder, when it is considered
that sixty to ninety bushels of corn
per acre, 1900 to 100 pounds of
tobacco per acre and as much as
three tons of cured hay per acre
have been yielded by some of this
LAT
Movement Begun i'm 1919
1t has been ten years since the
! first steps were taken to correct
Panther creek. In 1912 w. f. White
ly, j. II. Hickman, j. Hunter Bell
and C. A. Rogers, among many 9TH
ers, initiated proceedings to that
end. In 1915 survey was made
by federal government engineer.
j. V. Phillips, under the eye of the
chief reclamation engineer of the
United States. Contracts for the
work were let in October, 1917. and
suits in opposition were filed in
1918. This opposition was dssi-
pated in May, 1920, when the Court
of Appeals held that all steps had
been lawfully taken.
Bids Higher Than Estimates
One of the main points involved
in the litigation was that the bids
for the work were higher than the
estimates made. This is forbidden
/ by the law, unless it can be shown
that bids are higher for good and
sufficient reason. j. X. Hays, attor-
ney for the drainage commission,
who has conducted all the litigation
growing out of the project since
1915, convinced the court by extern
sive showing of labor and commodi-
| ty costs that the bids were reasona-
! BILE.
| Opposition on other points de-
veloped, but the last suit was decid-
! ed in January. 1922. Bonds in the
amount of $550,O0O have been is
sued and sold. SO that now no OBJ
stacle for the works completion re-
mains. Some bitterness was en-
gendered by the legal fights. That
was inevitable. But that bitterness
is short-lived, and is fast disappear
! ing.
Interesting From Legal Standpoint
Parenthetically, it may be said the
! lawsuits and court decisions grow
! ing out of the Panther creek project
are very interesting from a lawyers
| standpoint, for they have settled
practically every phase OF Ken
J tucky's drainage law. Mr.. Hays adj
! vice on drainage law questions, as "A
consequence, is being sought by law
yers throughout Kentucky.
The Drainage Commissioners
The drainage work was begun and
put on it's feet under the direction
of Ham Pope, T. ]. Newsom and Her
bert Dawson, commissioners, who
declined reappointment at the ex-
! piration of their terms. 1t was next
ably supervised by Commissioners
Stuart Lyddane, j. M. Taylor and X.
| H. Ford. Messrs. Lyddane and Tay-
! lor finished out their terms, where
upon the commission was reduced to
one member. Mr.. Ford was offered
reappointment, accepted 1t and is
now engaged in careful and efficient
supervision of the work.
According to Mr.. Hays, much OF
the credit for putting over the drain
age project belongs to Messrs.
Whitley, Hickman, Bell and Rogers.
| These gentlemen all of whom own