Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1908 — THE CARR DITCH [ARTICLE]

THE CARR DITCH

Matter Comes Up Before Judge Hanley To-day. REMONSTRANTS TO BE HEARD And Final Disposition of the Pre* posed Iroquois River Improvement Matter. The Iroquois River ditch improvement extension, known officially as the Cajr Ditch, comes up before Judge Hanley today fd> final disposition, and the result of this hearing will determine the fate of the proposed improvement. While the regular. 4 tsp«i of court ends today, the taking up of thin ditch matter may run it well over into next week, and possibly all week. But the parties are anxious to have the matter decided, and it is to be taken up today so it can be finally disposed of at this term of court. There is no court in Newton county until January, therefore there is plenty of time to dispose of this important ditch case before the term opens there.

This proposed ditch is an extension of the present Iroquois River improvement, known as„ the Iroquois Ditch, and takes up the work where left off under the latter improvement some two miles west of Rensselaer, and carries it' on into Newton county, to a point south of the town of Brook.

In matter of cost it will be perhaps about as great as any ditch ever attempted in Jasper county, thd estimated expense being about the same as that of the original Iroquois improvement. The petitioners, however, feel that the work must be carried on west to save them from almost total crop' destruction from the waters that will be poured down upon them by the increased flow from the ditch already constructed. A large number of land owners assessed for its construction have filed remonstrance against the im*> provement and these will now be heard and an official “count of Si oses’’ made. The hearing may last ten days or two weeks, although it is hoped to finish it next week.