Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1875 — AN IMPORTANT WORK. [ARTICLE]

AN IMPORTANT WORK.

On tbe 9th day of February* 1874, an association of ten or eleven gentlemen was organized which had for its object the draining and reclaiming ot a large tract of laud in the civil townships of Union and Keener, in Jasper county. This association was organized under a law of Indiana . approved March 10, 1873. It occupies ten pages of the published acts of the special session of 1872-3 and is too lengthy for reproduction in these columns. Those who may desire to refer to the law will find it on pages 165 to 175 of the acts above mentioned.. Its provisions seem very plain and easy to he understood. Its trainers appear to have been actuated by no other motive when they dratted it than that ot granting the necessary power to companies to drain territories which need improvements of this character, but on a scale ot such magnitude as to be beyond' the reach of ordinary purses to accomplish; and at the same time to guard against the formation of rings by speculators and selfish adventurers w hose object might be wholesale .robbing of the people affected by their operations. . ‘

Having completed preliminaries this organization proceeded to survey the district in which they proposed to work, and to assess the benefits and damages that would accrue to lands from their system of drainage. Upon the completion of these labors and when the company was about ready to. commence the actual work of cutting ditches-and removing obstacles, appeals were made by persons opposed to them, and carried into the circuit court for adjudication. It was shown by the appellants that the company had altered their original design, after the survey and assessments were made, by reducing the extent of their territory. Judge Giliett, before whom the case was taken, behaving been requested by Judge Hammond to occupy the bench,-de-cided that this being a lact all subsequent action of the company was irregular and void; thus virtually causing the company to lose their whole summer’s work and compelling them to go over the whole business again commencing at the beginning. It was then so late in the season that little or nothing could be done until spring. Accordingly nothing further was attempted until April 29th, 1875, when the company was reorganized, retaining its original name, however—The Jasper County Ditching Association—with a newly elected hoard of officers and directors. At the June, 1875, session of the county commissioners, Messrs. A. G. llobb, \V illiam Hanley and Silas L. Swum were appointed to examine and appraise the benefits and damages likely to result to each forty-acre tract affected by the work, and they will proceed to make their observations o commencing on the 2Gth day of the present month in a manner fully described in a notice published in oar advertising columns.

». Mr. John 3ffill6r, a practical engineer Of twenty-five or thirty' years experience, lias taken levels and made surveys of the district under the jurisdiction of the association and finds there is an abundance ot 1 for its thorough drainage. To give the reader a better understanding of this subject, it may be well to state that the territory is upon the headwaters of the Iroquois river and inclades thirty sections m township 31, range 7, and twenty-seven sections in township 30, range T; fifty-seven sections in all, *hp 30,480 acres. A large portion of this tract is constantly submerged, except for a short period in the dryest seasons, and has been in this condition from time immemorial. In its present condition nothing whatever is produced upon much of it lor the benefit of man; while pestilence is bred from the mass ol rank aquatic vegetation which rots upon its bosom under the sun’s hot ray* in June, July, August and September, to poison. the air and seattcr malaria over the adjacent region fur miles in every direction. The

only use of this immense scope of territory is to furnish a* reservoir tor the water that propels a small gristftndsaw mill four orfiyss months'' a year. And so precarious has this been for many seasons, becoming smaller year alter year* that the owner, a gentleman of enterprise and spirit, has found it necessary to introduce steam to keep his mill running. It is the plan of the association to commence operations at a point near where the Iroquois river crosses the line between ranges six and seven, and tfuent a main ditch five miles lougTwith an average width of ten feet, and an average depth of four feet. This main ditch is to follow, substantially the windings of the river channel. Commencing at the starting place above mentioned, they' run north and westward! y about a mile and a half; thence bear a little south of west three and a hall’ or lour miles to within two miles of-the Newton WWW county line. In the first mile six and one-half feet of fall is found; then an obstruction is met, Mr. Isaac V. Alters mill-dam—ten feet high, which at ordinary Time* in the sprinar raises the water behind it. about nine and one-half feet. Above this point, as near as could be ascertained by the water level there is an average fall of about four inches per mile to the westernmost limit of the work. This makes a total fall of not less than seventeen feet in a distance of, five miles.

As before stated, the main ditch, No. 1, will he 5 miles long, 10 feet wide, 4 feet deep; its excavation will be 42 ,S2IT cubic' yards; estimated cost, *9,420.it). ' —- No. 2. —Length, 1 mile, G chains, 50 links; width 3 feet; depth, 2 feet C inches; excavation, 3,118 cubic yards; estimated cost £546.50. No. 3—Length, 1 mile, 35 chains, 90 links; width, 3 feet; depth, 2 feet 6 inches; excavation, 3,904 cubic yards; estimated cost 85 10.56. No. 4.—Length, 1 mile ; 24 chains, 84 links; width 3 feet; depth, 2 feet 0 inches; excavation, 2,738 cubic yards ; estimated cost £383.32. No. 5. —Length, 1 mile, 32 chains, 16 links; width 3 feet; deprfl, 3 feet f excavation, 4,o2ocubic yards; estimated cost £688,80. No. 6.—Length, 7 miles,s7 chains, 34 links; width 4 feet; depth 3 feet 6 inches; excavation., 33,871 cu.bie yards; estimated cost, £5,919.36. No. 7.—Length, 1 mile, 75 chains; width, 2 feet 6 inches ; depth, 2 feet 6 inches; excavation, 6,795 cubic yards; estimated cost, 8951,34, No. B.—Length,3miles, is chains; width,4 feet: depth, 3 feet 6inches; excavation 11,833 cubic yards; estimated cost; £1,659.42. No. 9. —Length, 6 miles, ID

chains, 88 links; width, I feet; depth, 3 feet t’> inches ; excavation, 29,099 cubic yards ; estimated cost 84,655.84. No. 10. —Length, 2 miles, 40 chains,34 links; width 3 feet;depth, 3 feet; excavation, 9,f7C cubic yards; estimated cost, 81,284.51. No, 11. —Length, S miles, 53 chains, 34 links; width 5.40 feet; depth, 2.88 feet; exeatation , 25,990 cubic yards;' estimated cost, 8 f,039.52. No. 12.—Length,. 4 miles, 58 chains; width, 0.3 0 feet; depth, 3.l3feet; excavation, 22,704 cubic yards; estimated cost, 83,005.00. No. 13.: —Length, 37 chains; width, 4 feet G inches: depth 2 feet 0 inched; excavation 1,018 cubic yards; estimated cost, 8172.52. Total length of whole system of ditching, 44 miles, 35 chains, 70, links; total amount of excavation,■ 201,845 cubic yards; estimated cost in the aggregate, 834,41-0, or a trifie less than 95 cents per acre, i Off course some land will he assessed ! I much more than this, and other i tracts much less, but the general average reaches to about that sum. The soil of this regiou is chiefly black muck, the result«»oi decomposed vegetation, with occasional patches of peat, all resting upon a subsoil of stiff tenacious clay, sand, or sandy clay through which are traces of bog iron ore more or less pronounced. Much of tile land iu its present condition may be considered worthless, and except the higher timbered patches none of it is wortli more than 85 an acre. But drain it sufficiently, and there

is no reason why a large portion could not be made to produce twenty-five to sixty bushels of corn, thirty to -seventy-five bushels of oats, or two to four tons of hay on the acre; while as pasture ground for neat cattle, it would be unsurpassed in the State. Then itwould readily command £lO to £ls an acre, and be eagerly sought after by men desiring’stock farms. This region now maintains between thirty and forty families, scattered along the eastern and southern portions, and perhaps a population of 200 persons; when drained there is no doubt but it might give a better living to eight or ten times that number. This is, by far,, the most extensive and .important private enterprise ever projected in the county; and, if successful, it can not fail to produce important and lasting results, that will he beneficial not only to those who originated it, and the region immediately bordering it, but also to the whole county. The gentlemen who are engaged in this enterprise are among the best citizens of the county, some of whom have lived here from childhood, having come with their parents before the Indians had left. Their honesty, probity, judgment and earnestness are sufficient guaranty of good faith and- fairness towards ail who own property that will be iiifluenbcd by these improvements, even were the law less strict in guarding individual interests.

lion. Win. I).Kelley, -Republican representative in Congress from Philadelphia, recently delivered a speech at Youngstown, Ohio, in which he declared his approval of the financial plank of the platform proclaimed by the Democracy of that Slate. lion. Ben. F. Butler and Wendell Phillips, of Massachusetts, have each written letters declaring their adherence to the same doctrine. The Inter- Ocean, of Chicago, says the idea there embodied is the true one, and to be preferred to the position taken by the Ohio Republicans upon that subject; yet this newspaper has no confidence, it says, in Democratic professions, believing all Democrats to be insincere, and therefore it prefers to labor for the success of those whom it admits are wrong, and who advocate measures prejudicial to the public welfare. The Inter- Ocean* position is an anomaly it can not maintain. There is no good reason for people being _so prejudiced against a mere party name. If the Republican party has ceased to advocate measures that are for the welfare of the nation, it is both foolish and wrong to labor for its success; and if the Democratic party has become the champion of the laboring man and the advocate of measures which are to improve the condition of the majority of people, it is night and wise to vote with and assist it to positions where it may be able to carry its views into - practical operation. If the Republican party has taken a wrong position which is iikley to prove injurious to our national prosperity, honesty and patriotism demand that we lay aside petty prejudice, and support the men and the party which represent the true interests of the people, even though the men and. party have been grievously in error heretofore. When the Republican party is wrong it should be opposed, and when the Democratic party is right it should be favored. This is honest, patriotic and wise.

There have been no new developments s in the railroad matter since last week. Everything is in statu qvo. No work is being done. Tire contractor is here, but has no money to pay the men for the work they have done, nor to settle the bills contracted for provisions, grain, etc. The prospect is not very favorable; indeed it begins to look very much as if a dead beat fraud was attempted. Col. Healey went to Chicago day before yesterday to learn if possible the true condition of affairs, and a call is made for a meeting of the board of directors of the Indianapolis, Delphi & -Chicago division, at Delphi at 11 o’clock this morning, “for important business.” It is possible, and very much to be desirexi, that a more cheerful aspect wkl be assumed by >the railroad ‘ affairs when news is received from one or both of these sources.