Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 94, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1898 — Kankakee River Is Very Low. [ARTICLE]

Kankakee River Is Very Low.

Special Dispatch to The Inter Ocean. Kankakee, HL, July 27. —Persons who have given the matter their thoughtful attention are authority for the statement that the Kankakee river is gradually receding and in the course of a few years will be of scarcely more importance than a creek. For this condition the drainage of Indiana swamp land, that thousands of acres of fertile soil may be reclaimed, is responsible. In that fast passing paradise of hunters of the wild duck the Kankakee has its source aud winds through a flat country, fed by numerous springs until it reaches the picturesque region between Momence and Wilmington. The latest plan of the Kankakee River improvement association is straightening the river’s channel in Indiana. This will complete the permanent reduction of the volume of the stream. At Momence, ten miles above this city, the water is so low the boating pastime has been abandoned. The Waldron paper mill, two miles from here, is shut down five months during the year as a result of the low water. The Kankakee electric light plant, which depended upon water power originally, has been obliged to use steam as an adjunct.