Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1904 — Iroquois Ditch Meeting [ARTICLE]

Iroquois Ditch Meeting

A meeting of the promoters of the Iroquois ditch is to bo held at the Court House at two o’clock Saturday A communication has has been received from Judge S P. Thompsi n in reference to this meeting and the things that should be considered then, but it was too late and too hmg for publicati n at this issue.

He mggests some very important points to be considered and of. wh ch we summarize a fe# that seem to us especially meritorious. is that the contract be let of the same depth but only h-df the width proposed by the viewers.

Aa he well s >ys: A narrow chan nel in the dirt will widen itself without cost. A narrow channel in the rock, if not satisfactory can be easily made wider. A channel too wide can not be narrowed.

A no - her idea of the judge's, which seems very meritorious, is that the contract foj the main dirt cut above Rensselaer be let and made at once, without waiting for the rock cut.

It is depth end uniform grade that will do the good, and he is sure that a narrower bottom will yield the best results in proportion to its cost.

This view we have already advocated in this paper, and believe it would be a great mistake to make this ditch of the enormous width proposed, at the outset and if not so made at the outset, we are satisfied it will never be made at all, because experience will show it is not needed.