Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1905 — GOVERNMENT ACTION SAID TO BE CERTAIN [ARTICLE]

GOVERNMENT ACTION SAID TO BE CERTAIN

la Reference To The Dranage of the Kanhkce Kcgitn

Today's Indianapolis Star From Ci G- Elliott! the Department of Agriculture’s engineer, in charge of drainage investigation, United States Senator .Beveridge yesterday received positive assurance thaHhe work of reclaiming the several hundred thousands of aores of marsh lands in northwestern Indiana is to .be put under way at onoe and continued until praotioally every acre that is now waste land will be made suit* able for agricultural purposes. Detailed by the Department of Agriculture to begin his investigations Engineer Elliot arrived in Indianapolis yesterday morning. During the day he called on Senator Beveridge and explained to him the Govsrment’s soheme. Before forming any conclusions or plans for starting the work Mr. Elliott will visit all seotions of the marsh 'district. With him will be Prof, W, D Pence of Purdue University and M, A. Downey of Anderson, who have been detailed to assist in the work, After getting the "lay of the land” as Mr. Elliott expressed it yesterday, they wibjdeoide on thefaotual work of drainage and figure on the oost.

Part of the marsh land that Mr. Elliott proposes to reolaim lies in Illinois, and this will also be in* eluded in his investigations, The entire area is known as the Kankakee Valley and has a breadth of about eighty-five miles. It embraces about 400.000 acres of laud. Within this distance the .Kankakee [River has more than 2.000 sharp bends and traverses a distance of [something like 240 [miles. One propokition[that Mr. Elliott has before h’m is to fix a level for an immense system cf drainage and dykes that will thread and dot the entire marsh district, Another plan that may possibly be decided upon and carried into effect is to straighten the course of the Kankakee River by meats of a number of channels. MOny thousands of., acres of marsh Jar d have already been reclaimed through individual efforts and vre now fertile traotSi but it has remained for the Department of Agrioultnre to undertake the work of reclaiming the entire area. After the land has been drained and is fit for agricultural purposes the Soil Bureau of the Department of Agriculture will make a number of experiments with a view to increasing the productiveness of other land in the rorthwest-rn part cf the State. In tome sections the land lacks some chemical substance ncceesaiy to successful production and the Government experts expeot to solve the problem. At this time Mr. Elliott is not willing to make an estimate of t e expense that will be involved in reclaiming the marsh areas. Individual estimates plaoe it at several million dolhra, bat ha would give no opinion as to this. He went to Muncie yesterday evening, intending to go to Lafayette today to confer with Prof. Penoe.