The Sunday Oregonian., August 01, 1920, Magazine Section, Image 79

VOL..
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 1, 1920
NO. 31
Multnomah Ct
a5 Willamtt
CLJP
District.
On
Carp Pasture and Mosquito Hive Being Con
verted Into Fertile' Farming Community
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BT DB WITT HARRY.
(Copyright. 1920.)
LAND Is the wealth of any nation.
First to prove this, Egypt, -when
civilization was developed from
base of alluvial silt deposited by
Nile freshets. So expert became the
Egyptian of olden days In conserv
ing every lota of wealth brought by
the bountiful river to his lands that
he early perfected a system of diking
and stepped-dbwn walls so that the
flood waters would be stripped of all
their fertility before being allowed to
continue to the Mediterranean.
It has taken most of the super
progressive Americans decades to
profit by this ancient example of
thrift. Of course, the main reason
for the non-employment of means to
cultivate overflow and silt lands has
been that there was ample elsewhere
and that It took too much trouble.
Why go to the expense of diking,
draining and reclamation when all
that was necessary to get a living
was to tickle a couple of acres of
virgin soil that could be had almost
for the asking?
Fortune Is 7fefflecte4
Multnomah county Is a splendid ex
ample of this. With thousands of
acres of slit land, so rich that It
would make the khedive green with
envy, right at their doors, citizens
of this reputed progressive commu
nity have allowed it to ' rest with
little effort at cultivation. With but
21.000 acres of cultivated land in the
county, and while paying toll and
tribute to market gardeners else
where who have shipped their product
in to these markets, this rich land
has lain Idle. Thousands of dollars
have been wasted and the population
of Portland has been taxed a right
fat sum each year that has gone to
hlppers in addition to the amounts
that have been paid the raisers for
their fresh vegetables and fruits.
And all this time, right at our doors.
lay this land 12.000 acres of it, or
more land that the paternal Colum
bia has devoted ages to carry from
the choice pickings that he collected
on his rambling way through the im
xnense Inland empire of the Pacific
northwest.
In the city limits, some of it, and
running thence to the Columbia, from
the Junction of the Willamette as far
north and east as Pairview, has for
decades been territory looked upon
with scorn by most of the residents
of Portland, land cursed frequently
and fervently as the breeding place
for the only mosquito tiordes that the
city knew; land referred to In slight
ing terms as carp pasture, as just a
mud-wallow, not fit for anything and
a detriment. But if any of these folks
had stopped and tried to vision this
matter out for themselves, to trouble
about how this land was formed
from whence it came, of what it was
composed, they would have realized
that here was lying at their feet
many fortunes, as fortune has been
corned time without end since the
beginning of time.
Carp Lace Their Hokcs.
Next year rarp will have to search
for new pasture. The happy breed
ing place for the festive feasting
akeeter will be no more, for most of
this Immense area will be drained.
Over half a million dollars Is being
pent there today In diking some
11,000 aerea to protect them from the
annual overflow of the Columbia and
reclaim this hitherto worthless land.
to make it a garden spot that will I
net have a peer even in The Nether
lands, Holland, Egypt, the delta of
the Mississippi or in the San Joaquin
and Sacramento valleys of California,
spots on the face of the globe that
will show near parallels to the proj
ect now being completed right in
Portland's yard.
Eleven thousand acres that ten
years ago, or even lefs in most cases,
cculd he bougnt for a song, and that,
even to five years ago, before 'the
reclamation possibilities were fully
realized, were held as nearly worth
less, often selling for $5 an acre as
duck swanip, will now be worth in
excess of an acre as a fair av
erage, much of it reaching the peak
price of the California valleys, the
land that produces the record crops
of- asparagus, celery and onions, and
that is accepted as fir3t-class security
ty hai-d-fisted bankers for loans on
a $1500-an-asre valuation. Just lump
ing the entire project at the f&ir
sveiage of J500 an acre, which it is
expected to reach when the projects
aro in operation and the land in cul
(ivation, we see the immense sum
total of nearly rix millions in land
N a lues created ffom an original in
vestment of possibly $60,000, assisted
by half a million or so In improve
ments. Few locations in the world
will show such a great creation in
tangible wealth, and Portland and
Oregon will profit thereby.
Portland to Gain Garden.
Market conditions here today are
basically the same as those of San
Francisco, plus the high freight tar
iffs to get the California produce to
this city. Within a very few years,
depending on how rapid is the opera
tion of placing this area in cultiva
tion, Portland will have a vegetable
garden at her door that will produce
the best fresh-grown stuffs at mini
mum cost. Not only will our own
markets be kept supplied but there
should be surplus available for ship
ping. It means the addition of fur
ther Industry to the city, the crea
tion of mors wealth, the lowering
of living costs, and the placing of
more families en, land. -that ViXt yield
a good living. Starting this fall,
thousands of acres of virgin soil will
first feel the thrust of the plow and
vttlth the coming of next spring they
will be well on their way to bearing.
It is strange that more people in
Portland do not- know Just what is
happening at their very door. Co
lumbia slough, long a favored place
for the pursuit of bass which made
tl.eir homes In ' the many ponds and
sluggish streams that are tributary
thereto. Is now being changed. Un
der state laws a trio of drainage dis
tricts have been formed Multnomah
number one to the east and Peninsula
one and two .at the mouth of the
river. Multnomah number one is the
largest of these districts, containing
some 8000 acres; with the main dike
starting near Falrview and tying Into
the high lands again about Union
avenue. Below this project, lie the
Peninsula districts, with an aggre
gate of about 3000 acres on both.
Drainage District Large.
In Multnomah district No. 1 there
are about 100 property owners inter
ested, and the work Is being handled
by three supervisors D. C. Powell,
Jacob Luscher and J. O. Elrod. El
ro4, the largest property owner 1n
the district, is chairman of the board.
The engineer in charge is William G.
Brown, a man of wide experience in
public works and one of the men who
assisted In the construction of Cas
cade locks and other big engineering
jobs in the northwest.
The plan for the protection of this
large district and Its drainage Is slm
pie. The dikes are about completed
now and will be tied In within a few
weeks. This spring's floods are the
last that the district Is expected to
suffer providing the water doe nH
again reach the enormous peak of
1S94, when it went three feet higher
than ever before or since in the his
tory of the river. This fall, when
several of the small gaps In the dikes
are closed, the Immense area will be
practically water-tight and will be
kept so from that time on. Indeed,
right now Multnomah county Is hav-
rs a experleaco jmiguo in, its late
history in that large areas of virgin
soil are feeling the initial thrust of
the breaking plows, and next spring
they will be placed in crop for the
first time.
Dike Over Thirteen Miles Long;. ,
One large dike, starting at the high
land near Falrview, follows the bank
of the Columbia to McBride's slough,
and then follows this slough to the
high land across Multnomah slough.
At the junction of the present Mult
nomah slough and McBride's slough,
situated just a short distance above
the point where the Vancouver street
railway trestle crosses, is situated
the pump house for the district.
Mulnomah slough, from this point
east, will. In the future, be used
merely as a drainage ditch for the
district, as It will be dammed here by
the dike.
McBride's slough is now being con
verted into an open sewer vent for
the east side of the city. Engineer
ing figures, prepared by the city,
claim that this project, when com
pleted, will be amply large enough to
dilute the sewage from a population
of a quarter million, that the flowing
water that will traverse the channel
will care for and dispose of this
amount of material. As this district
now has a population of approxi
mately 25,000, and many of them are
not yet able to use drains on account
of lack of sufficient mains. It will be
readily seen that the new installa
tion will be able to care for Port
land's Increase in population for some
long time to come. Today there are
large crews employed in carrying this
phase of the work to completion.
huge dredges tearing the floor from
the channel so that it will be deep
enough to care for the water flow
that is expected, and bargea remov
ing the material to points where It
is being placed In position on the
dikes. This earth, being of a sand
or fine silt nature, readily lending It
self to the use for which it is in
tenaea, mages a oixe mat is ex
pected to be Impervious to fluids, one
that will not suffer from leakage.
Only one difficulty Is expected, and
that is. pa the ace pi the AUto from
the tearing action of the current, and
this may call for some system of rlp
rapplng. In this work Portland will
be the guardian, as the city has taken
charge of this for the reason that It
Is imperative that they control their
sewage system. It Is likely that
stone will be employed in this facing
to protect the soft soil from the rip
of the waters. In the Sacramento
and San Joaquin valleys In California
and in places along the Mississippi
river mats of withes are employed in
this work, but it is not thought that
this will be feasible here.
Along the length of the Multnomah
district where the dikes have been
built for over a year they have been
seeded, with the result that a fairly
firm sod has been grown on their
slopes. Erosion will be stopped to
a great extent In this manner, but at
the same time. In critical spots, it
will be imperative that some more
substantial method be employed. It
is the belief of the engineer In charge
that there are several such spots that
will call for this extraordinary pro
tection. This district Is two miles
wide at its largest part and extends
for 11 miles along the Columbia. Up
to this yeax only strips along the
river and along the hillside have ever
been placed under cultivation, the
richer bottom lands always being
endangered by floods and their seed
ing being attended by such gambling
odds against crops that it has been
seldom attempted.
Hagpe Pumps Installed.
In the pumping station tnere will
be installed equipment that will
handle 90,000 gallons of water -per
minute. It is machinery that has
been selected only after careful study
of conditions and long Investigation
of what has been accomplished in
other sections of the country. The
main unit is a 48-lnch Wood screw
pump, designed by A. D. Wood of
New Orleans, and found especially
satisfactory In handling large
amounts on low lifts. It Is designed
to work at maximum efficiency when
it has water up to 12 feet lift, but
there la ft further unit la the plant,
a centrifugal pump. 36-4nch measure.
that will be able to handle the fluid
for a greater height. Foundations
have been Installed that provide a
base for another pump If it is found
that the two designed for the work
are not sufficient. Today these two
pumps, with their motors and elec
trical equipment, lie at the St. Johns
terminal and they will be placed Just
as soon as the water subsides from
this season's high mark.
In the matter of designing the
pumping station the engineer In
charge was guided by the experience
of numerous other districts in vari
ous sections of the country. The
plant is so perfect that it will almost
be self-operated. The district has
purchased a five-acre tract adjoin-
ng the pump house for the use of the
caretaker, and here he will reside,
ready at an Instant's call to man his
machinery and place it in action fo
combat any threatened flood. Curing
times of low water, gravity will care
for the ordinary drainage of the dis
trict as the water will naturally flow
to the sumps and then through open
vents Into the drainage canals.
Egress Is provided by a carefully de
signed system of flap valves, which
close when the current is reversed.
If the water pressure from the out
side Is not too great, that Is, if the
water is not too high In the river.
gravity will care for the excess with
out the operation of the pumps.
Elrod Dreams of Project.
The story of the development of
this huge tract to its present-day
stage cannot properly be told unless
some little credit Is given J. O. Elrod,
president of the board of supervisors
and the prime mover for the Improve
ment. Mr. Elrod is not a man who
delights to hand himself any bou
quets, and it Is Just like pulling
teeth to get him to talk. Patience,
however, will serve to entice him into
a slight resume of the many diffi
culties that he met with in the con
summation of his dream of 10 years
since, when he first conceived the
idea that he would see this waste
land transformed into the garden
spot of the state.
Elrod is a mighty canny business
man and has had a great deal of ex
perience in real estate. When he
first saw the possibilities that lay
dormant in this district he set about
studying the project in Its many
phases. Few good examples were
handy to his eye on the coast and
not many of the owners of land in
the district were prepared or In
clined to give him material assist
ance. This put the thing right up
to him and he set about solving it
by studying similar projects In other
parts of the country. All during this
time he was also engaged In a cam
paign of propaganda among the land
owners c the djetrici Is, converting
them to his way of thinking. The
Oregon diking law was a relic of
olden days and did not promise much
for a project of this kind. Finally
the state adopted the present drain
age act, one that promised much and
seemed to assure the success of the
district, and Elrod was ready to go
ahead. ,
Land Owners Converted.
He. took it up with his neighbors
and managed, only after many diffi
culties. In getting them to give him
their support. Many of them de
veloped heart failure and all manner
of dire forebodings were voiced, most
of them being from the skeptical ones
who did not think that seepage could
be stopped, who feared that the dike
would fail to keep the waters from
Invading their lands through the
artificial banks. When any case of
this kind grew too violent Elrod had
one sovereign remedy, he would
buy the party out. The result Is that
today he Is the largest owner of the
district and stands to win or lose
huge sums on the success of the
project. Both he and his engineers
insist that they will be successful.
Other men also believe this, for two
similar districts have been formed
below them on the river and the
faith in their plan will stand or fall
within the next few years.
Work on these three districts Is
being carried on simultaneously and
they will reach completion at about
the same time, late this fall. Relying
on measurements and flood Indica
tions that promised only about a 15-
foot stage this year, and with the
protecting banks completed for the
greater portion of the length, some
of the lands were put in cultivation
for the first time this spring. One
particularly large tract, near Fair-
view, shows a noticeable improve-
ment, and this rancher had enough
faith In the predictions that were
made to plant a large acreage with
the result that he is beating the ma
jority of the men in his district by
a full year and got his land In bear
ing, for its first crop, right to the
edge of the rising water that came
in this spring.
Dikes Can Be Seen.
Motorists along Columbia boulevard
or along Sandy boulevard as far as
Falrview can, if they will examine
closely the land along the river, see
this naked bank of earth following
the course of the stream. It acts just
like a fence on the prairies, except
that it prevents water from straying.
Elrod used to take engineers, when
ever he could get the chance in the
days before the project reached a
promotion stage, over the land and
show them the lay of it, asking their
opinion. In this manner he was able
to collect a great deal of testimony.
Concluded a Pas 7Jl