52 Kansas Academy of Science. 



ment, however, has made some preliminary surveys in the valley of 

 the Neosho river, with a desire to ascertain what could be done to 

 prevent such vast destruction of property by floods of that stream. 

 Our neighboring state, Missouri, by proper legislation has legal- 

 ized the drainage district idea, and in one notable case a compara- 

 tively large district has been organized and work is well under way 

 whereby vast sums of money will be expended and a most interest- 

 ing experiment undertaken. I refer to the work now in progress 

 of straightening the channel of the Marias des Cygnes river in the 

 southwestern part of Bates county, near Rich Hill. 



Since the unusually high and destructive floods of 1903 different 

 railroad companies have attempted to guard against further damage 

 by building their grades excessively high across river vallies. 

 This is notably true with the Santa F6 line across the Wakarusa 

 valley south of Lawrence and across the Verdigris river valley jusi 

 east of Independence, Kan. The present cpnditions in the Kansas 

 river valley in the vicinity of Kansas City likewise should be men- 

 tioned in this connection. Where the various railroad lines cross 

 and recross the valley in many different ways, apparently the man- 

 agement for each line has attempted to lift his grade as high as 

 possible, with a hope of keeping the track above the water level in 

 times of great floods. Years ago a similar attempt was made by 

 the Missouri Pacific and other railroad companies whose lines cross 

 the Marais des Cygnes river valley in the vicinity of Pleasanton 

 and La Cygne, Kan., and eastward towards the Missouri state line. 



At the present time there seems to be a prevailing idea that 

 local, sometimes exceedingly local, improvements or precautions can 

 be taken which, when properly executed, will protect a local area 

 against flood damages regardless of what is done elsewhere in a 

 given river valley. This is notably true along the Kansas river. 

 Under the state law created by the state legislature called in ex- 

 traordinary session in the summer of 1903, immediately after the 

 destructive flood of that summer, drainage districts have been or- 

 ganized and much agitation has resulted regarding what to do and 

 how to do it. There seems to be a general sentiment of wide- 

 spread extent that all any local area need to do is to organize a 

 drainage district according to law obtain the assistance of an en- 

 gineer, and in a comparatively easy and simple way protect them- 

 selves against all future flood devastation. 



It has seemed to the writer throughout this whole period of agi- 

 tation that in most instances the proposed improvements for pro- 

 tection when executed may be almost futile and fall far short of 



