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Show DRAINAGE AND BEAUTIFICATION MEETINGTOPIGS Plans for Reclaiming West Side of Town and Tree Planting Told Members of the Ladies' Auxiliary The regular meeting of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce was held at the Dixie College science building build-ing Friday, May 29, under the direction of the president, Mrs. Marie Cannon. About 80 members mem-bers were present. Walter F. Smith, "Washington county agricultural agent, was the first speaker, and discussed the conservation of water in St. George and the drilling of wells in the west part of town for drainage and irrigation purpoees( He said: "Experts frQm the Utah Agricultural College who have investigated conditions in this district, have estimated that enough water comes to the surface sur-face and evaporates, to water the entire west side of town. It is the plan of the county, city, chamber of commerce, and the Dixie Power company to sink test wells to prove the theory, and at the same time do something some-thing for the drainage situation there, which is becoming very serious. "Here in St. George, and particularly par-ticularly in the west part of the city,- the water sometimes does more damage than good. We have a water right and on account ac-count of the drought conditions, we are afraid to spare a drop of water or sell a water right for fear of losing it. We take the water every five days because it is our turn. I was at a man's field the ether day and kicked a little in the soil and said: 'Your ground needs cultivating.' He replied: 'Well, I guess it does, but I have the water coming in about twenty minutes, and will not have time.' Cultivating at that time would have done him a lot more good than the water would have done, but because we in Dixie may sometimes find water so scarce, we are afraid to pass a turn by, or sell a turn once in a while. - "According to the plan, we believe that six good wells in-the in-the west part of town will drain that part and irrigate the whole city. Then the Cottonwood water wa-ter could be put to other use. The lay of the land is ideal for irrigation purposes. By a drainage drain-age method some of the mineral salts could be drained out of the soil, and gardens could be grown where there is now nothing but salt grass. "There are sections of the country which depend entirely on under-ground water. Here we do not need more water, but drainage drain-age and the proper use of the water. I think that when this scheme is worked out and the people have a chance to see for themselves the feasibility of the plan, they will be glad to sell their rights in the Cottonwood system. "St. George as a city cannot can-not develop much more with conditions as they are now. Not many people want to live in the west part of town on account of the under-ground water, and there are not many who care about the east because they 'cannot 'can-not raise lawns and flowers there with the present water shortage. "The water which will be taken ta-ken from the surface wells will be salty and not fit for culinary purposes. That is, it will not taste good. As far as sanitation sanita-tion goes, it will be as clean as any other water, but no one will care to drink it." C. W. Love of the civic beau-tification beau-tification commission said: "We have heard quite a bit of criticism criti-cism and questions are being asked as to the authority the commission has. It is not the object of the commission to force anything. The plan we have outlined is subject to change and the opinion of the people. We have investigated the number of trees already on the streets of the city and made our plans from that. Taking the tabernacle tab-ernacle square, as the center of town, we made our plan from that. That block is surrounded : by non-bearing mulberries, so, we, in making our plan, made a cross of this tree clear through the city. "We investigated seven trees, native to this country, and from j that number selected the locust, i Siberian elm, non-bearing raul-j berry, and native ash as being i the most beautiful trees f or j street planting. They are easily! grown here, and with the exception excep-tion of the Siberian elm. there! are many startings available here! in St. George. "Our idea is to work on one' street, for instance the street! running through town. It we' could have this one street planted plant-ed at the next planting season, we could go on to the others next spring. "Although we have worked out what we think is the most beautiful beau-tiful plan for planting street trees, it is not unchangeable, and we believe that the majority of people have a right to rule as to the kind of tree the3T want planted on their streets. We will be glad to have you talk this matter over, and help us work out a program for this fall. We realize that public opinion must be back of this commission if it is to be a success." An open discussion of topics of interest to the women was led by Mrs. Cannon. Musical numbers on the program pro-gram were as follows: Vocal duet, Mrs. Hettie Bentley Bent-ley and Mrs. Leah Cannon; vocal solos, Mrs. H. Val Hafen, and Mrs. Wm. Brooks, accompanied by Mrs. Olive Reeve. |
