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^r^i

SUMAS DYKING ACT

;i ';

A FEW FACTS IN CONNECTION

WITH THE ABOVE ACT,

BY THE SETTLERS AND OWNERS OF L.\NI>

IN MATSQUI PRAIRIE.

PBINTEI)

BY THE PUPILS

ST. MARY'S MISSION SCHOOi.

1882.

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CoUectiorL

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UMAS DYKING ACT

■><

A FEW FACTS IN CONNECTION

WITH THE ABOVE ACT,
>Y THE SETTLERS AND OWNERS OF LANI^
IN MATSQUI PRAIRIE

•™-c .ooOOCcc

PRUJTED

BY THE PUPILS

;^T. i^IAHT'S MISSION SCHOOL.

1882.

<*■ <■ -...I

PUMAS DYKING ACT.

:>oo00000ooc

From nil tliiit liis boon said sxvA written with regard
to the M.iiM[ui dyke constrnctetl or supposed to bo con-
structed under the jibovo act, it is somewhat singuhir,
althongh not to bo wondered at, that all tarns out a one

side version of the case, wherein there has been mani-
festly two.

We, the settlers on the Matsqui prairie, have from
time to time endeavoured to shed a ray of light in on
both sides of the question, in order that the public
might get a glimpse at the true state of the case, yet
wo could not succeed as the several Editors of the pro-
vincial papers refused to aid us by giving publicity to our
sentiments on the dyking project.

Towards the close of the year 1877, the settlers on
the Matsqui prairie desirous of reclaiming their land
and in order to guard against the periodical overflow of
the river, entered into an agreement with E. L. Derby to
erect a good, substantial dyke of sufficient extent so that
all the lands on the Matsqui prairie could be reclaimod,
the settlers on their part agreeing to pay the s:iid E. L.
Derby for construction of said dyke. According to tho
articles of agreement, tho dyke was to bb completed by
the first day of June 1878, and at said date should the

I.,

dyke prove a failure, they ^Yero lo pay only half tlie i\-
mouut; if a success, they were to pay the whole amount.
How were they to dctcnniiio the amount they had to
p:iy ? The dyke resisting; the periodical overflow of the
Frazer River was to be the criterion.

At this stage of the proceedings, E. L. Derby went
to Victoria and then laid before the Legislative Ass, n-
bly the Matsqui settlers' project for dyking of tl.eii- la ■!:
and on the 10th ol April 187B the Legislative Assembly
passed a special bill granting iu. L. Derby certain Crown
hiuds, as well as a right to levy assessments ( same "s a-
greed to in settlers' contract) and ivithout our Jtiiowleth/c
or consent gave an extension of time for completion of dy-
ke from July 1878 to July 1880.

The work under the Government contract began to-
■vards the end of the Spring 1878, but with such a sm dl
lorce that it was not progressing at that rate that wouM
warrant its completion before the high water of 1879,
and so far as they had progressed, the work was not car-
ried out according to specifications, as may be seen by
official reports of Mr. Navarre, the Superintendent iu
charge.

Now we, the settlers, being the parties most deeply
interested in this dyking project, should at least have a
voice in a matter that so immediately concerns us, anil
in which our whole capital and labor has bejn invested.

-a —

Liviiig as we are on the lantl, wo bliould Imve tho
best opportunity of knowing whether the tlyko under
consideration be u failure, or a success; and moreover
in justice to ourselves we possess the right of rejecting
or accepting it according to its merits; but as the affair
now stands, we are deprived of this right, and our sen-
timents and opinions on the subject totally ignored,
whilst wo are forced to accept a work as a success, whi-
1,9 in point of fact it has been proved a, complete failure
from its very found^Uon.

In proof of the above, we give the following extracts
from official reports of Mr. J. A. Navarre, superintendent
in charge, and of Mr. W. S. QQra, Q,i^rveyQr-General.

Supt. says: " With regard to the bulkhead work abo-
ve mentioned, I have to inform you that it is in no respect
in conformity with your instructions or n;iy directions, and
is all but ent'i-ely worthless for accomplishing the objects
for which it is intended. Many piles are insufficiently
driven. The sheeting is set in a shallow trench without
driving, and often is in two lengths, of five or six feet
each. Some of the liuuber is partly rotten and oth3rwi-
se defective. By pushing with my hands against som'j of
the piles not supported with girts I nearly toppled them
over. In some instinces there is but one g^irt where the-
re should be two."

Fiirtlier oii ho continuos ( Hpo:ikiu.i^ of tlio l)r(>iil: in
tliu ilum) : " Tho tlisastur was fnlly nnticipilcd l)y rc.i:-.''i:
of tlio (lefoctivo ooiistrnctiou uuil lax utteiitlon to iniu'O'
(Mi'OH, whic'li ill tlio ^'raiul siiiii avo of the utmost ii..[K;r-
(;iiic;c ill works of this kiiul. Tlicio i.s no oxcuso for tills,
cxo(>i)t iicgli^'cijcu and wili'nl igiioraiico on tlio part of tljo
contractor. "

Tho Siirvcyor-CIonoral was sent l>v tlio f,'ovcriini(Mit
ill Juno Ls7i), for Iho pni'poso of inspcctinj.; tho woik
(lono on tho Mat-^qui Dvko. In his oilicial report, datol
17th Juno 1871), wo ihul tlio following remarks :

" Tho line of lovoo as located by Mr. Mahood las
boon materially changed, to tho detriinoiit of tho dyko
ill future year,;, Trom tho wosfcorii boundary of Lot lis,
G. 2, to v.ithiu about half a mile of tlio 'Mission' barn,
being placed from 50 to 100 feet nearer tho river bank.
In front of ' riiversido ' the lino is now on the exhenio
edgo of the river b ink, ami in places, I might say, over
the edge. — Troni the yearly inroads tho river is iual;'ng
on its banks, I should say that such work could not
last.

"The bcrin, whicli sliould bo 4 feet, is in many
places less than ?> feet. The slope of the ditch should be
one and a half to one, but I Hud it nearly vortical, and
in some places the current of the incoming high watei-

^J, .&v^,-?«

»: . ■

— 5 —

in tho ditch lm» undermined tho borm, endangering the
Bufoty of tho luvoo. In miiiiy i)hices tho ditches huvo been
made too deep, goiii{,' down into sand and bad matcriid
for tho construction of tho lovce, contrary to tho hpeuiti-
cations.

"Tho Hood ^'utcs are not constructed in accordance
with tlio gcuoral plans, drawing No. 2, as spcciliod, and
are not self-acting. The high water prevented me from
making a thorough examination of them, sq that I am
unable to report as to thoir practicability. I am informed
by Mr. Navarre tliat the bottom of tho flood-gates in
Slough No. 3 are 11 feet from bottom of slough, or ab-
out 8 feet above low water mark. This would, of course,
interfere with canoe navigation.

"The sheet piling is not spiked closely to the caps
and girts, but is wedged out to present an even surface
for the battens to be .spiked on, and has a slovenly and
unworkmanlike appearance. The same remarks apply to
sheeting in bulkheads. Some of the sheutiug is not of as
good quality as might be desired, being unevenly s iwed
and having bad knots, through which I could see water

bubbling. I would recommend that Mr. Perby

should be obliged to build the levee at least seveuty (70J
feet further from the river bank in the vicinity of 'Rivor-
side' than he at preseut contemplates."

— G —

After these* statcmeuts, comiug from such a soiuoej'
\vas it not tlie duty of the Government to force the
contractor to stand by the specificatious, and to prevent
Iniii from bailainj^' the dyke in such a careless manner
iis woukl endanger its sifety ? Everybody shovdd thiniv
iio, but the fact is that the remarks made by Mr. Gore
uere ]iot attendcil to. No aUei'ation v;as made in the
location of the lino of hjvee, as clianged by the contrac-
tor; in many places ike dyke is actually bnilt with
sand and bad material; the berm is less than 3 feet,
and is gi'adaally undermined by the combined action of
frost, thaw tuid water, in such a way that wo may expect
the embankment to tumble down into the ditch.

But let us rosumo the exposition of the facts. As early
as the 2-lth of May 1S7D, the first break occurred in
Slough No. 3 when piles and sheeting were swept away.
The contractoi-, seeing this dam giving waj-, and fearing
for the safety of the other in Slough Ko. 2, which at the
time showed evident signs of weakness, partly removed
the sheeting to save it; but it would have been better to
have left it as it was in order to tost its efficacy.

The result v/as that the Mat^qui [)rairio was again
under water in the summer of 1879, which caused a
great amount of loss and damages to the settlers.

la the .spring of 1880, the two dauii abov*nneutloa(;d

— 7 —

!-.(.

were put in repair to stand tlio high water pressure of
that year; but as soon as the -water began to rise, it was
found brealdng through under the dam from the fact of
the sheotiug having been driven on to a log in the bottom
of the slough. Every stratagem was resorted to in order
to stop the flow of water, but all to no purpose.

In July, same year, a bi'ealc occurred in some bulk-
heading at the upper part of the dyke; and about same
time, one of the seLtlers discovered what he considered a
weak spot in the dam No. 2, drawing to it the Engineer's
attention, who, after examining it, said there was not
the slightest danger of it giving way, as it was about the
strongest part of the whole dyke. And two days after ''/ii^
Engineer rcportinrj it as the strongest part of the dyke, the
very place indicated icas washed aivay.

Consequently, the Matsqui prairie was again over-
flowed in the summer of 1880, with the same disastrous
effects as before.

The time for completion of the dyke having now e-
lapsed, and observing the defective mnnncr the work had
been carried on, the settlers gave the contractor E.L.
Derby to understand that they would withdraw their
support from an undertaking so carelessly carried on
and evidently so badly managed. They also notified t'ne
Government to the same effect by a petition signed by

— 8 —

all the sottlors. The pctitionera were rewarded \vitl»
glo.wiiig pro;nises which had no practical or benehci^n
result. In the meantime, the work was left at a stanu-
stiU.

The Legislative Assembly met in Victoria in the
spring of 1(SS1, r.nd during its sitting, arranged all
matleia with the new contractors C. L. Sword and Co.
to salt tliem, without consulting tlie settlers in a case
ill \\]iich they were so deeply concerned and involved,
tlnis ignoring our right of voice in au ali'air in whicli
Ave wore the most interested. The first intimation oi'
a settlement being made was conveyed to us by the
newspapers.

Immediately, wo forwarded a protest to the Go-
vernment, declaring that wo had uo confidence what-
ever in tiie Engineer at that time in chai'ge of the
work, and finally declining to have anything further
to do in the matter, or hold ourselves responsible for
work done under the direction of an Engineer, who.^o
incapacity for condiictiug the work according to speci-
fications or terms of agreement had been so woofnllv
established from die time of his undertaking it.

The Government took no heed of our protest, aiid
the work was resumed under the same Engineer »
superintendence.

r':>

»^f):^mmvjsmi»f.*^--^zmwmm>»^^'^

■V

Ll-

In the month of Oclober 1881, tL^ newspapeia
slated tljtit the dyke Avas completed and a perfect suc-
cess; but how could they ascertain such to be the case,
Avheii there had been no high water to prove or test it ?

Now comes that question, is the dyke a success or
is it likely to be ? AVe would like very much to answer
iu tlio affirra^itive, but we must certainly declare we have
no coafideuce whatever in it. From the careless manner
in which it has been constructed, we were almost certain
that it would give way. We had not long to wait to see
the evil effwt of bad management. Scarcely had the
Engineer quitted the s:ouo of his labours on the dam
he had Just completed in last October on Slough No. 2
and pronounced a success, that it was partly washed a-
way not by high water on this occasion, but on account
of evident carelessness in construction.

The gate sill in this dam was about five feet above
low water, without even an apron to carry the water
from the front; very little rain causes a great rush
through the gates, and the water having a fall of between
four and five feet at the bottom of the gate, washed out
the piles that supported the embankment, causing it to
cavo into the slough, and thus to be washed away. The
mode adopted in constructing the gates had not only the
effect of washing away the piles, but also caused

— 10 -

coiisidiuiible iuconvenienco by cutting oil' tlie only coir-
inunication the settlers living back on the prairie, had
of reaching the river with th,eir produce. Now it did not
require a great amount of engineej,ung tact to avert this
ovil, liitd the necessary precan{ious been taken. It could
have been prevented in two ways, either by removing
tlifi nbstnietiou in the shape of a dam, or by conslrr.o-
ting it in accordance with the original specification^
which call for the gates to be put down to low wale-
mark. The attention of both contractor and Engineer had
been cidled to the fact, but in vain.

Now we have just reasons to beUeve that the dyke
has been pronounced a success in consequence of Mr.
J. Hunter's report; but how can we rely on the report
of an Engineer who gave us so evident proofs of his
incapacity in that kind of work; who declared as the
strongest part of the dyke a place which, a short time
after, was washed away under a very little amount of
pressure; who pronounced finally that the dyko was a suc-
cess, when, scarcely was it said to be completed, one of
the dams was partly washed away, owing to] bad cons-
truction of the flood gate, and that in winter time, when
no danger might be apprehended. Moreover, how can
we believe a new dyke to be a success, when it has not
been proved or tested at least onco by high water ?

- 11 -

Wo tlo not mean to refuse to pay for the dyko when
it will be declared to be a good, and substantial work by
competent persons, and whpn it wil^ hn,ve been tested by
high -water. But is, it jusfc to, forpQ upon ij^the accrptun-
ce of ii dyke after the report of an Engineer whosa inaj-
bility or partiality can be proved, and before such a work
lias had any chance of being tested by high wator V

Since there is disagreement between the different
paities iuterested, respecting the efficiency of the dyke,
what we ask for is to have the matter decided by arbi-
tration, in the manner described in the clause 1th of
' ^uiuns Dyking Act.' Let the contractor appoint an ar-
bitrator, the owners of the land another, and such arbi-
trators appoint a third one, and should the decision of
the arbitrators be unsatisfactory to any of the two parties,
it would be subject to be set aside on application to the
Supreme Court of British Columbia.

We sincerely hope that the Legislative Assembly
will not refuse us a request so just and so moderate.
Our sanguine opinion is that the Matsqui prairie may be
reclaimed, and we are very anxious to have our lands
ivell and effectually reclaimed, as the Dyking Act requires
it. We feel confident that, should the remarks made by
Mr. Navarre and Mr. Gore have been attended to, the'
Matsqui dyke would havo proved to be satisfactory to all

:e>A> ,

^ 12 -

persons interested in tlio success of u Tsork ol ^ucln
•jTidoabtcd utility for the future of thia rruvinco.

\M CARION.
E.M. HORRIS.
F.M. JAYOL.
Albert HAWKINS.
:M. NICHOLSON.

ch. Mcdonough.

Arthur SMITH.

^•- Tirjc aud difficulty of mail communication did
:ot permit us to wait for the signatures of the •>tliGr
]c.r-d- owners.

Mal^qtU, February 1882.

• 9i»i

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