^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) h ■^< f/i ^ 1.0 I.I ^ m ^ 140 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 18 1.6 % ^i >7 '^ > />^ §s. V >^ ^^" >/^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 .3 mr- ^ MR. BEMISTER'S REPORT FLOOD AT BERTHIEU, IN THB MONTHS ()!' A PRIL AND MAY. f TF 5150^2 BEMISTER & SLATER. PiVIL ^NOINEBRS, MONTREAL STH MAY, lh7Q ? THIEU, AY. PER, I 870 V K "lllflWV-" I ^f^^mipiiipf TO THE MAYOR AND COKPOUATION OF THE TOWN OF JOLIETTE. Montreal, May 5th, 1876. (iKNTLK.MKN. Iniiiieiliatoly iiltir riciiviiig your iOfiiio>^t I went tn HurlljiiT, and uow beg to report to yoii tl,e extent to wliicli the North Shore IJailway Conipiiny's Survey liiif was covered with water (luring; tlic inundation which readied its iioi.nlit at tlio end of last week. In my Iteports on tlic Surveys made in tliis part of tlie country, (page 28,) I said, " For twelve miles near Berthicr the land is underneath the flood-level. This makes the earthwork so heavy for that route, the hanks being six to eight feet high, and even iu some iilaces tiiey would be, as shown by the profile, under the flood level. The Company'.s engineers have very generally described the .«oil on the route as black muek, as may he .■od extended here half a mile inland beyond the line. Between the Chicot Uivor and I'etit St. Jaci)ue.s, (opposite St. Barthelenii,) the water was over the line more or less. In the roud running close to the line in this part the wooden culverts were floating in the water, and in some (iluces gone altogether. Between this (I'etit St. Jacques,) and the Maskinonge River, the line was covered for five miles, — for two miles and a half to a depth of from three to five feet, and for two miles and a half to a depth of from five to eight feet, — and here the top of the embankment, if built as shown on the Company's profile, would have been five feet under water, and of course liable to be covered in higher floods to a dejith of .seven feet. I need hardly point out that running engines and ear.s through water from five to .seven feet deep, even for a short distance, would not be possible. The KaiUvay Company would require amphibious rolling stock for working this portion of the line. The depths, and the extent to which the water covered the line are all shown cle.irly on the profile and map accompanying this report. Ik'tween Berthier and the Chicot Biver whole rows of the fence pos were Hoated up, showini; how the water had soaked the ground, and a boat could bo passed over the top.s of standing fence posts. I went in a boat through Mr. Cuthbert'.s groui.ds and garden over the bushes. .Soqic of the farmers had their fence rails stacked, but a great number must have floated away. Having by this statement of the facts, and by the map and profile, shown the extent oi llie flood, a few remarks will now be in place. It is to be noticed that although the blue color on the map shows the land that was entirely covered by water, so that it seemed to he part of the river, or, rather, looked as if it was a great lake, yet the general level of the land between this covered portion and the Coteau (shown on the map) was only a few inches above the water. Thus to within half a mile ot St, Barthelenii and the Coteau, the water in the ditches and streams was nearly level with the .surface of the land, and in some places the water was over it in large patches, making it a great marsh. The nature of the land being " boggy," — to call it by the descriptive term made use of by tha Company's Engineers, — although the land might not be covered with the water, still the subsoil would he soaked, so that if heavy railway banks are built they would settle at such sea.sons as these, and the result would bo very heavy expenses for repairs. Of course for a short distance this consideration might not have much weight, but it becomes serious in this case from the fact that in the distance between the Ottawa River and the other side of the MaskinongiS River, say forty-five miles, nearly twenty miles arc'more or less under water during floods similar to the present. Embankments built on soft soils constantly sink and spreail, even where great care has been taken in their construction by removing the " black umek " from their foundations. Where the subsoil is likely to be Uooded, in the wet ^seasons, the banks becniiie rrnt only a sfjiircc ci' tri ublo ami ixpuis', Imt lA' iictunl .liiiijor. Miiiiy iiiilwiiy iicciilcnts liavo (iceiirred IVuni tMs cmi'^o. The iictioii nl tlio ciiibiinkinonts on such «iift soils tuny he illii«triitoil by t':i('ts in llio liiniwl.il'.n' of niiy uno ; for iiist.iiici', in llie caso nC roa^ls nvcr snl't soils the i:r;ivel will sink out of sii;lit, iiml loiivc tlic urouml us if no stone li:i;hl iroin the lii,L'her lands and river banks. This sediment, .setlliiii; on the pent, forms n stronj; layer of clay nnd sand. 'I he periods of flood (iver this bceoniinj; more extended in iheir succession, iher" is u ■;!owth of the diss of vei;etation usually fonnd in niarshiv-, which in the course of time f iruw the »urfice soil called by the Company's eiiiiiTieers. '■ black muek.' If on su( h a soil as this a railway embankment is built, heavier than the substratum of clay and saml can bear, it will l)reak thiouuli into tiie peat bciieaih. and "ireat trouble and expense bo the result. The siiikago of the rmb;:nknients, which wouM surely take place to a irreater or lesser cctenl every wet season, is, however, liy no means the only, or even tlio worst, trouble to bo expi'elei). It must be remembered that while the rise of the flood is usually irradual, the fall of the water is very rapid. If, therefore, there i-huuld be an embankment acnss the country, an imuiensc body of water would be suddenly left on the insiJo to which the bank wouM act as a d.ini. Huilt, a.s it would be. of the very worst descrifition of material for withstanding; the act'oii of witer. and conijilctely undermined ami soaked by tho flood, any one can easily pielnre to himself the damau-e to the line that would result over such nn extent of flooded country. .\ny OHO who has read the newspapers durin;_' the past eiiihlccn months will unde-stand bow seriously the railway traffic and property might be affected, lieports of daiii,a,!,'0 to railways fpuii floods ha I'c been constant, from all pirts of the world, .md a ^re it ninnbe- of accidents have occurred in eonsei(Uenci'. with loss of life and |iroporty. I mention a few instances that come to my mind at the moment. .V short lime af;o. in the Slates, an eii'jine w.is destroyed by burstiiii; from running into water on :i portion of the line that was subnuTL'cd. .\ lino was reported '• damaged to the extent of ovei ijlllll.- 000. The road-bed badly damaged for twent3--niie miles." At the same time nnother line was reported clamnged, •' tr:iel\ under water a mile and a half." A few days since ( .May l»t) the I'nion Pacifi: Railroad was reported " wn.shed out a Cvw miles east of Ogden, and eiirht ears ran into tin- river there this mornin'.'. A brid;.'e of the I'. C. IJ.iilroad is in peril, and the ears are pushed across by hand, I'lo-peels of 'jreiter daiiia,'"." In fact, instances ..I' accidents, oivinii lo flojiN. niijilit be vivon in any nundKi. The aecid 'iits show that ihe utmost vii;ilaiice, during tho season of flood, will not prevent loss to the railway company. Olt n the break in the embnnkmcnt takes place suddenly ; a culvert gives way, or a bridge is damaged, and ihen there is anacciilent. Instances of accidents from tlond occurring on local railways will be fre-h in the memory of many. A good idea of the daiiL'er and of the damage likely to happen to a railway in these floods, would he gained by any one travelling over the roads at the time of one of ihein, by seeing the number of road-bridges and culverts damaged or broken up, often necessitating going long distances out of tho road, or across fields. Two iircat canoes operate to produce the floods in this part, Tho chief cause is the dauiming up of the .St. Lawrence river by ice. The olher. the water coming from the interior. The present flood was caused wholly ly the 8t. Lawrence, tho flood having cecurred in a monlh of the finest weather, when the only water coniin-; from the interior was from the snow melted by the sui:. The rainy season had not commenced. It in.iy bo conceived how much greater the flood would have bnen, and how much greiter the damage would have been, bad tho two causes combined, that is, had the flooil tiiken place durin;: the rainy season. Whenever there may be su;h a eoMibination (d' circuuist.a nces. there must be extreme floo 1 ; then, o('eonr-e. the d nig r to any railw;,y embankment would be gn^atly incrcas mI. The present flood is to be considered as one fif tlie ordinary floods, and not as one of the extreme floods. I uin convinced of this from the ojiinions of people livinu' on the spot, who spoke of the water " as not very deep." It occurred, as 1 have said, in a montii of flue weather. Then, too. there is the fact, that altlioii.di flimls were anticipate I. yet in places wher,' they are u-u illy foil most severely, in Montreal f r instance, the water only rose high enough to flood a few basemen's. This is sufllcient lo prove that the exireiuo floods rise much higher tlnin tho level of the water during the present one. The <|Ucstion will natundly be nsked, as a point to bo taken into oonsidcraliou, how ollen do il.e.se floods occur? My examination convinces mo that the following are correct statements. The water rises to such an extent every season, that allhough tho land crossed by the survey-line miy not le flooded, except for a mile or two, yet the level if tho water is very close to tho surface so that the subsoil is flooded for twelve miles or more between liertliier and Maskinongi . Mvcry three or four years thcie is a fli od •similar to the present and to the one that oeeurred iii 1873. OiiPL- in I'Viry Ion yniis an oxtrcnic flnoil. siinilnr to tliiit of IPfiS, is to be uxpi'doJ. Tlic result of the flnoilini; of the suIjhjH every .-ea."!.!!, would be the s-iiikiiij.' iinil ilaniiij.'e if tho ■ iiibiiiikuienlH. Tbero would al.-o be jireat danger of ueeident.s for two or ibree nionlbs in the year, durin;: tlic Spring and FmII. The [.oesible interruption to tn.ffie, duriIl^ the continuance ol tbe floods, especially just Icfore the oper.inL', and at tiie coniuiencenicnt, of navigation, would be very serious to the rnilivay interests. So great is tbe danger and risk in placing an ordinary einbunki'icnt uern>s such a stretch of eounlry, Ilia', if my pro|(i>ed route to Joliettc were to be adopted, I should advise that the lino between the t'hicot and Maskinonge Rivers should bo taken about a mile nearer St. Uarlhelenii and Maskinongi'. llian it is shown on the accnnipnnying map liy the dotted thick line. The, cost of build- ing a Jirsl-t liisH road across this flooded land would be very gieal, conipaicd with the co>l if put nearer St. Hiirlheleoii and Maskinonge. The cnibankinint must be from two to three times liighcr. A 'jreiiter numbi r of iiilvcrls must l.c built, btciiuse there wonhl not only be Ihew.iter from the interior to 1 e oniric d iiway in tbe rainy .Reasons, but the immen.-e body of water that would be on the iii>ide of the onibnnkmrnt, during the floods, must be provided for. If the line is put nearer St. Barthelenii, it would only I c noeessaiy to provide eulv( rts to cany olf itu water coming fioin the interior, (ireat cue Hdu'd be nice^siiry in initlini; in the loundutions of the cnlvcrls to make them s.-curc by piling and oilier n.eans. Tie " bhiek nuiek" of the snrlaec soil wiuld have to be llirown out of the founda- tions (d' the 1 nibniikiiienlf. and the enibaiikmcnis theniselvis would have In be made of sound mate- rial, brought from n distance, so thiit none of the " black muck " should bo used in their construction. The bottom of the enihankmonis would li ivo to bo well protected at the culverts. It is only by preeiiutioiis such as tlnsc lb it a first-class r.nihvay can bo constructed over the flooded land. Kvcn with these j.n cautions the dniiiage during floods would surely be very great, and tho inlcrniptioii to traflie consiilernble. The North Shore line will be one of the great passenger lines, and, lis over those through lines people prefer trnvelliiiL' at night, there will bo great danger to life for two or llireo months in every year while the wot seasons last. There will be this danger even with the best precautions tiken in the eonstruction and maintenance (^f the line, if it is eurriid over lbi> flooded portion of the coiintiy. llurin:; the p"isent flood there were at least 'Ih.'MM acres of Ian 1 under water in this part alone, occupied by a population of S.fiOO people ; ,500 chvelliug houses standing in the water. In order to piove how very seriously the floods would damage and inlorleie with the workiuii of the line, if built according to the Company's jilans and profiles, 1 need but point to one fact. If the line had been actually con>trueled previous to this flood, tin inp nf Me Diilninlcmnit irnnhl hure Imn lit iiiif part fivi fill iDiilir inilir. and this is the ease, although the grades have boon raised a foot or more throughout, above what they were l:iid down on the original profiles, rrom this ciu.so the trnflic would have been stopped for some length of time, just at tlie season when freights must bo moved briskly over iho road to bo ready for navigation. To say nothing, then, of the damage to the line, gre^at loss would have been snflerul, not only by tbe HiiUviiy Company, but also by those whoso frei'.dit was delayed. This fiel is snffieieiit lo show that tlie loeiilii.n of the Hue in tlii> ]i:irt milit be altered. In order to give an idea of the state of this part of the eoiiiitiy dnriiiL' ilie t\ md, in the follow- in;; 1 Liive a brief description of the appearance of Berthier ; I might write a great de'al of the discomforts of the journey down fiom Montreal to Joliettc ; of tho -tretches of road covered with water wliieh had to bo driven tbroii'jh ; of crossing the river at lloutdc I'Isle; of Ilont del'Isle village, flooded to the lops of the girden feiici s. and its people goiii',; about in canoes; of the rond between Root do lisle and L'Assoniplion, where it was necessary to ',;o over Holds and field ditches, some distance out of tho way, beeau.so tho road bridL'O could not be crossed ; nf L'As'omiilion villnge, with the watir in the streets; eif driving till after three o'clock in llie nii;ht over almost iiiipas.«able roads, wdiero the shafts wero broken off and Iho wheels damaged, niakins; it necessary lo eidl up wople twice on the road to gel lojios to lie the parts together. A deseription ed' the woes and wifiil pliehts of this journey would be ei|Ual to aiiylhing that travellers in the wilds of India have gone through in tho wet season. When within a mile or two of Herthier, althou.'h we had crossed many fields and jumped the horses over any number of ditches at the risk of breaking everything, including the horses' legs, I bpL'an lo think Ibe reports of the flood liad be'cn exa'^iwratod. Immediately, however, we came to a flooded part of the roid. i'assing through this, standing on the carriage seat, the water was so Jeep that it covered the s"it five or ^ix inclies, and this wi>« cerlaitily an earnest of the scene to follow. The town of Uortliicr was i^tanJing in ii j.To;it lake. I'nr mil's, an r:ir as the oyo couM ^uc, trcoa und liouiKiS were in the water, not a patcli of ^Touiid uncovcroi). It uocmeJ, indeed, as if th« trees LTow, and tlic people lived, in water. Tlic weatlier was so fine tliat had it not been for the outlines of fields, iiinikid here and tlicre \iy rows of fenee posts showin;.' just above the water, any- one iiiij:ht have fnjiposed it to be the ordinary state of thin-s. J)rivin<.' llirouuh llio water into the town, on reachini; the eliureh, 1 saw that reports had not cxaL'^eraled the extent of the flood. Water was undisputed posscB.sor. Water, as if aeiinj: as a bailiflT. had put distress into every house. All bus), ncss was at n standstill. Jlost of the people wereen^ajred in walehini; and pursuing portions of their property that the water was carrying' away. Tlie side-walk was floalini? on the street leadini; from the cliureh, and also on the front street tliat runs nlon;; near the wharf. These side-walks were lied to the trees and feneep, to keep tli.ini from floatin,ir uway or breaking' up. The.se were the only streets that had a plank, and this on one side only, that could be walked on for any length, and on it we had to walk in sinirle file, and keeping apart from each other, or the weight would have forced it under the water. At one part of it (he only bridge was a li nee with two rails out of the water. On the lower one the feet had to he plaeed and then, clinging to the upper, by a side-way motion, the water was cros.«eil. For some rca.son or other, this was the only means of pa.ssing over this part provided for, or by, the inhabitants. For some days I saw the agility of the ladies much exerei.'cd at this pass. Doubtless each tenant looked after the por- tion of aide-walk immediately in frontof his own house. The owner of the fence must have thought he bad done his duty lo'lhc pub!ic)in providing such u strong fence for their aeeommodation. It is a sur- prising thing that comniiin as tbe.-e floods are. the people simuld build their Imuses with the ground floir not only below the e.\treme flood-level, liut even below the ordinary flood level. Hardlv a house in tin' place has its ground-floor above the extreme flijod-level. and very few above an ordinary flood-level. There are some very nicely built and pretty houses in this town, audit was pitiful to sec the well painted, well papered dwellings with water over their fl^wrs. Ksp<"cially when this water was a lii|uiil mud made up irom the .soakings of privies, manure heaps, pig-stiis, and lilth of all kimls. Anyone might be pardoned ior thinking that the basements and rooms would never get dry nr purified again In tl.is front part of the town, the flnors of the liou-es are highest. In .plo were living ; in others the stoves and tables. perhaps were left standing in the water. IJarrels with planks across thcin were placed in the rooms by wliieh the people reached the stairs from their canoes. The back part ol the I'lWn was in niueli the woist cnndition as far as the state of the bons.'S Willi. The water was in many of the hi'ii.'ies half way up the windows, and soni.> of the windows Wire eovncd to their tops. In these houses the people were living in the roofs, and cither they had little furniture, or themselves aiid their furniture must have hud pretty cWc ((Uarter.-. Kxcepi fur the signs of life in the upiKr stories, and in the windows of attics, and for the people pa.ssing about, and engaged in various occujjalions, in canoes, the town looked as if plague slr'.cken and deserted, or as if ihe li;iVoc of war bad driven the [H'uple away. This dewrted look wascaus*?d from nio.st of the houses li iviiig their doors iind windows open or taken out, showing the empty rooms. The apjicarance of dcsolati :n and destruction is only to be realized by anyone who has seen some similar inundation. In one place a man had Ibrincd a boom inside of which he was throwing fence-rails, plank.s. and other wood that he was saving from floating away. Here, a hen or two was standing on a manure heap ju^t above the water; there, two or three hens were standing on a floating door, lookin.' very forlorn. In aiii^iber jilace a pig was lyin'.' dead. The privies were in all sorts of jiosiiions. sono' with the roof just above the water only, some half way over on their sides, others fallen backwards. A man was stand- itiL' in his canoe and hanging clothes to dry on the caves of his roof, which was just about the height ol his chest. Another man, crawling from his canoe through what was left above water of bis door- way, turned to us and remarked that his "doorway was growing snialUr." Kvcn the smith's shop seemed to be tollowing the general state of things, for the anvil appeared to be floating in wati r like I verything else. Some of the hou.ses had the water up to the windows ; the only things left in the rooms being the flowers in the windows, showing what comfortable little homes they were before the flood came, Kvery linuse had its canoe, and the knowledge of how to maki^ a flat-bottomed canoe must bo more general in this town than in any other place in Canada. A vessel or two and a |iost standing above the water hero and there, were the only signs of a wharf. The baker was going round with a bDat-load of bread, calling to people in the houses, asking if they wanted any. A woman in a canoe was currying a slop-pail to empty it away from the houses, of course into the water. That the people were not generally poi.-oiied during this flood would seem to prove that filth, taken internally or externally. is not injurious. In such a time there arc many amusing scenes, although to the poor people the thing must have been far too real to be amusing. The roof of a hou.se that was just above the water had a eat si. ting ou its ridge. In a yard, a well just showed its roller and chain above the water. I think that that well had more water than would have supplied all Canada, and one or two other countries beside. The Telegraph office was reached by walking on plunks placed across the rooms on barrels. It was comical • • • • • • ; .." * • • •• ' • • • • . • ••• • • • • • • t ' ••• • • • \ to 8CC I1OU8CS, lialf tlieir licif^lit in water, with tlic Fire Insurance Company's tin plate over their door, Tlio town sticins to need insurance from wat«r rather than from fire. On one day, goinp in n hoat inland beyond the town, the waves ran so high that wo were in danger of being swnnipod. The boatman was (|uito frightened, and wc had to make for the land, and walk. This brief description of facts will give a belter idea of t"ic flood than any more statement of the depth of water, here or there, over the land. That is why I have given it, and oapeoially because only the inhabitants see the plaoo at such a time, — no one thinks of travelling, there are no stages running, for the roads are impassible all over the country, — and any one seeing the t«iwn in summer time would not be able to realize the fact of such n fiood as the present, to say nothing of floods higlier than this, lu summer the water is some nine feet below the wharf, while in this flcjod nothing could bo seen of the wharf or the road near it, and tlie houses had the water over their floors. J may mention another fact, — there was ten feet of water over the ground wlicre the North Shore Uailway Company's first survey line was located. In conclusion, I may s.iy that the intorestn of Itcrlhicr would suffer littlo, if anything, from the placing of the line a short distance further inland than it is now located. It is quite necessary, in the interests of the Railway, that it should bo built out of reach of these floods, even if the lino is to follow the same route. Anything that the town of Horthier might suflTer from the lino being moved further from it, so as to follow the route to Joliotte, would be far more than compensated by being placed in communication with the interior of the country, and with such a growing, enterprising l(/wn as Jolictte. It must be remembered that the places along the St. Lawrence Kiver, like Uerthicr, depend for their growth on the traflic and trade of the interior. The interests of IJerthier, therefore, will be best served by this connection with the interior. If the Kailway is built on the route of the Company's survey line all the trafluc will pa.ss Uirthicr; but, on the other hand, if the line is taken to Jolictte, then Hcrlhicr bceomcs the nearest harbor, and the traflic seeking navi- gation would naturally reach I3«rtliier. To illustrate this further: — The line is at present under construction from Quebec to Tlirce Rivers. Suppose between Three Rivers and Jolietl<' the line was put twelve or fifteen miles inland. In that ease Three Rivers would become the only harbor nt which the traffic coming from the interior for navigation could ship ; then Three Rivers would have the monopoly of this traflie, and a very large proportion of the freight tradic is such as will seek the navigation as soon as possible. Rerthier is so situ itod that, if the l{ lilway is built on the Company's survey line, none of this interior trafli': will find its way to her. Nothing c.in prevent the Town of .Jolictte being the centre to which the traffic will flow for ull that part of l\v country, and this tr afli^ will be C'arriod by the present Railway from Jolictte to the Hi. Lawrcnec. A gl^n^.^ afsruiap show that Uorthier is so placed that under these cireunistanoes the tralBc would pass ou both sides without benefiting the Town at all. If the Railway is carried by way of Jolictte and Terrebonne, as I have advocated, then Berthier will he the nearest harbor to .^lonlrea' "• ''i" main lino, and the growth and advancement of the Town from this cause would certainly bo i' I were advocating the special interests of Berthier, I could not do it better than by advising i,.. iiuoption of the route by way of Jolictte and Terrebonne. The fewer the harbors connected with tiie main lino, the greater will be the benefit to the towns that arc so connected. I here conclude my Report, And have the honor to be, (ientlcmen, , Your obedient servant, GEORGE BEMISTER. ■ M^Porr^sc COUA/TRy A.^^^ S£RTH SCMtS O/' rn£ /yfjf/' fiyr£ Mfl.Ji TV 0AM MCM^ ST ctfTMoli^r '-^ -X -s^ ^ y9 ^ /? £ ^£jfr^yMy9 ^^^f ^/tr-'—i //v^jt/i/o styi>/vo tw^j-'*^ wi I J L • ' ^• --\ r:fi71f'^iarTVirz?^-je7>^li^^ygVrf7.SdSt:ia*»l: c X\: /^/?a/^//.£. or /va/fr/f^ S/¥a/fS /f^yj.iiyy9y cav •So/ff. ir y/? 3£/iTH/ER ' fi/r£ Af^4.£ 7» 0/irS/ACM^ /^'(^C^^^^ 9^ tJ&i!^y ^v.^nv. ST^^» rMsi. BA*/ -^. © LA yy /? £ /^ ^ \ ■ST S/l/tTHfl£Aff I c ,vq' i> \ tr'jTrjr/t MS/f£ 3ra S/v^raef^. Tint nt^ Of MjrMAt ttvd^t^Mtrtrjc 4Ui£^ S/^iMM^>¥>rrMX 9/fs /t^/j.»^Ay car