42                      HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

reservoir intensified the opposition, until the public indignation assumed
so serious an outlook as to induce the canal company to lay the matter
before the state legislature, and ask security against threats and violence.
The people adjacent to these feeders demanded of the canal company
that all the timber should be removed before inundation, and that the
water should in no place be less than two feet in depth. These conditions
were not conceded. On the 4th of March, 1853, the legislature enacted
a law authorizing the governor to appoint a committee of five competent
physicians from different parts of the state, to visit and examine the
feeders of Clay and Gibson counties, and to report their condition and
sanitary influences. This committee consisted of Joseph H. Cook, of
Vermillion county; A. D. Gall, of Marion; John S. Ford, of Jackson;
Samuel Grimes, of Carroll ; and Matthew Smith, of Rush. who visited
the feeders in the latter part of the summer of 1853, and submitted their
report, which is as follows, as to Splunge Creek reservoir:
    This body of water covers an area of about 4.000 acres, one-fourth
of which is covered with timber in a state of decay.
    “The grounds now covered with the waters of this reservoir were
previous to inundation, a low, wet and swampy bottom immediately
adjacent to Eel river, which flooded it at every considerable rise. Near
the center of this reservoir was a pond which covered from 1,200 to
1,500 acres, which slowly dried away during the drier months of summer,
and left exposed a heavy alluvial deposit, which emitted a most offensive
smell. At such time the inhabitants were sure to become the sufferers
from intermittent and remittent fevers. The higher portions of these
grounds were overgrown in summer with a most luxurious growth of
grass and vegetable matter from two to six feet high. This, too, was
destroyed by the overflows, and left to decay after the waters had subsided.
All the lower places were left full of water to slowly dry away by
evaporation and percolation.
    “These grounds have been covered with water about three years.
The water is pure and clear, with the exception of that portion of it
which surrounds the timber, which is slightly colored from vegetable
extracts, which can in no wise contribute to the production of malaria.
The water, in depth, ranges from few inches to fifteen feet, and is in
an almost constant state of agitation, which greatly favors its purification.
At the north end of the embankment there is constructed a tumble,
passing a part of the waters of Eel River Feeder into this reservoir.
About the center of the embankment is the bulkhead, passing the waters
directly into the canal. Although Splunge creek does not furnish running
water during the dry season, yet the reservoir is constantly in receipt of
fresh supplies of water. The amount of water discharged over that
received from the feeder is supposed to be about one-half inch per
twenty-four hours; the water passing over the tumble and displacement
both have a beneficial influence in preventing stagnation. The water
seems perfectly free from all unpleasant odor, and at no point does
malaria seem to be generated, except around the exposed margin, which
is the portion left uncovered from. the lowering of the water one-half
inch per twenty-four hours. When standing to the northeast, along the
prairie side, there seems to be a decided pernicious influence exerted,
none of which is attributable to the standing timber, which is on the
southeast border of the reservoir.
    “Malaria, or miasmata, has at all times, and under all circumstances,