Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-04-08

n We publish The following cotnmunica-
ton az It Ia eent 10 us. The writer 10 a high
" respectable citizen of lbervjllo and lis views
are entitled 10 proper consideration
MULBERRY GHovE, Parish of lberville, !
ooh Of Feb. lbi3,
II The Editors " the Tropie
Ny uelghbo1s are all drcadiully alarmed al
a report tho Bayou Manchae Ia 10 be opened
TO the Mississippi, but ! conceive without
just cause. The steamboat employed there |
conceive is tIcrely cleaning out the lower part
Of The bayou, and perhaps the Bayou Fontain.
which require 1t for the purpose Of navigation.
conceive VIC have more reason 10 be alarmed
at a statement ! read yesterday in the Plaque.
mine paper, that The State Engineer had re-
commended the dredging aud deepening the
mouth of Red River aud levccing It's south
bank down AS far M the Atrhafalaya, 80 az 10
allow tho whole waters OF that immense river
to flow down upon ua, in addition to the waters
Of the rivers in the upper country, which must
always do 80 aud, worse again, that oil the
three rivers or wafer courses which now In
some MEASURE relieve us OF a superabundanCo
Of water, The two prlnCi pal ones arc by him re-
commended TO be closed-let tllF be done and
all the plantations below will he ruined. The
river will rise from three 10 five feet higher,
levers must be raised in proportion, which
in fact cannot be done. Many OF our leyees
ere now MS high as they can be raised, 80 rs
to stand against our highes. rises OF water I;
for, let q levee be ever SO wide at It's base, II
becomes saturated with water, and would give
way under 80 great a pressure. Soft mud can
never resist Il heavy pressure. Let our adyer-
narles say drive down splles, and plank up on
each side yes, yes, and putty tho seams to
keen them dry. II cannot be done We can
not afford it many places are already gwen
up and abandoned, from inability 10 keep up
the ~levees, at n great expense 10 The parishes,
which are obliged, in self-deienre, to build
them up. Add to this, that if the Bayou Man
81 &C were opened, in the manner recommend
ed by Mr.. White, Of Florida (who by the by,
sever saw that bayou, and had no local know
edge Of it,) Of cutting through the estuary or
point above, and letting Tho Mississippi have
fair access TO it, would drown the whole H.
land, at common rises, and put the town of N,
Orleans under water. Mr.. Engineer Powell
gave a much bet,er-a perfect true report Oh
the subject.-Iie stated that instead OF bene-
fit ing [ would have ruined the navigation; that if
had It been left open until the time he viewed
it, Lakes Maurepas and Pontcbartran would
have been filled up by the sediment from the
Nj Mississippi. As TO carrying off and reducing
the wafer Of the Mississippi, the bayou never
did any good, the Mississippi having indirect
access to it threw no great quantity Of water
into il, and that quantity was very often
backed up upon us by the rise OF water in the
Amitc, which runs upon higher ground.
There is a large space o. low ground or swamp
between the Mississippi and Amite a rise in
either of these rivers fills it up, but previous
to shutting Of the Bayou Manchac, whenever
these waters met, our situation was wotul in
deed. Our cattle drowned, our lands either
saturated with water or put entirely under il;
Whole families down with malignant fevers,
and an immense number dying annually.
Every person resident here at that tune and
since, OF any observation whatever, must be
sensible of the great change iii point of health
since the stoppage of that bayou. | say that
the Bayou Manchac never accomplished any
thing IN reducing the waters OF the MISSISSIPPI
pi, for, he low intervening ground being filled
up with such water and the Amlte together,
our common draining bitches were stopped.
That these numerous bitches, showing a SUI
face of a thousand times The width of that bay
on, and running through dry ground, a much
greater quantity was taken up by evaporation
and absorption from those bitches than the
quantity passing through the bayou, deep as
it was and shaded by trees. The water cours-
es above alluded to ss contemplated to tie
stopped, are the Atchafalaya and Bayou Pla-
auemine, leaving open only the Bayou La
tourche.
Yours, truly, /. w.