The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-06-23
New Orleans and the Mississippi.

MOBILE June 81 ls49
Eds Crescent-As my soc wish is impress on the ci
OF New Orleans the importance of improving or regu
lang the of their and noble river
will paidon this and space on the
plea that subject and to all their Jour
nasts And achievs beg recall attention to this
in published letter of the I'D of May last to Mr.
S. J Peters
Twelve ago drew attention the perncious
effect of the and predicted the of things
And when the tops OF the embankments levees shall
reach the roofs of houses you may perhaps think differ.
entity OF the operation OF tie river now going before
eyes and Ind too late that the stopp of
vases at this Tina will not Prove your salvation
1t is surely evident, gentlemen that in the above did not
allude TO the comparatively t Sauve al
though cannot be denied that has been made of fgtul
consequence your city My object was to draw attention
10 the little regarded fact that have their
beds alarming by deposits caused from the OK
tension of agriculture and other artificial works upon their
borders and that must expect similar results from like
causes in the Mississippi.
The vast quantities of heavy materials carried into the
river by its tributaries consequence the abrasion of their
banks-the clearing, culture and draining of adjoining
andsmust decrease the transporting power of its waters
and rem er them insufficient to convey these heavy
to the Gulf and hence they must become deposited in its bed
The most important circumstance which is hereby brought
into consideration the erection of eves along the sides
the river for protecting the low lands from inundaton The
river beng enclosed by levee continues bring along
sedimer matters from above and deposits them more or
less the bottom of the bed by which surface
river becomes higher and higher willie the protected low
ians retain me same height This Is the glst Of the
and to which referred letters of 1887 and 1871 ad
dressed TO Mr.. Peters President of the Chamber of
Commerce.
While this and inevitable process of eeyatng the
bed OF the river and consequently the surface of waters
continues and does before eyes, should the
principle still be adhered TO of interference with ma
ure must naturally bring about tn result; namely that
the waters of Il Mississippi will find channel greatly
nearer to the Gulf than the and the city of New
Orleansbe left probably far off from its course and thus be-
come mere inland town. Similar cases hare happened
and may again. -----------
That such formation of channel is not nm resson
able that has taken place eewhers in similar ca es and
that large have been flied upn my letter to Mr. p
tiers, OF the 23d OF May last cited the Rhine Holland
striking example OF bifurcaons and consequent filling
up of the river; and of the more importance as
the principal alterations which have happened in it during
about two thousand years authenticated by history from
the days of Drusus Germancus TO the present time.
In all countries where police exists supervision
of embankments evees is entrusted to overeers whose
duty keep them always good repair stop the first
appearance of cIevasse.
Wherever the evees udciously located and of proper
form and dimensions, there danger of crevasse
though where barriers of ice formed in the bed OF yer
many different circumstances present themselves He
who has heard the signal guns from point point along
the Rhine, The P0 and other rivers when eaks up
in the f4r.off mountains, will have better idea OF these
matters than l can describe. ..
If err this subject trust the scientific gentlemen of
New Orleans will rght such always do by sound
and sensible argument and not with such ribaIdry the
uniformed use to msead by. To such Arguments shall
be proud to listen and learn
The i'll effects of msstatiDg facts cannot but have ten
dency to check all well efforts for improving the Mis-
sissipp which, perhaps the very of New Or
leans depends Yours respectfully, ALBERT STEIN.