The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1850-11-26
Western improvements.

Western improvements.
We notice the fact that ut the last session
OF Congress an appropriation of $4,000 was
made by an act {" making appropriations for
the civil AID diplomatic expenses of the Gov
eminent for the year ending 18th Of June,
1851. and for other purposes" for the topo-
graphical and Photographed survey of the
delta Of the Mississippi, with such investiga-
tons as may lead to the most practicable
plan for securing it from inundation-and
the best mode Of SO deepening the passes at
the mouth Of said river, as to allow ships OF
twenty feet dreught to enter the same"
Now we suppose this is all right, and take
it for granted it is so. At any rate we make
no objections to it. But TO a plain practical
man in the West. to any OF our boatmen, it
would seem little singular that such n sum
is appropriated for such purposes" deepen
ing the passes at the mouth" Of the Missis-
sippi, so as to allow ships drawing twenty
feet water to enter the same, when such are
the known distractions on the same river
above the mouth OF the Ohio, that for seve-
raj months in the year, steamboats, drawing
five feet water cannot get out with their car
goes-that owing to the number Of wrecks
from snags and sawyers only thirty miles
abore the mouth ofMe Ohio: that locality in
the Mississippi river, with all boatmen, has
received and still maintains the appropriate,
significant and well known appellation Of the
GRAvEYARD;" and that q season scarcely
passes but some one or more steamboats, lay
their bones alorgside their neighbors at this
locality.
We had supposed that "deepeuing the
passesn OF a stream was of very little use,
while the stream itself was shallow from its
sources-tfat the admission of ships OF
twenty feet draught to enter the mouth Of the
Mississippi" was an outlay at present. OF lit
tie Importance, when the Ohio and Missssip-
pi could not be navigated, owing TO low water,
the shoals, sand bars, and the snags and saw
ycrs which render the navigation unsafe and
dangerous-that it was of no great impor-
lance to have IA ship oft,centy feet draught'
at New Orleans to take off what she comes
there to get, Uestern produce, when the
steamboat which Is to carry it there, draw
ing fire feet arater, is aground for weeks be-
cause oil the distractions in the Upper Mis-
sissippi and Ohio, or buried beneath the wa
tiers by the snags aud sawyers which abound
in them. But we may be mistaken. Our
friends at the North and South may know
more Of our wants than we do ourselves, and
we must be thankful for what we get at their
hands, even it lie the crumbs from the rich
entertainments TO which they seat themselves
occasionally at the public treasury.
Two officers Of high reputation in the ser
vice, attached TO The typographical engineers
aided by ''civil engineer, unsurpassed by
any other OF his profession in the country,
as the 'official Gazette" Informs us-are now
en- route for the "passes." We wish then
success, hut beg leave modestly to express {
doubt Of it, believing as we do that in our OWL
section Of country. judging from past expert
ence, o few practical men, boatmen, pilots
men acquainted for years with the danger
and navigation OF the Ohio aud Mississippi
rivers are worth whole bureau Of topo
graphical or civil engineers sent out from
Washington, and that the utter inutility o
all that has been done heretofore on tn
Western waters arises from the fact that The
oreticGt instead of practical men have ha
the planning of our improvements. The ac
however, settles one questionable constitu
tionality ofimproving the Ohio and Mississip
pi rivers, even I'VE had not other precedent
Of similar nature. If Congress have power
as by this act they say they have, to ''surve
the Mississippi, with such Investigations q
may lead to tie most practicable plan for st
curing it from lnundation, in other words
they can raise the banks of that stream, wi
the sap;ent editors Of the Republican tell I
why they cannot dig out its bottom2
%A young man now living in Kentuck,
cd h. can ..;vo rpo1I nIa flows