The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1850-07-26


- eALkH a. soRsHETs 4. NJ o H.
"A. Ssats Of Lsosss ami tz~s, s<r,ss,,.g.. 81.
ihs leYees of Louisana nav Il rsgsys.s !, ;,,
~ sasson toF nifty years ~ 4 distanes Of one
hundfed miles from Bagou f.aio.re1ss s, Lla
.ae eiy. These leyees have an average heieb. no
portion a The Stale and he h;sfss - = ~ -Pl.
known, whether within sha iepisi i;1s,irss y,
without, are no higher than many ro;af. N ~ -
and some of the best river plantations resens Ios,
reaches wttt0gft ere<s - -s''s
~ he river then has not rzised is bed nor fp..Ies
point Of elevation, in recent vexrs .r<.sS~ sl
its level VIXEN i deposited those high aroua.3s. $
10 maintain leyees in future, rhen We sbafI hzrs \
70 Taise them no higher than 10 the past y, 3
% The location Of levees below Baton Rouge
was chiefly made before those farther above asd
consequently were placed too near the bank 10 al
init Of the new abrasions, arising from cnt.oIs.
from extended levees, and from the never ceasiue
steamboat waves.
For this reason shey are now being destroyed by
caying banks and by lashiDg waves
A period has arrived, when shese new elements
have cut away the small battnres and he higb
waters which the geology OF this aluvion shownte
have been frequent, geologicaliy speaking, ia past
ages are recurring. and levees are wholly IN
equal to the task Of restraining the waters There
are those who are not cToakers, that have loreseen
these disasters but their warnings have not been
1eeded siood levees have not been erected. The
eaig y, ~ shss respect has neuer bss1s eaforcsa
~ y he management Of levces has been in the
% 2, sncse least capable Of enforcing the law
ne districts have been determined bg uarisb
boundaries, and not - tEev should Is ~ III tono
gFaphy Of the gfonuds - - - 'ShS
The vigilant have often been Inundated from, a..
negligence Of their neigbbors.
lnese considerations, and not any defect in the
p.rne'pe' nave caused adlss1uss IN the levee sys-
~. What as The Remedy far Ossysa,r. , :
Would suggest TO lay oil the State into Iewse dis
lrlcts indicated by the topography cf the grounds,
ana oi each district make suh-dstfiets in Ike man
ner, with guard levees running back between them
Let the districts be large enough d ocr,nv tks
time attention, and professional labor Of surveyor
OF levees. -
Let there be chief engineer of eyees. whose
duty 1t shall be to survey and define these districts
and to nominate to the governor the district enoi
neers, and to be responsible Tor their acts and Sis
own, in heavy bonds.
Let the whole and sole control be placed in hia
hands, with plenary powers to enforce the law re-
speeding work upon the levees, and to draw from a
fund created Tor That purpose to have the work per
formed, whenever the planter is delinquent.
Let the levees be erected in ali eases one .rpant
from the river, and two or three arpents whenever
ascertaned TO be necessary, by hVdrographic sur-
vey Of the river. The proprietor having to make
suen ieyees In front as may be desirable or neces-
2S- Let the levee be at least 25 feet wide ON the
summit, and the public road placed on il whenever
the levee is not more than five feet high.
When the levee is higher LEI the crest be at least
eight feet wide, protected from travel; its base sixty
feet, and the public road on iss side AZ Ieazt for
feet above the level Of the land on its river 1srin
and inclined thence twenty five feet to the gutter,
az the level OF the land. Let the road be made az
battare sand and il viii always be practicable.
with such ieyee, located, governed, and con-
structed as above with the professional tsFide az th
engineer and his heavy bonds to auieke and rem
der HIM ylgiiant, have great confidence the coun
try could be maintained free from iaundahons.
Without leyee system under State Government.
nave no hope Tor remedy for the disasters, now
so common and SO overwhelmInsrF
Waste Wsirs and De5o1ckares- S;nes M.
memoir was IN progress Of preparation series al
questions have been addressed to me bv the io;nt
committee on oyerfows, levees, and drainage. of
the Legislature. :
The principles and views have ernre..ad a.,
swer most Of these queries
And my opinion Of the effects of a Ivsste-vveir a,
bonnet Care, or elsewhere, has been asked ana
although my general conclusions are readily infer
roe from this paper, there some details worth
The objections are found in articles ~ .ns1s
as given above, that it would weaken the force ~
the current at the bars Of the river and in the ta,
mel. All this force is needed for the bars soon
an up on dIverting the waters and weakening The
For many years, the North East Pas. ,v,, ~.
principal channel Of commerce, and ships Of Is or
~ ieet water passed the bar. Its depth nav |.
about feet, and IL feet is the greatest den,h
vessel can carry over the bar, going out Mean
w ulie tne eoulh- W est Pass has opened, and after
several months OF high water cutting at the bar,
snip uhe Columbia) was brought up over the bar.
with nineteen feet Of water. This is urobahlv he
greatest depth ever brought over against the cur
rent s
lhfee or iour years since cutoff was made by
nature and the oyster-men, twenty-fve miles abovs
the Balize, discharging the water into the West
pay In July, lS49, measured and found the
New Pass, called Wilder's Bayou, 1900 feet wide
and SIXTY feet deep near the South shore Since
that time the North East Pass has been closing
channel to the Gulf
but every channel closes some nrev;oux
one or affects and Injuries all Others
The objection made by some, that a waste.,ve;r
at Bonnet Care would NIL the lake and first iood
with water and next ill up the bed with sediment
Both these objections | think eroundless-f,s.
because few inches elevation of the water enables
It to spread over an outlet several miles wide and
second, because volume equal to one-tenth part
OF the Whole rlver discharged into the Lake would
not deposit more than one foot per century.
Nor is there much danger in nv opn;on. Of !.
"aste-Meir wearing channel, even with the nine
cen feet ia OF water from the river 10 the Lake
It Bonnet Care ~
Dut am confident that the channel below would
Don adapt itself 10 the diminished force and tbere
would be little no reduction Of level
Ana i is certain that it would accelerate the va
oel.y above, and increase the ravages upon the
anks for twenty or thirty miles above.
Let US be careful in future how we tamnar with
ne mississippi river. He is tyrant too ungoy
Inaoie to be triied with. We know too little Of
he physics OF the river to make experiments AZ
resent; and that will be the wisest legislation
Ehlch directs effort TO solve its thousand unknovvT
Ialtss and meantlne relies upon long tried methods
more powerfully ana strongly applied ia the fntnrs
Without any particular theory to maintain or
nterest to subserve by the adoption Of particular
obey, more than the common interest Of a citizen
submit these views and facts, trusting that thew
nay be Of value at the present crisis but perfectly
eady and willing to see them entirely superseded
nd forgotten, whereinsoever they are not sustained
y reason and truth.
treat this part OF subieet professionally and MT .
slsiatof Il iof the Legislature provide WAYS nnd
eans LEI any oqe calculate how miles Of such IsTs
ast year by inundations ' ''' "i'ain tae
hofough topographic survey the State a. = ,,. f
~ ~ ana sctentnc survey would elnble fe
tae 70 dlstlns ush the boundary between auvio,s % ms
% snd mus TO levy Just upon lands liable 10 inrn5s
naf5l lr.i,e-