Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-08-10
The Bonnet tarrb Crevassp and tho
foundations Of tht Nlississippi.

/ s.
q During the late session Of the Legisla
tire Of the State Of Louisiana. d eoilttiitte
Of both Houses wis selected fof tie btr
pose Of aseertaihins the opinions Of seiantl
: fic men, ahd the experience Of old resi-
! deiits, regarding The ninst siteBessfnl mas
stifes by which the destructive overflow.
Of The Mississippi could be tvtiiitetatteti
The committee, i'll accordance with The
Iobieet for which It was created examined
several engineers ahd pantars of expe
fieiiee. personally, aud received valuable
reports from otllefss which have beet
printed by the authority Of the legislature
aiid which report We have tioW before lis
The SENATE, however, having received {
report from its chairman, s. Van Wihke
Esq, which set forth the difference 81
opinion that existed Among the members
Of THE committee, as well as the great dis
parity Of statements among The engineers
and other PERSONA examined ,'pon the mat
ter, passed Il resolution appointing stand
| ing egniniittee OH Levees, consisting d
Senator Kicker, Of Jefferson, as chairman
aud senators Clark, Of West Baton Rouge
WaddiIl, Of Avoyelles, Chanlbiss, Of Car.
roll, (sinte dtaa,l and Butler Of Nattllito-
rhes, with fill power to make such re-
searches and inquiries as they might deem
advisable, for the discovery Of the best
n,sans Of protection from overflow, Of the
alluvial lands Of the Mississippi
As was most stfaht0usly recommend.
ed by some Of the professional gentlemen
who made reports to the Legislature, that
a permanent artificial outlet should tie
constructed at the stene Of the Bonnet
Cafrd tfevasse, by niea'is Of two levees,
proposed to be built, at one miles distance
from each other, extending ftom the river
to like PonttliHfttaiii, tlia chairman Of The
committee chartered the steamboat Creole,
| Captain Sutton, with a view to carry Il
humber Of engineers, ltiembers Of the press,
and citizens who he had invited to assist
him It'll an examination and survey Of the
great cfevasse at Bonnet Care. We
started from the foot Of Canal street, at q
O'clock. P. NJ, on Monday, stopping at
| Lafayette, Cafrolton aud several j anita
tions on the coast en- route, for the parpess
OF angnenting OUT forces, arriving little
beiow the crevasse at | ! o'clock. Z. M
At FIVE o'clock OH Tuesday morning.
we again got uiidef way, and soon came iii
sight of the efevasses devastating inHn.
enee. The fiser hal retired within its
banks. but the SCENE Of desoluton, of ruin,
that presented itself, was me aneholy ilthe
essFehe, the habtations of 81 families
aesolate, iii ruins, deserted fine tract of
arabic land that had it not been for that
terrible visitation would have been waving
with rich fields OF sugar cane now cover
ed with drift wood, broken RATS, fiat boats.
and deposit The surface soil had been
washed away to the depth Of about, OH ali
average, two inches. and not deeper.
strange as it may appear this was owing
to the ereyasse having been SO wide. the
force OF the water running over so extend
ed d surface, did not abfade it SCI deeby as
il more concentrated. by measurements
taken upon the spot the width of the cre-
vase, or the extent Of the break from levee
10 levee, was six thousand siS hundred
and nineteen feet. more than three times
as wide ne the river Is at thht point tile
high water mark upon the ievee ttas eight
feet above the level of the land inside, and
at one thousand feet from where the evee
stood, the average height to which The
water had riseu was Six feet. immediately
at the termination OF the cultivated lands
aud close to- tho commencement of the
swamp, an immense bank OF deposit has
been thrown up ! 8 feet high; what would
have lren the consequence to Like Point.
eliartfain. If stteh d mound Ind been depos
sited there as would have been the oass,
bad ali artificial levied outlet been formed
at "Bonnet Care" and had not the sedls
ment been checked and .feyted to subside
by the resistance Of the grass and trees Of
the swamp
But the most conclusive blow. in our
opinion, to the supporters oi the artificial
outlet schema, Is the fact, that the conse-
qnnnce Of the Bonnet Carre ereVasse has
been to raise tile aetual level OF the bed Of
the river opposite. my feet I to reduce tue
sectional area Of the river from $4,000 to-
$4,000 feet If, tlen---,and we feel we
uents aud soundinga-a crevasse which
has been running only seven months, and
which Is Identical III its effects TO artificial
outlets, has had the effect Of reducing the
givers sectional area, more than one half,
s,ud raising its bed fifty feet, what would
sbe the effect of system Of d like nature
Continued for years, and involving the for
nation of n number Of outlets? What,
we emphatically ask, would be the effect
upon navigation, If such a sand bank as
we have described was to lie yearly de-
posted IN Luke Pontchartrain ! and the
rivers bed. each year in succession, raised
III proportion to whit 1t has been in seven
months Of this Why, the effect would
be ruinous to the commerce Of this city;
il is suicidal to contemplate such a system
as being for moment attempted
We do not take upon ourselves to de.
eide whate system should be pursued, or
which Of the hunters recommended, is
the most advisable; but with such facts
before us as the foregoing, we trust we
shall hear no more of the outlet system, as
a means of disposing Of the food waters
Of the Mississippi. We are informedthat
Mr.. Kicker purposes examining Bayous
Lafourche, Piaquemne and the Atchafala-
va, to ascertain the advisability Of using
their channels as eseapemems for the sur
plus waters Of the Mississippi We wish
him every success in his most responsible
and arduous undertaking, and feel consin.
ced, that in matter of such vital iinper43
tance to the community, he will discharge
his duties in trustworthy and energetic,
manner.
/ Before closing this article. we would re-