New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-03-02
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Closing u bayou PIaquemine.


opening Of new outlets and opposing the closing of
| the Bayou Plaquemne.
The proposition for closing the Plaquemine meets
with favor from many of our Oldest most intelligent
and most experienced Citizens and many of our best
engineers have been and are of the opinion that
injruy whatever, to the river below would result
The writer believes it to be demonstrate that
flow could not possibly result and is confident that
every known fact, and all experience is opposed to
such conclusion The writer proposes to review so
much of Mr.. Heberts report relates to the ques-
ton of outlets. The State Engineer refers to Mr..
ELECTS paper on the Mississippi in tones of high com.
mendation. l would therefore call attention to an
PARTICLE of my own in review of Mr.. Ellet, pub
lished in DeBow Review for August, 1852. Like Mr..
Hebert, will not pretend to lay claim to originality
| in my views? many of our most talented engineers
have arrived at conclusions similar to my own /
will only claim to have studied and investigated the
subject thoroughly, and to have been governed only
by these Investigations. Mr.. Hebert says (on page
l5) that the rise and fall of the river increases
gradually from the Gulf to the Ohio. At New Or
leans it is some Is feet; at Baton Rouge some 80
feet; at Helena about As feet, and so on. This does
not convey precisely the true idea At the mouth of
Red river the rise is about As feet and thence to the
As to so feet. dboue Red river shoals occur at in
tervals Beo,c Red river the character of the river
is very different it is very deep even at low water
and the total rise and fall dminishes regularly from
| the mouth Of Red river to the Gulf Mr.. H. admits
(page l6) that the first settlers along the Mississippi
found rich lands annually Cor nearly SOY overlooked
by the river, also numerous outlets; and elsewhere
that all these outlets excepting the Atchatalaya Pa
| Tar..
levees have been extended to and into Missouri but
he says ION page ls that now in places where there
was sufficient protection afforded by evees of one and
two feet in height require evees of SIX seven or
eight feet l admit that g in places this has oc-
cured but only in the bends where the river has cut
away and encroached upon the high or front lands.
This is not the case on the points, on straight
reaches, where this front high land has not caved in
and where the original leYee yet exists. Here we find
the levee Of the same height as at first. Ample evil
dence be obtained to prove this in the vicinity
of Baton Rouge Inasmuch as the land slopes back
from the river everywhere it follows of course that
where the river encroaches upon its banks each new
levee has to be made higher and higher as they are
built further and further back not because the river
rises higher, but because the land becomes lorer at
the site of each new levee. There no remedy for
this except an efficient levee system and division of
the burden in maintaining levees.
Outlet or no outlet, the river will always cut away
its banks for it did when there were no levees at
all and unless we are prepared to surrender the
whole of Louisiana (the alluvon) cansee no ramedy
but good levees in place of the imperfect ones gen
orally built -' "
assert, and series of cross sections at different
stages of water, from high to low taken at the same
point and from established zeros at high water mark
in each case) will test the truth or fsity of my DO
stion that the channel OF the Mississippi or rather
the area CT its crsss-sectlon changes Nth crely
change in the heighh of the rcer; that it is much
less at low than at high water that it diminshes by
deposit as the river falls that increases as the river
rises, and that the equilibrium between the size of
channel and quantity of water passing is always
maintained, at each and every stage of water. This
securing out progresses the river rises and if an
outlet has been closed during low water this securing
goes on little further below said outlet than before
If an outlet has been opened during low water this
securing ceases sooner, that in every case land
seventy to one hundred years experience proves it,
change whatever results to the heghh or plane of
descent, consequent upon the opening or closing of
outlets. When outlets are made or closed at higH
water, temporary fall rise is the effect because
then the river requires little time to accommo-
date itself to the sudden change in its requiem It
has time while it is rising, if the outlet has been
closed or opened during loao stage. For the thou
sandth time we have the river Pc compared to the
Mississippi Levees were not the of the rise in
the bed of the Pc; only the effect The cause was and
is the extension Of its delta into the sea- The head
being constant the extension of its delta for Is or 30
miles into the sea- during period of 2000 years of
course changed its plane of descent and elevated the
river between the extremes, head and discharge
In order to retain the land already reclaimed the
levees had to keep pace with this rise but they were
not the cause only the effect In the course of the
next thousand gears this may to little extent be
the case with the Mississippi but assuredly outlets
will not prevent it, or retard it, unless we give up all
to inundation and go back to the primitive wilderness
In every instance where the old original levee ex
lists, and there hundreds of such localities it he
rver) is no higher than at first and the water rises
no higher against the levee than it did 80, Is
or 100 years ago. Any amount of evidence can
be produced to prove this hundreds of witnesses
will testify to it, Why is it that those in favor of out
lets shut their eyes to all these well known facts
They give us no data no measurements, no facts ALL
all is theory all their positions are assumed
On page 81 it is said, '' We must give vent to the
surplus waters. Not by tearing down all our lcvees
but say by tearing down some of them etc. 1t is
tacity admitted here that outlets could not be eveed
in, (and this is really an impossbility without OBJ
strueting the discharge OF outlet tsef) therefore
it is proposed deliberately to make crccasSees at in
te'uats along the river. This must be gratifying to
all those who own or cultivate land Off or back from
the river; in Attakapas everywhere, except on the
immediate bank, or on the points, of the Mississippi
river. Where would you begin? Indicate one local
ity and point out who is to suffer first. And all this
too, when the effect of crevasse according to Mr..
Heherts approved authority, Chas Ellet, Jr) is to
diminish Immediately the channel below each and
every outlet or creyasse.
Gov. Hebert was right as to the effect of the Rae
conrc cutoff. Cut-ofis do raise the river below by
changing the plane Of descent but outlet does not
change this plane of descent neither will the closing
of an outlet change it by raising the river below this
has been The effect and venture to say neuer
'cW be- The two cases different as north from
south; there is parallel whatever between them.
Aside from the question of outlets, there is much
to commend in Mr.. Hcberts report, and the writer
frankly profers his humble testimony, with that OF
Others already given, to this effect
A desire to arrive at the truth has alone prompted
the above, and dsrespect whatever is intended to
our able State Engineer.
CIV. r. BAYLEY,