The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-03-13


Railroad Directory We fluid the followin.
Instructive article ON the waste Of the water:
OF the Mississippi. 1t says:
! "No experience will enable a person tc
! anticipate, with any degree Of certainty, the
elevation Of the flood in amy given year. Il.
some Sc;t>urIS, liic waters ,lu not rise above
their channels in others, the entire lowe,
valley OF The Mississippi is submerged En-
OanN:ncnts, called lcveeS, have been raised
from ten ~ fifteen feet high on boll, sides o
the stream, cXtcud.m.'uanv miles above and
below New Orleans. Bv this means the river
Is rcstr''n"'l within its proper limits, except
ut the greatest 'reshctS, when the water,
sometimes break over everything, causing
great destruction to property, and sometimes
loss OF life. The avcrge height o. the flood
from The Delta TO the junction of the Mis-
sourl Is above sixteen feet. At the mouth OF
the latter river it is twenty five feet. Below
the entrance Of the Ohio river tie rise is of.
ten ftty-ilvc feet. At Natchez, it seldom
exceeds thirty feet and at New Orleans
about twelve feet. What goes with the
water! IL is known that the difference be-
tween high and low water mark, as high up
as White river, is about ,hirty-six feet and
the current at hig h water mark runs nca,.
seven miles per hour, aud opposite to New
Orleans the difference between high and low
water mark is only twelve fee. and the cur
rent little over three miles 10 the hour The
width and depth OF The river being the same.
from Which we calculate that nearly six
times as mich water passes hv the mor;l.
OF White river rs by New Orleans. What
goes with the cxccss! The only solution
ever offered. is that it ESCAPES; i,y the hayuus
llaquen!mc, l,a!nurche and lbervilIe. iu,
when we calcnla'e the width, depth, and
current of these bayous, they fall vastly shor,
OF attor,;ng suIiic.ent csrapcn,ent The
tr''" explanation can, We think. Lv given.
At low water. Throughout the Who'll. cy-
tent, we see 4 land structure exposed, un
DERIVING the banE, or lila, the alluvia! s,.uc
turc Oh which the pi;,i,;aliouS are. iSa struc-
ture Of dcpo~i; made By the river above its
low water mark, which. opposite to the
mouth OF White river. is thirty feet thick.
As y"u - .>>rcnl, the river dinlini>hrs IN vol
nm, a> the Iilf'.rrn.:y bciwc.n hi.h alrl low
water na'!: ':ln':i>!'"s and ncn,iv cores
ron'!s 10 H. a',i where ever the bottom i,
EXPOSED /; shows throughout the whole cy-
tent hat the bottom is Durr course xosd
cX''lhil!n@ at many places the occ1m Shin
Hfe, through the suprrmpnscl alluval strur
turc MIXED with liuc sand. The water per.
c"'ates with such iar!li'v and rapidi:y thai,
the water III 4 well dug ut a considerable
distance from the river bank rises and falls
with Tie rise. ;.n:l in!i Of tn" river. III: vary
in- M inch, and through The coarse sand
and shingles Of tn. bottom, It p:s>svs as rap
idly as through IL common sieve.
Bv the accurate surveys nf several sc;rn
the engineers, il is ascrr:aincd that The fall
Of the Mississippi river is four inches to tho.
mile The distance fiom Na:clcz to N.w
Orleans OF three hundred miles will pive
Twelve hundred inches, or one hundreI feet
The depth Of 'h. river is less than ti;iv feet
at high water mark. Tie river dclnu:l,,.s
I'M" the o."an from Il promcn.orv mad. Lv
':""H. Ih" surface Of tie ocean, bv m.a
'ur"m":f hclow I'll" bottom OF III" river
'"n' Wv Orleans corresponds with til. low
waite" ma:h below New Orleans. therefor.
IN" Mississippi river iSp,nrin@ through its
'wn trtom in" the ocean, the snr.r inn
posse! weight giving lateral pressure 10 hur-
'v The Suticrra!ican current. Ii the reader
has ever stood upon Mississippi sand bar in
a hard rain, Or seen water poured from n
bucket OIL the sand-Lar, lie las seen that nci-
her can be done IL sufficient quantity to pro-
luce any current 0: accumulation on the
'n:tn,H. Tic river is. therefore, from the
i'm" !; comes below the limcs,on" s,ratas OF
Missouri and Kentucky, wasting Itself
tr"u.t, lis own bottom.
Il ia" Mississippi river hal to pursue lis
'"n!sc like the Ohio, over rocky STRATA, wal
cl in by rock aud irnpcrvious CLAW banks,
tn, high water mark at New Orleans would
reach one hundred feet above its present
limits; but running over coarse sand, walled
in 10y drpositc made of sand, ancient de-
Iuvia! dctritus and vegetable mound, no more
water reaches the ocan than the excess over
the amount that prrmcatcs the surrounding
structure and passes of in the process Of per-
collation. or Transportation in Il subtcrrancan
descent to the ocean. The river, without
any o!her restrain: from rock or clay in the
bottom or ban5, is left free to the govern
ment Of no other law than tlclaw ofhydros-
tatics. The washing or wasting Of the
"S'N' E"H''oS oS P'c|e |ehlcu, tnOuSn tne
ravihg or sliding Of large portions at one
time ats: lry be easily guarded. against.
The Washington correspondence .oEthe.
Charleston News, under date Of the 9Th.
inst, thus NOTICES the first APPEARANCE, Of
Hon. J. V.Wright, Of Tennessee
81 was in the House to day and Heard
the youngest membg Of The body speak.
] asceriuiied him to be the Hon. j. "
Wright, Of ofTennessee, whom, Judging from
appearance, is about twenty-six wears Of age
he was attracting great attention BY the
able and eloquent vigor Of style with Which
he Was exposing the aims and purposes; of
the Black Republican party. YOU should
have seen the gallad jades vince under the
conclusive exposition of their ipfa,,notlssf de-
signs, Mr.. ,Wright's speech was was listened to-
attentively by. q full house. Ifs efforts TO-
day marked him as debater. who, If he
continues in Congress, is.destined TO make
no ne ordinary marx upon the legislation of
the county, =, ~,
SUtciDE op&A 'ChERdyMAs.ZEidel Step
hen Brow, a Baptist clergyman, of' Beaver
Dam, Wisconsin,, recently tsri,fi,,ated'this
ny;cfopoa t,v' L.. .f.tl