Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-11-17


 nell, Mccoy, Torbitt and West--8.
 Those members of the House who voted for MT. Dean, are
 Messrs Brewster, Doak, Duval, Neal, Quarles and Wilson-6.
 Several absentees voted by proxy.
 The chairman announced that William K. Sebastian, having received majority of all the votes cast, was duly nominated as the candidate of the caucus for United States Senator And thereupon the caucus ad djourned sine die. F. P. REDMOND, Chrsm.
 JOHN D. KIMBELL, Sec'y.
 For the True Democrat.
 Letter fromsGainesville.
 Col. R. II. JOHNSON
 I address you on a subject which is ex- citing great interest in our county, that is the improvements of the navigation of the St. Fran cis river. As it is now, Greene county is per haps more inconveniently situated in regard to facilities for navigation than any other county in the State. To be sure, we have Black river on the west of us, few miles from our county line, but for all the good it does Greene county it might almost as well be in the wds of South America. Our county is separated from it by the almost impossible Cache swamp which lays complete embargo on business one half of the 1 year, and that half, too, when we would have the business to do. Our enterprising neghbors | of Powhattan have been trying to build road across this swamp, but l think they will come to the conclusion that it is bad job and give it | up. Most of our merchants and all that do a profitable business now have to haul their goods from Cape Girardeau, 120 miles, or from Wits burgh, 80 miles, as the experience of all who have tried it has proved that trading at the commercial points on Black river don't pay, and If we cannot find a better outlet we will have to wait for the wagon" I believe the St. Francis can be opened for navigation very easily, and at small expense, say, not to ex- ceed 100000 dollars. 1 base my belief on the practicabilty of the permanent opening of the St. Francis on my own personal knowledge, having resided on it for years, and explored nearly every part of it, and the sunk lands in a d'g-out in the. winter, and on horse and on foot in the summer. will offer few suggestions as to the best plan in my opinion to clear the river of its Instructions. 1 will state at first, that from the mouth of the river up to the foot of Lead Fork Lake, or the sunk lands, there is no impeachment to navigation. There the diff ficuty commences. To understand it better it will be necessary to give short history of the causes which have produced a region of coun- try, the appearance of which is so different from any in the known world. Previous to the "Shakes'' of 1911, the St. Francis was a river similar Tn its general character to Black or White river, and was navigable above the northern limits of our county. The earth quakes of that year depressed the banks of the river and probably elevated its bed in many places, and caused such disturbance in the fall of the earth as to almost wholly to obterate the channel of the river, and the water coming down from above was obliged to occupy space, and being debared an outlet naturally spread over the adjacent sunken country and formed a large swamp known as the Lead Fork Lake or the Sunk Lands of the St. Francis The sur
 
 numerous small and ill-defned channels. The heavy timber which covered the overdowed ground soon died and soon after routed off at the low water mark, and fell in the surrounding swamp. It then presented the appearance of an immense stagnant lake covered with fallen timber and evergrown with luxurant growth of aquatic plants of every kind suited to the climate and situation. Fit habtation the ob- server would say, for the water snake, the rac- coon and the muskrat but the unvarying and ever active laws of nature were then gathering the materials for great change. The decay of those mighty trees, that rank growth of plants, and the deposits of every spring food were and are the means by which the flood will be made to give place to the dry land, and what is now but wilderness will become garden. These deposits have since the memory of the present settlers on the lake raised its bed several feet and the same process continued must eventually raise the whole bed of the lake above the pre- sent high water mark, and of course must throw more water in the channel of the river. Mr. Samuel Lewis, who has lived near the mouth of the lake for some 10 or 12 years, tells me that the channel of the river at the foot of the lake is much deeper than it was 10 years ago, and the bed of the lake much higher, and the same work of nature going on must in the course of time reclaim the lake from the water and make dry land of it, and by throwing all tl,, 1 I ble river. This may take 50 years or longer. l think by assisting nature in her work we can accomplish the same object in two or three years. l think the means are very simple and feasible. The channel which the river has made for itself through the lake is very crooked and narrow, probably averaging miles of cir curious channel to one mile of direct distance. It will be seen that the water meets with great impeachment in it's course through such a chan ncl, and the force of it being deadened by so many short bends 1t has no chance to enlarge it's channel or to cut new ones. would pro- pose to make cut-offs across the necks of all the bends and make the channel as near straight from the head of the lake to the foot as pos. sible, and the water having only one fourth of the distance to pass over would of course at first have a velocity four times as great as be- fore the cut-otfs were made, but according to the known laws which govern the flow of rivers in alluvial countries abrosan of the banks and bed of the river would take place until the cur rent had become so reduced in rapidity as to cease its encroachmeuts on its banks, and the river would assume size medium between the river above and below, and which would be amply sufficient for navigation some seven or eight months in the year. The work of mak- ing the cut. offs would be no object, no expen- sive machinery would be required gangs of men with saws, axes, spades and wheelbar- rows would be all that would be needed.