Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1859-03-09

reouentfv. TIE water must leave a large portion
in the bed until by increased rate OF fall, 10 The
mile, You bring the point statinary near 70
low water mark, say ten feet, instead Of
fsuenfu-frs. These two effects Of leYees
(shonening the time Of Gov and confning The
4 sedimenf1 viii account for he increased elera-
ton OF the Pc, beyond what the increase Of
delta should have been.
One other eFH effect, and which there Is no
avoiding, Is The immense increase Of delta con-
sequeut upon e~onfning all the solid matter 20
the channel. 7 an entirely dependent upon
leyee authority, as 20 this evil effect, and have
to use Mr.. HeWson. He gives the figures as ~
he bad good AUTHORITY. and viii attempt 70
prove him correct. Hewson gives the advance
Of the Pc delta, without leveess at twenty-five
feet per annum, add The Miastssippi az ninety
six. During the construction Of the Pc leveesi
I The extension Of the delta increased 20 eighty
two feet, the Mississippi levees may be said 20
be IN that condition now, and the same IN
/ creased rate OF delta extension, would Cive
three hundred and hfty-hve feet per year. The
| New Orleans Chamber Of Commerce have re-
Gently made an aNamination OF toe passes
and the engineer. J. X. Duncan, after com
pairing the present condition Of the passes
with what thev were in 1888, SAYS the rate Of
increase for that tint has been hnsc hunfred
aud fffu-fhrsc feet per annum. Almcst the eN-
l act proportion as given hv Hewsou to the Pc
delta. The Pc delta, according 70 HeWson,
has, since The completion ofthe leFee, ~eNtended
! atthe rate Of txo hundred andtwentg-nine and
a quarter feet. And The same rate n increase
would give the Mississippi over ous thousand
feet per annum, or one mile in little over I'VE
wears. and would give a bed elevation al
Helena or Memphis Of near one inch per an
uum, instead Il "less than one-thiTd Of an
inch,- as Mr.. Hewson proposes Mr.. Hew-
son gives the estimated elevation, in conse-
Quence Of delta extension per each mile. az
n-fr a--h-.-A .-n-H.n-m ~ -
| Point Eve and une-third inches and al Cairo
six and one-guarter inches, which would give
a bed elevation al Memphis Of 0Hs inch per
annum, supposing the delta 70 make out one
mile In s0. The extension Of the delta Of the
Mississippi cannot well be estimated except BY
comparison. as above. think, with the ex-
ample Of the Pc before me, I might safely
claim a bed elevation Of sLr inches per year al
Memphis, az least, until the bed bad been ele-
waited sufficient 70 give the water increased
securing capacity, and one inch per annun
hereafter, on account Of data extension.
Believing an The above points 70 be well
authenticated facts. Is8v hat the leveeing Of
either Of the three great swamps VIII almost
Inevitably ruin the whole Mississippi bottom in
time; but one may require a great length Of
time. But 70 levee az would involve the whole
ID ruin in two or three years, and the coast
from Red river down win feel 1t first, az the
greatest change viii b. dere. The only wav
20 avoid the first two evil effects Of the levees
shortening the time Of flow, and conhninE the
solid matter 70 the channel1 Is bv turning the
river ont into the gulf through P~iaquemine,
which would overcome the evil effects Of con
filming the water 10 the channel, 90 far as The
coast IS concerned, for hundreds Of years; and
a few ca-0fs from there up would relieve the
country above az an levees- The evil effect
frem the delta extension cannot be overcome.
as the Mississippi delta VIII continue 70 extend
until the delta washes out into the gulf stream,
where the current viii he strong enough 70
carry the solid matter Of 10 a great distance,
and deposit It in the bed Of the ocean. if you
viii examine the map, YOU viii find that the
course n the Mississippi river, below Red
river, points Utmost directly TO the southern
point Of Florida, and the distance, In a direct
line, is over I'VE hundred miles, and the dis
lance by the river would be nearly one thousand
miles; consequently We cannot expect he
delta's extension to cease for about i've thous-
and years, which might almost be called never.
There are manv Circumstances 20 vary this
delta extension. The river NAV be supposed 20
bring down a certain amount Of solid matter
each wear, which would make acertain number
Of cubic yards of earth In the gulf; but the
distance 10 would cause { delta 70 extend
would depend upon the depth Of the gulf. II
the gulf Is one hundred feet deep, il wouldtake
a certain quantity, but If two hundred feet
deep, It would require az least three to i've
times the amount Of solid matter to make the
same amount q delta extension. The delta
extension from Red river appears to have been
affected BY the galf stream, which, should II
continue 10 act as AZ present 70 appears 20 do,
the river viii not have 20 I'm up any portion Of
the deep water Of the gulf, but will be kept
near the shore. and will eventually unite the
Mississippi and Alabama rivers in one delta.
At the present time the main pass is. believe,
j L. - a-na-n lint 1T Ha--aHH-~ a..
Mobile bav. As the delta extends, some Of
these passes are closed, and should the
] Southwest pass close, and the pass Loutre
become the river, the advance of the delta
toward Mobile bav would Be verv rapid.
Cutting through Plaquemine would throw the
whole current aud volume o. the water direct
Isl out into the gulf, and the gulf stream
might act on the solid matter in such a way as
- greatly retard the advance Of the delta.
The cut-ods would greatly accelerate the ex-
tension Of the delta, FOR the very good reason,
that the bed Of the river would be worked out.
almost from end 70 end, instead Of filing up.
Should the river ever 20 through P~laquemine,
7 should not be surprised If the delta should
extend out one mile per annum for some years,
~ least until the bed Of the river was washed
out TO its full depth, and the extension Of the
delta commenced the bed elevation. The diff
tereut effect produced by cut-ohs and levees
could not Be estimated or shown, unless the
river had been leveed a sufficient time for all
the elevation II bed consequent upon confning
The solid matter 20 the channel which might
take from fifty TO one hundred years, and
which with the Mississippi river, I regard as
impossible even iu that time. As 10 the cut
offs. the greatly increased rate Of fall 20 the
mile would BE- nearly the same as with the
leTce, but a little less boz a stTaiEhtened mile
than in a crooked. Consequently 10 is not 20
be expected that the shortening Of the river,
say one hundred miles, when the rate Of fall Is
3 inches per nile Will lower the river alone
$50 inches, but the effect viii be about Us
inches. The distance from Cairo 10 the gulf
is now about 1900 miles. This distance can
b. shortened al least 400 miles, By making
what may be termed easy and practicable"
cut-0ds, and 800 miles bv making a few rather
expensive cut-Cfs. The position Of Cairo
would then Be 700 miles TO the gulf. with a
fan 10 the river Of four inches 70 the mie. in
stead Of 1900 miles with a fan Of 81 inches 10
the mile. which would elevate the city Of
Cairo, with 500 miles cutoff, 100 feet, and
with the 400 miles cutoff, so feet OF therea-
bouts. And leaving Cairo as near salt water
as Napoleon, Memphis near the same distance
as Nieksburg. and s.. Louis would occupy the
position Of Memphis.
| should ike 10 have you. and all other
papers interested in levees, publish the entire
chapter Of Hew=on's, which treats Of "The
Natural Phenomena Of Rivers" ard is Chapter
IL lsay that Is as good an anti-levee and
Pro-cut-of argument as want.
THmTEG ID nrTT re