Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1859-09-23
nsRvELs or THE MISSISSIPPI.

and low water at Cairo Is fIffy feet- Inc
width and depth Of the river from Cairo
and Memphis to New Orleans is not ma
ierially increased, yet immense additions
are made to the quantity Of the water IN
the channel by large streams from both
the eastern and western sides Of the Mis-
sissippi. The question naturally arises,
what becomes Of this vast added volume
of water7 II certainly never reaches
New Orleans, and as certainly does not
evaporate and Of course it is not con-
foed to the channel Of the river, for It
would rise far above the entire region
south Of as.
If well is sunk anywhere in the Ar
kansas bottom, water is found as soon as
the water level Of the Mississippi is
reached. When the Mississippi goes
down, the water sinka accordingly in the
well. The owner Of saw mill, some
twenty miles from the Mississippi, in Ar
kansas, dug a well to supply he boilers
Of his engine, during the late food
When the water receded, his well went
down till his hose would no longer reach
the water, and finally his well went dry.
He dug a ditch TO an adjacent lake, to let
the water into bis well the lake was
drained, and the well was dry again, hav-
ing literally drank ten acres OF water in
less than week.
The inference is that the whole valley
Of the Mississippi, from its banks TO the
highlands, on either side, rests on a po-
rous substratum which absorbg the redUn-
dant waters, and thus prevents that de-
gree Of accumulation which would long
since have swept New Orleans into the
Gulf but for this provision Of nature, &c
which alone her safefy is attributable
In fact If the aIluyial bottoms Of tie Mis-.
sissippi were like the shore Of the Ohio
the vast plain from Cairo to New Orleans
would to-day be part and parcel Of tht
Gulf Of Mexico, and the whole valley ;
fresh water arm Of the sea. Were th'
geological character Of the valley different
the construction OF levees, combining th'
water of the Mississippi 10 its channels
> would cause the rise in the river TO be
g come so great at the south, that not suffi
| cient levees could be built. The curren
would be stronger, and accumulation c
l. water greater as tho levees are extende
IS north Of us.
+ Such results were, reasonably enough
e anticipated; but the water, instead {
ID breaking the levees, permeates the pc
q rous soil, and the overflow is really be
~ ..,...sl. ,I.,---..G.-~- sc --------r C..-I
nj it seems 10 us, are the wise provisions
IS natural laws for the safety and ulfimat
re reclamation Of the rich country south {
o. US. We believe that the levee systel
,e will be successful, and that the object
its adoption viii be obtained. The p
he rousness of the materials used in makir
ke them, has caused most if not all the or
a vases. Men may deem it a superhums
q task TO wall in the Mississippi from Cal
on to New Orleans, but our levees are Il
by work of pigmies when contrasted wi
I'd, the dykes OF Holland. The food tide
nd the Mississippi is but ripple on the ST
'as face of a CLASSY pool compared with t
up ocean pillows that dash against the art
SIX, cial shores of Holland. The country
ei; be reclaimed by our levees-all of viii
nd will not, for fifty years cost the people
leh much as those of the Dutch when orr
ese nally built-would make one hundr
ing such kingdoms as that over which /
g. naparte once welded the sceptre.-N
ay' Orleans Paper.
Gus
- RATHER CAUGHT, RATHER.-T
'et- Scotch gentlemen went TO Ireland
,tlv make n tour and see the natives. c