Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1861-05-17
Cairo-the Seat of War.

CalrO-INe Scdb Vi " dI.
The following from the AdrertiSer, yes
tcrday morning. needs correction. 9th
crwisc there may be widely sprc though
neutrality-suspicious. about the health
of Cairo and the danger of submerslon.
Cairo is i;self partially protected from
the river by embankments, IS tor e*d
ret and in the summer and edriy taH IS
considered uRheaithy, bilious diseases be-
. ing the most common and dangerous 1t
derives its chicfcst importance from Its
situation which gives it the commanl OF
the navigation of both rivers, Should
the Government hold Cairo, it will have
the power to stop the only avenue by
which supplies of provisions can be sent
| from the Northwest to the ports of the Sc
ccdiag States, and the town would thus
very materially aid in carrying out the
policy of coercins the rebels into submls-
sion by starvation The rebels perceive
the Importance of the point, and whether
they have or have not, actually made an
attack, there is no doubt they are looking
upon Cairo with very hungry eyes
Instead of being "ioU and ret the
pcnlnsu!ar occupied by Cairo Is from hif-
. IN to Hjrty.fre fret above low water
mark. The lcycr is eight feet upon the
average, all round the city, a distance o'
seven miles, averaging jorty-tte3 .jee'
a5ore ioW rater mark.
The climate Is emincHt|y favorable t.
health at all scslsonS,--thc Winters mlli
the summers moderate, AMI the atmo-
sphere 50 dry that in twenty-tour hours
after the heaviest rains ons may walk
the streets in slippers, while the richest
! French Goods. gloves aud silks, which ean'
not bear the dampnc,s OF New Orleans
are wholly unaffected at Cairo Dr
James VI. Cummings, once OF Cairo, now
Of Portland, Ne, will confirm this.
\, for the danger threatened by that
blockhcad-PilIo PilIow--it only requires tf
be understood that, since the great flood
of june, 1913, the greatest ever known
the levees have been 50 strengthened b.
sheet pilns or boxing of three inch OAK
plank, sixteen feet long and ten inches II
width. aS to render them perfectly safe
that no flood had ever risen within two
feet of the old embankment before: that
if the old lcycc had not been shameiully
built and shametnlly neglected by the llll
nois Central X. L. there would have beer
no DANGER and no damage in '3S that al
though the Mississippi and Ohio rose To-
qethcr without concurrence there can be
no danecr) and three huadref feet of th'
old embank ment, hein. thus badly built
were swept away, when the food was moi
within two feet of the top ; SO that thu
whole body of the Mississippi waters emp
tied themselves upon the lower parts o
! Cairo-and yet-notwithstandlng all thes'
combinations. Cairo was not submerged
and though the waters of the Mississippi
flowed over the lower parts of the city IN
10 the Ohio, the damages were hardly
worth mentioning, and apart from the III
terruption of business did not amount tt
FIVE thousand dollars. To flood Cairo, the
! following conditions are Indispensable =
The waters of the Mississippi and Ohio
must be higher than they were ever known
mud both AT the same time. Another, II
would be impossible TO flood the higher
grounds on which the city is built, non
even the lower grounds to more than q
depth Of eight or ten feet. And even II
the enemy should deepen Cache Elycl
4 mot Cash rivcr) that would not cndangel
/ Cairo waters. The waters OF the Mis>s'
sippi and Ohio could be thereby IaiSed.
That CAIRO will be tie southwestern
seat of war, and the base of our largest
+ inland operations, cannot be questioned
! Lyinr as il does at the head of large
steamboat navigation both summer aud
winter, and just where three OF our largest
States, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois
come nearest together. while two others
Indiana and Arkansas, approach within
few miles above aud below, as to com
mon centre, with thir q thousand mates oi
river navigation, aud draining region oi
six thousand square miles, her Importance
cannot be oycrrated.
The only chance of assaillng Cairo
no,c, is to shell the city from the hen'
tucky or Missouri shore But as two can
play at that game, and an cntrenched
camp would be no safer than such work.
as are by this time thrown up at Cairo
the rebels are not likely to yenture upon
such a game. As for attacking the city
with boats and river cratt-or land by
above, under such Il tacticlan as General
Pillow, with the whole country mp IL
arms, and the swarming millions of North
ern Illinois, Pennsylvania, OHIO and In
diana in his rest. he can hardly be foo
enough to ditch himself in that way
i Portland Courier.