The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1863-04-23

He has now got the ditch fever in it!
, most violen: form, and there is no telling
: when he will recover from it. He i.
) now not only endeavoring to reopen tn,
Butler ditch, but is engaged in cutting
ditch from the Mississippi river t,
Lake Providence. IS miles above NicEs
burg, by which he expects to reach III,
Red river by passing down byons, Macor
and Tensas into Black river, which emp
ties into the Red river 30 miles abov,
! its mouth, thus cutting off the rebe
communication with Texas, western Lou
isiana and Arkansas. In all this route
embracing some 200 miles, there is bu
three miles of ditching, which is tn,
connection between Lake Providence ant
the Mississippi river, aud this is thro
a loose sandy soil entirely destitute %
rock or gravcl-a few logs and stump:
taken out of the bayous will render then
navissble. The plan is entirely feasible
and | cant see why it should not succeed
to a charm, and-but stop. fancy
can hear your readers ask, what has oil
this got to do with the Yazoo Pass?
will drop the subject, and resume tb
description Of the Pass
Nazoo Pass proper leaves the NissiS-
sirPi at pr;o-'~ point, about twelve mile:
below Helena, where it runs into TIC
foot of Moon lakc-a sheet of water O,
miles long, by half mile wide, in the
shape Of half moon. This lake is nei-
Their more nor less than The old bed of
the river, that used to run around form.
ing bend in the shape of horse shoe
Years age, by some commissions of ma
ture, the river cut new channel across
the neck Of the bend, thus leaving the
lake, or "old river as it is here called,
by itself IL the course of time the
sediment from the river formed a bar
across the head and foot of the lake, that
soon became covered with young cotton
wood-a timber Of extraordinary quick
growth-tLat soon hid the lake entirely
from the view of river passengers. except
a small stream, forty or fifty feet wide,
that formed the inlet and Quite. to the
lake. Things remained in this way IN
til 1880, when the State Of Mississippi
determined to shut UP the entrance to
Moon lake altogether by building = lcycc
across the pass, aud by this means, re-
claiming large extent of low land that
was annually ovcrfowed by the lake tha.
raised and fell with the river. Previous
to this, extensive settlements had been
formed on the pass, aSd an extensive
trade had been established by trading
boats that would drop down The pass to
trade with the settlers As shutting Up
the pass would stop this trade, the boat
men were much opposed to it. They
brought all their Influence to bear in the
legislature to prevent the passage Of the
bill, but in vain. Afterwards they made
several ATTEMPTS to cut the lcvcc, aud
TIE State in order to prevent them had
TO keep armed patrols on the levee night
and day tor ever two years. In lN3l Us
high as $50 600 was offered to any one
that would cut the leyee; but the oppo-
sition died away and the lcvcc remained
sound until the present time
Who the protector Of the expedition
is, i. not known at present. but whoever
it is they cut the levee at the upper en-
trance or head Of the lake, t'lercby LET.
ting the Mississippi flow into the lake, !
which was quickly filled to a level with
the river, causing it to overflow its banks
and inundate the entire country, driving
all the settlers and guarrillas away from
the vicinity of the pass,
About twy miles from where we cn.
tered the lake, on tie left hand side: is
he entrance to the pass. This pass is
1Cthing but a narrow. crooked bayou,
-unni0g from the lake to the Coldwater
liver, distance Of IS miles from the
or - from the lake. Iu.o
his We started carly on the morning Of
the 221. |: is the most couf)unded
crooked stream that was ever seen, al
though the general direction northeast
i, straight. 1t is very narrow, from 40
to 70 feet wide; the hanks are covered
with a thick growth Of heavy ,imber.-
The tops Of the trees join together over
the atream, forming an arch and catching
tie smoke stacks and the pilot house
and keep up continual jerking aud
swapping, twisting and cracking, as if
the boat was being torn to pcccs Tho
chimncys and escape pipes were taken
IF as low down as possible before VIC
started. The chirneys are no higher
then the pilot house, while the escape
pipes are level with the deck, bat SIN
they are too high and aN continually
catching the tops Of the trees, ,ausinr
the pilot to be cternally backing her IN
to prevent their being torn Off altog,th-
er. In fact tie whole trip, ever since
we entered the pass, has been back
back For every lick we have made
ahead we have struck ten back. We
cant begin to float with The current, 81
there is no Storage way, and as she hA
to be guided altogether by ropes, TIL
yawl is continually kept out ahead aud
when she runs her nose into the timber
on o3e side, line is made fast to tree
upon the opposite bank, a couple Of turns
taken round the capstan, and the mig
GER (enoine for hois ting freight set IN