New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-05-07
o1,17,5e mr. RAYou MAV a

OPENING THE BAYOU Dc AAtliAA sssss-s
We notice that the citizens of Mobile and
81 Louis are getting somewhaS excited
over the project Of reOpening Bayou Man
chac, which it is thought would divert trade
from New Orleans. AS we have seen only
few vague generalities urged against this
chlmerical scheme by our local journals
that would not have the slightest influence
with scientific men or capitalists, we Will at-
tempt to give some practical reasons why
the project should be at once abandoned
From circumstances connected with the
exploration and early settlement oil Loulsi-
ana, Bayou Manchac obtained an unde-
served importance. Iberville and other
early explorers speak of the great num-
Der of portages in passing from the
Mississippi to Lake Maurepas. The stream
was never navigable by larger vessels than
piroshes and small batedun. So far as We
can learn, few peltries carried to the
French settlement on Dauphin Island, be-
fore New Orleans or even Biloxi was in
existence, were the only articles OF traffic
ever carried through this outlet That it
could not be used was the very reason why
the French founded New Orleans.
The little stream, which existed only
during high water, was obstructed by order
Of General Jackson SO as to prevent the
passage of the British, but was not closed
until 1926, and then to protect the parishes
| of Ascension and East Baton Rouge from
overflow.
From the Mississippi to the confluence
of Bayous Crocodile and Fountaine, dist
ance of about ten miles, the dry bed OF
this purely imaginary Bayou Manehac is
from ten to twelve feet deep, with width
of forty feet at the top, and fifteen at the
bottom. At the head its bottom is twenty
feet above the surface of the river during
the long period Of low water. Now an
outlet that would be Of any service to
commerce must have depth OF at least
ten feet Of water. The first step in the
undertaking would therefore be to dig a
canal ten miles long, with depth of thirty
t,co feet, and at least one hundred and
fifty wide. 1t will readily be seen that
$3.50, 900, the estimates of the whole en-
terprise by the st. Louis Republican, would
not suffice to complete single mile.
An enormous outlay would have to be
made to enlarge and straighten the stumpy
and tortuous Amite. A levee fifteen feet
high would have to be built on both sides
of the Manchac Canal, and the Bayous
Crocodile, Fountaine, Wards Creek, and
some smaller continents would have to be
leveed in an equally substantial manner, as
also the Amite river, in order to sustain its
back water. These enormous levees
would cost at least five millions of dollars
Without them damage to the extent of mil
lions Of dollars would be done to the par
ishes of Ascension and East Baton Rouge.
Closing up the mouth Of the coafuent and
draining bayous would have the same ef-
feet. Great obstacles would have to be
overcome in Lake Maurepas, while the
middle ground" in Lake Pontchartrain
affords, for a distance of several miles
On average depth of but seven feet Of
water, entirely insufficient for commerce,
This fact alone is enough to condemn the
whole project, which is besot with difficult.
ties all the way from the Mississippi to
Lake BOTgne, distance of about one
hundred miles. Ten millions of dollars
instead of a quarter Of a million, would
be low estimate. Besides, the sediment
from the river water would tend to fill up
the now shallow Pontchartrain, and there
would be constant danger from overflow
during high water, to the rear Of New Or
leans and the plantations on the east bank
all the way up to Baton Rouge.
We think on the whole that st. Loaf;
had better eonfne her attention to loca
aids to her immense trade with New Or
leans, while the impedilnent Of Mobile
harbor vessels drawing more than sever
feet of water can scarcely reach he
wharfs) is project large enough to inter
est city Of ten times her size, and with
out which she will soon become an INLAND
village.