The Portland daily press., 1869-08-25
Letter from HIachias.

This town like others in Maine suffers from
the stringency of the times. There has been
but little rain since June. The river is
shrunken to an ugly brook, and the clatter of
all the saw mills is entirely hushed. Yester-
day, the fog came in with cold drizzle, and
this morning it thickened into copious, soak
ing rain. Everybody is rejoicing in the
bounty of the skies. Jupiter Pluviusl comes
down in shower truly golden.
Fires had already sprung up upon several
of the timber townships and had been watch
ed with much solicitude. The generous rain,
now that the drouth is broken, will be follow
ed doubtless by more Of the same sort, and
the danger of the season will pass away
Notwithstanding the great increase of saving
power by the building of gang mills, the cut
ting of timber has been so considerable, that
there is estimated to be three years supply
of logs for all the mills up and down the
river. Mt..a... s
Lumber does not command so high prices
as for several seasons, and the traders COM
plain of harder season than has been known
for ten years. As a consequence real estate
is much deprecated, and houses can be
bought here for twenty-five per cent. less than
they were readily sold at two years ago.
THE GREAT DYKE.
The most noticeable enterprise that has
been undertaken here of late is the reclaim
ing of the banks of Middle river from the tide,
for the purpose of cultivation. Middle river
discharges into Machias river about half a
mile below the falls in the centre of this vii
lage, over wide intervales covered by the tides
which have an extreme rise and fall of about
fifteen feet. From Whites Point long bridge
built upon piles and wooden piers. crosses
this interval just above the junction with Ma
chias river to the eastward, the thoroughfare
of the main travel between Eastport and Cal
ais. 1t was formerly toll bridge almost ar
resting travel by its exorbitant rate of tolls,
but for nearly twenty years has been owned
by the town and free.
Twoyears ago the proprietors of the flow
ed flats above the bridge were empowered by
a law of the legislature TO build dyke above
the bridge for the purpose Of converting the
luItTNdleS lutO ueaQOWSs
The history of this job, which proved to be
about as formidable as George Stephensons
first railroad across Chat Moss, is an illustra-
tion of the necessity of good, reliable, educat-
ed engineers to initiate useful surveys and
prescribe the methods of labor. Had the con-
tractor paid such an engineer fifteen hundred
dollars,to survey the line Of the dyke,to sound
as deeply as could be done by proper instru-
ments the bottom, and to direct where, and at
what depth piles should be driven, to plan
the pipes and determine the place at which
they should be laid, it is believed that the ex-
penditure of some fifteen thousand dollars
might have been saved. Had the pipe been
laid in the centre of the stream and the filling
commenced over it and proceeded from the
centre to each side, the force of the tide would
have been resisted by the tenacious clay and
thatch-grass of the shooting banks, which
would have themselves kept out the water,
except at short time at high tide.
Mr.. William Longfellow, young man of
this town, was tbe contractor. No engineer
was employed. A workman upon dykes from
Nova Scotia, came here after the filling began,
and gave some advice. But it was very evi-
dent that neither the contractor nor any of
his assistants had any competent knowledge
of the force ofthe tide currents, the pressure of
the waterl or the state of the river bed upon
which they were operating.
The arrangements for digging and trans
porting earth were excellent. Mr.. Longfel-
low owned a ridge of clay loan, running
transversely to the stream, to which he laid
tramway reaching to the east end of the old
toll bridge. Over this way horse could cas-
lily haul four tip-carts whose loads were dump
cd simultaneously into the water north of the
bridge, against which bulkhead of plank
has been laid, spiked to poles driven into the
mud and resting against the cap of the bridge.
The filling advanced rapidly from either shore
towards the centre. A mound of tenacious
clay held together by the trunks of fir trees,
cross.piled and staked down from the bot
tom soon rose above the railing of the bridge,
and sloped off at an angle of forty,five de-
grees to the old bed of the marsh and stream.
and it seemed as if the whole Job was of easy
accomplishment, at cost much below the
contract Price, which was $4,000.
UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES.
But here began the grand conflict with the
force of nature, which seemed for while TO
bid degance to all human ingenuity ana
strength. Only narrow chasm now separa'-
ed the high banks of the two ends OF the
dyke completed from either shore. But
through this narrow chasm the immense ba-
sin of Middle River had to fill and empty it.
selftwice every twenty-four hours. The great
volumes of water that had slipped nofselessly
through the piles of the bridge with only a
current, now rushed through the narrow
gorge with the impetuositY and roar of a cat
aract 1t wore away the unpacked clay from
the dyke. 1t ploughed the mud from the
and swallowed up the thousands oil
loads of soil that were dumped into it and
asked for more. A large trunk OF timber and
plank fitted with valves was floated to the
channel, sunk and partially balasted. 1t was
left at night, and next morning it was strand
ed ON the shore halfa mile above and the tide
was running through the passage like race