Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-15
TnE AVA.
Curious Faots and Much TrsahIs about
TheR-HSW Frout Lots aud the Navy
Yard are to be Saved.

The caving in Of all the bluffs on the
eastern side of the Mississippi from Cairo
to New Orleans has led to curious conclu-
sions, It Is said that the motion Of the
earth on its axis or some result Of some
general law Of nature must have begotten
this uniform and constant abrasion Of the
eastern shore of the river. Fort Pillow
has wholly disappeared. There is not q
vestige Of the earthwOrks erected by Gen.
Pillow, and others, at Randolph. The
river has cut cavernouE depths for Its
strong currents beneath the everlasting
hills, and these have slowly crumbled
and fallen, a grain Of sand at q time, into
the abysses Of the mighty deep. Now
and then hill-sides have disap-
peared In a single night, and, Gu
riously enough, this work of desOlstiOn
goes on mainly upon the eastern
side of the river. Here at Memphis, as at
VicksbUrg, Columbus, Fort Pillow and
Randolph, the resistless, fsthOmless river,
whose n nor may anticipate and
none can resist, pursues its appointed
tasks with q force and ~pertinecity which
has lessened property values between
Wolf river and Fort Pickering
is the damage already done by the
mighty river, the calamity begotten
Is steadily progressive, and none can tell
when g detection of the Wilful current
may relieve the anXieties Of those owning
property along the river shore between
the navy yard and Fort Pickering.
The city once imagined that in the
navy yard it had a basis of credit to be
used in the perfection of its railway sys-
tenn. The Little Rock road at one time
was strengthened in its resources by a
mortgage on the navy yard. The mort
gage subsists, but the property has been
disposed of by q power against which
Chancery may issue its thunders In vain.
Plainly enough, while the river holds its
present course, there is no assignable
limitation to its destructiVBness. IL Is
also generally conceded that the direction
OF the current cannot be changed or it's
force restrained by any local Obstruc-
tiOns, Several miles above the city,
where the current turns Westwardly, it
should be directed into its old channel
within the confines of Tennessee. But
who shall essay the task? No one indi-
vidual prOpertY-hOlder, directly inter
ested, will attempt it, and it seems inn
possible TO effect any combination among
riparian prOprietOrs. Those interested
lazily look to the city for relief, and the
city answers that there is space enough
for several cities between the river and
Germantown, and that It is none of the
business of those unaffected by the flood
to pay for or ameliOrate the m~isfOrtunes
~ "10 'E1S+A3NgN "a wy
chances when they sought lots fronting
on the river, If this were not true, the
whole Of Mississippi should be taxed to
replace the losses Of those whose river
plantations hsve recently disappeared be.
nea b the food of the great river.
Would it not be well for those slowly
ruined by the abrssions of the bluff,
and of the eastern shore, to hold
a meeting2 A small sum levied
on each owner of property fronting the
river would possibly saw millions of
money. The plan proposed is very sim
pie and costs little, and consists only in
diverting the current by devices long used
by British engineers in India and Europe.
Shall we have such q meeting2 or are
these sluggish people content to sit quiet
ly by and see the last vestige of their
wealth, from the Navy Yard to Fort Pick
6ring, swept into the Mexican Cuff
WE make shirts a sp~ecialty-Our OWn
manufacture. Try them.
J. @. WARD & CO.'S,
I'll Main street.