New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-06-28
THE MISSISSIPPI LRvRE SYSTEM.
Has the Bed of the River Risen s-Letter
from General Humphreys.
From the Kew York World


from General Humphreys.
From the Kew York World.I
SIR-In your paper of May IL, of this
year. there is letter from Mr. Albert Stein
of Mobile, Alabama, the subject of which il
THE false idea with regard to the Missis-
sippi levee system inculcated in the report
of Humphreys and Abbott" Mr.. Stein says
that it is absurd to assert that the alluvial
lands of the Mississippi can be rendered
perpetually cultivable by the levee system
proposed in that report, which, he asserts,
takes no note of the general elevation of
the bed of the river by the deposit of de-
tritus, nor the elevation of the bed caused
by the elengatiOn of the river at its mouth
in the gulf, which elOngation, he states, is
estimated in the report alluded to at seven
hundred feet per annum. From these two
sources, he adds, the floods go on constantly
increasing in height, and the levees become
insufficient for protection.
Now there is not a single fact going to
show that the bed of the Mississippi river
has risen at all from detritus brought down
by the river and its tributaries. The evi
denee as to that matter is conclusive that it
has not risen, is not rising, and will not rise
l do not doubt that Mr. Stein will reply that
the bed of the Pc and the bed of the Rhine
have risen from this cause; and therefore /
anticipate him by stating that long series
of measurements upon those rivers show
conclusively that their beds have not risen
for centuries, and refer those who wish to
know more of this to those pages of the
report of Humphreys and Abbott where
this subject is treated. AS to the elevation
OF the bed of the river by the pr olongation
of its course into the gulf, beg to refer Mr.
Stein to pages 435 and 1876 of the report he
criticises, where it is shown that it will re-
qulre an extension of the mouth OF
the river twenty-five miles into the
gulf to raise the surface of the river one
foot at Fort st. Philip and above, and that,
according to the present rate of progress,
five centuries will elapse before the river &C
cOmplishes that extension. Further, it is
stated in that report that, from the best
data to be obtained, the river extends into
the gulf annually two hundred and sixty
two feet, not seven hundred feet
Mr.. Stein further imputes to the report in
question a neglect to take into cOnsidera-
tion the effect upon the floods of excluding
the overflow from the great bottom lands
of the st. Francis, the Yazoo. etc. 1t will
be found by referring to chapter six of the
report that it discusses, in the most elab-
crate manner, the effect of those great
swamps upon the floods of the river, and
determines the changes in the height of the
floods that will be caused by excluding
overflow from them. Has Mr.. Stein ex-
amined the report he critieises9 Mr.. Stein
IN conclusion prescribes as necessary for
the protection of the alluvial lands from
overflow the removal of the chief bends of
the river. the construction of artificial
works in the bed of the river to create and
to maintain uniformity in the slope and
cross section, and to adjust those dimen-
'ions properly to the discharge, and to reg
llate the entrance of tributaries. To cut
III the bends would be pernicious to con-
truct the other works would be enormously |
and most of them if constructed |
would be practically useless.
A. A. HUMPHREYS.
Washington, June IL.