Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1874-05-09
THE FLOODS.
CircumstantiaI Ac cunt of the Extent of
the Damage in Louisiana,

Now that the great Hood may be cor
sidered as having done its worst, an
the occurrence Of new creYasses regar
ded as improbable, it becomes interest
ing to take a glance at the nature AM
extent of the damage and to form sucI
estimates as may be possible Of the con
sequences. Engineers calculate tn
quantity Of water thrown out on tn
state by creyasses to be less than one
half the amount during the great over
flow in 1867, when the break in th
Grand leyee took place; yet the damag
to the crops of the state will be full,
equal to that sustained in 1867, becaus
Of the bad condition of the Atchafalay
and its levees. But as the records o
the flood Of 1867 are very imperfect anC
do not show the velocity Of the water a
the creyasses, this estimate is quite un
certain.
The present crevasses at Hickey ant
Morganza levees, and at other place
which throw their waters into the Atch
afalaya, pass about 800, 900 cubic feet 0
water per second, and the average We
leeity of the crevasses is about sever
feet per second, equal to four and two
third miles an hour.
The break at Morganza levee in 1856
was 5000 feet wide and six feet deep
with q velocity of eight feet pei second
equal to a current Of four and hal
miles an hour.
The break at Morganza at present il
1000 feet wide, 6 feet deep, and the We
locity is s. feet per second, equal to {
current of 3 miles an hour.
The Hickey creyasse is 10 feet deep
800 feet wide, and has a velocity of /
feet per second, which is equal to cur
rent of g. miles an hour.
From some of these crevasses the ricl
districts of Lafourche, Terrebonne and
Attakapas, the largest, most fruitful
and most populous rice and sugar re.
gion8 of Louisiana, are overhowed
Though lying far distant from the river,
they are subject to it's misfortunes, and
thousands upon thousands of acres are
now being slowly but surely submerged
by the waters flowing through the
Hickory and Morganza breaks,
We have already sho IN that the en-
tire Ouachita Valley is under water. II
would be difficult now to estimate the
number of acres covered, but it is
known that the whole population is
drowned out, and that from one end OF
valley to the other the citizens are liv-
ing on RATS and the topso of their houses.
This extract of a letter just received
from Monroe gives further confirmation
of the gloomy story; " Everything at a
staudstill up here. Pargoud's upper
and lower lcvee broken. Monroe sur
rounded by sea of water can go no.
where except in boats. Trenton entirely
under The river higher than ever
known, Twelve inches above the high
water mark of 1928"
In the imperfect information before
us with regard to the number of planta.
tions destroyed and injured by the flood
we cannot give an exact statement, yet,
after careful examination of all the re-
ports on the subject, and referring to
Mr.. Bouchereau's sugar book and the
map Of Louisiana, We submit the fol
lowing as an approximation:
Our information from Coneordia par
ish shows considerable loss. The par
ish of Avoyelles and a small part OF
Rapides as high as Cheneyville, have
suffered from the overflow of Red river
and the Glasscock crevasse on the Mis-
sisippi. These parishes are chiefly cot.
ton districts, yet there are many large
sugar plantations which are hurt.
In Pointe Coupee parish there was in
cultivation last year forty-two sugar
plantations. Two-thirds of them being
situated fronting on the Mississippi,
the damage will not be so great still
we may estimate the partial damage to
one-third and ruin to one-tifth.
As we are now taking an account OF
the sugar plantations, we come next in
to the parish of West Baton Rogue,
In this parish We estimate, of the thir.
ty-fve or forty sugar plantations in cul-
tivatioQ, one-half the number under wa
ter and one-fourth badly or slightly
damaged.
East Baton Rogue has been damaged
by the McCullen crevasse, which is
about three miles below the town OF
Baton Rouge. In this parish about
thirty sugar plantations are reported
badly damaged--the greatest part OF
them more than half submerged
All the east bank of the Bayou Teche,
in the parishes of st. Landry, ST. Mar,
tins, Iberia, st. Marys and all the coun-
try situated on Grand lake and Lake
Verret comprising the most productive
regions of the state, are overtlowed,
The number Of sugar plantations in cul'
tivation, damaged in this region, cannot
be readily estimated, but may be sci
down at one.fourth of those in cultiva'
tion-the number in cultivation being
over three hundred. The water in this
region is rising six inches day.
Assumption will also suffer severely
the crevasse waters are rising rapidly,
and if the overflow extends to the Bayou
Lafourche the damage to sugar planta'
tions will be immense.
The foregoing remarks are confined
to the State of Louisiana and to the su
gar interests of the state but the cot
ton and rice planting interests have tt
be considered also.
If we undertook to examine the cot
tan interests, it would be necessary tC
begin the examination of the overhowet
country from above Memphis, and al
the tributaries of the Mississippi in the
southern country.
The sugar crop of Louisiana vii
probably be cut short one-third by the
floods, and the cotton will no doubt be
lessened 800, 900 bales by the floods anC
rains up to the present date. By the
time the waters subside aud the grount
becomes dry enough to plant cotton, i
will be too late to make crop with an,
prospect of success.
This is a gloomy picture, but it is
true one. We are appealing to th,
country for succor under misfortune
which we ourselves are powerless t,
meet. It is well that the country shoul,
know to what extremities we have bee
reduced.
River and HarbOr Improvements.
rpLo Louea oopnmittaa on comnaro