New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-06-14

| DirlciSm. These gentlemen arc iaWLAoi
with every experiment. ever mace, anu
than all theories General Humphreys was
a witness in an official capacity to the ex-
reriment and failure Of Craig and Fighter,
who ATTEMPTED TO jetty Pass al Ou!re, I'M
der q contract with the government, ana
manifested ienciency towards the con
tractors which evinced desire TO zee tne
experiment thoroughly made. The pros
rrar;on of their structures from time to
time by the forces which have attempted
to describe, probably did much TO produce
the opinion that if jetties can be made TO
stand at all, they must be deeply founded
and strongly built, and that their extension
| must be continual and at An expense tIat
the government cannot afford.
| II is claimed that there il engineering
opinion on the other side. General Bar
nard believes in jetties, but has no SPECIAL
| knowledge of the Mississippi river. Cap
| tain Eads argues for jetties, and bases MS
opinions upon general laws and makes
facts for their application which do not ex-
ist. He has never acquainted himself with
the character and conditions of the river
| he PROPOSES to improve, He ls more &C.
ouainted with Sir Charles Hartley's de-
| scription of his work al the Sulina mouth OF
the DANUBE than be is with the forces and
phenomena of the Mississippi months. He
| does not and can not deny the necessity Of
| perpetual extension of jetties. and that
| they must at some time be abandoned. 10
do SO would be to deny the plalnest prln-
! ciples of philosophy and facts as paipaoie
| as that there is a bar that seriously elnoar-
raises the commerce OF the whole MISSES
| sippi valley. would much rather risk his
| Judgment as a gunboat builder or bridge
| constructor than on the subject OF removing
the bar at the Southwest Pass by means Of
jetties. The Rev. Mr.. Fon-aine. believe,
has REINFORCED Mr. Eads. The aIgu-
| ment Of this new luminarv IN the en-
| cheering profession is rehash OF what
| Eads had been trying to say, and is novel
| only in the fact that he has discovered a
| li:tocal current. This discovery is stimuli
taneOus with the advent of this reverend
gentleman into the engineering world. Not
one other engineer has attempted TO make
| an argument on the ietty side. A few gen.
tlemen have expressed an approval of Eads'
theory, but their letters remind me OF
practice among politicians who recommend
applications for Office by subscribing TO the
words Il concur" and none Of them are
familiar with the subject from observation
and study. Lawyers soon learn that
legal opinion is only valuable after 1t has
been well considered. Its good principle
to apply everywhere. Under government
direction we have obtained an official
opinion on which the utmost reliance should
be placed, because the subject has been
thoroughly examined by experienced and
able men in the profession. The board OF
engineers, in their report, make use Of the
following language:
This yearly progress OF the bar demands
corresponding extension of the jetties into
the deep water exposed to the severe storms
of the Gulf, and consequently of great cost.
The difficulties at the mouth of the M:ssis-
sippi. SO far as concerns the improvement
by ietties, resolve themselves into three
sources: first the absence Of a EttoTal cur
rent; second, the yielding nature of the
banks and shoals; third, the abundance of
the deposits. The first and third com bine
in the yearly and rapid extension Of the bar,
and compel the works OF improvement to
Continue at heavy annual cost until their
entire abandonment. The second makes
their construction difficult and their main
tenance improbable unless deeply founded
at very heavy expense.
The canal plan will flank the bar. None
question its feasibility; hence it is unneces-
sary to make an argument upon it. About
forty miles from the mouth, on the left
bank, by cutting a channel about seven
miles long, the deep water of the Calf can
be reached. By the construction OF lock
at the river entrance water will be excluded !
except when ships are passed through.
This will DE so rri1iing that a very small |
quantity of sediment will DE deposited in
the canal, and which can be thrown out |
with little labor and small expense. Cap |
tain Howell says 1t can be done in few |
days in each year. The gull terminus will |
be in land-locked harbor, where ships |
may find shelter in the severest storms. |
1t will not cost more than $4,000. coo to |
make it a complete and ample channel for |
the largest ships, and $4,000 or 100000 |
annually will take cafe of it and keep it in |
repair Thorough investigations show thai |
the earth is solid enough to sustain the |
locks and to preserve the sides OF the canal |
with slight revetMents, and perhaps with |
none at all. If the bar has advanced at the |
rate of a mile in fifteen years. which has
the earth at this point is coo years old. If
the newly formed earth at the bar has
strength and solidity enough to maintain
jetties, which must be OF great weight to be
permanent, surely canal with lock
can be maintained where the earth is
of such old formation. The engineers
have settled this question beyond con-
troversy. With such provisions for
making payments that the work can be
continuously carried on, the canal and all
its appurtenances can be completed in
three years. When finished commerce will
be amply provided for, and the distance for
all ships coming from or destined TO ports
east OF the mouth will be shortened sixty
miles. The Light draft ships can pass
through the natural channels as they now
90, and the heavy ones through the canal.
The expenses OF Tightening, towing and
plotting will be greatly reduced, and com
merce will De treer and cheaper.
1t is patent fact that while no engineer,
not even Eads himself, questions the prac-
ticability or utility of canal. no one who
has thus tar participated in this debate has
assalled the plan of a canal as an engineer
ing question or as useful and certain
mode OF getting ont Il ir olSO m ha |
observed that no one, whether he be en-.
gineer or an Eads advocate On this floor or
elsewhere speaks of the jetty plan as other
than an experiment, and the whole argu.
ment shows that the construction of a canal
is contemplated if jett;es should prove
failure. The point that a sufficient survey
has not been made to locate canal is a
mere technicaity. It's feasibility has been
determined, but the precise point of loca-
ton has not. The canal bill provides for
that location and for all surveys that are
necessary. And this is enough, as the main |
facts are determined. The advocates of
the canal are opposed to delay; and the
reason assigned by the jettv advocates for
the canal is as flimsy as is the
by which the jetty theory is
sustained.
The gentleman from Missouri Mr.. Wells]
10 afraid OF the terrible CYCLONES in their
effect upon the canal. Severe storms do
happen once IN great while. But l am
not aware that they have a particular appe.
tite for canals. Breton harbor. he.gnIf
terminus of the proposed canal, has never
been disturbed or filed up. The increased
height OF the bank by the excavated earth l.
Will secure the canal against all the imagi-
nary danger suggested. But no such dan
ger exists. However, if the canal will he
liable TO dangers of the character depicted.
how Will it be with ietties, VIII tbav MT |