The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-05-08
THE FL0ODS.
CircumstantiaI Acr Ount of the Extent OF
the Damage in Louisiana.
From the New Orleans Picayuue

From the New Orleans Picayune. -
1 Now that the great food may be con
sidered as having done its worst, an,
the occurrence of new crevasses regar
ded as improbable, it becomes interest
ing TO take a glance at the nature anC
extent of the damage and to form sucl
estimates as may be possible of the con
sequences. Engineers calculate tht
/ quantity of water thrown out on the
state by crevasses to be less than one
half the amount during the great over
flow In 1867, when the break In the
Grand leYee took place; yet the damage
/ to the crops of the state viii be fully
equal TO that sustained in 1867, because
of the bad condition of the Atchafalayl
and its leYees. But as the records o
the flood of 1867 are very imperfect and
do not show the velocity of the water a
the crevasses. this estimate is quite un
certain.
The present crevasses at Hickey and
| Aorganza levees, and at other place:
| which throw their waters into the Ateh
afalaya, pass about 300, 900 cubic feet o.
water per second, and the average We
| locity of the creyasses IS about sever
feet per second, equal to four and two
third miles an hour.
1 4lC DICtth StlL4LA II Ii LCQ
was G 900 feet wide and SIX feet deep,
with velocity of eight feet per second,
| equal to a current of four and a half
miles an hour.
The break at Morganza at present is
1000 feet wide, feet deep, and the We
locity is 81 feet per second, equal to a
| current of 81 miles an hour.
The Hickey crevasse Is 10 feet deep,
1,500 feet wide, and has velocity of IA
! feet per second, which is equal to a cur
rent Of 81 miles an hour.
From some of these crevasses the rich
| districts of Lafourche, TerrebOnne and
Attakapas, the largest, most fruitful
| and most populous rice and sugar re-
gions of Louisiana, are Overfowed.
| Though lying far distant from the river,
they are subject to its 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 7n that the en-
tire Ouachita Valley is under water. It
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 iv-
ing on RATS and the tops of their houses.
This extract of a letter just received
from Monroe gives further confirmation
of the gloomy story: g Everything at a
stand-stiu up here. Pargoud's upper
and lower levee 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 COncOrdia 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 creyasse on the Mis-
| sisippi. These parishes are chiefly cot
ton districts, yet there are many large
sugar plantations which are hurt.
In Pointe Ooupee 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-ffth.
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-
/ IoTf =
| 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-tbe 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 overflOwed.
The number of sugar plantations in cul-
tivation, damaged In this region, cannot
be readily estimated, but may be SET
| down at one-fourth of those in cultlya-
| tion-the number in cultivation being
over three hundred. The water IN this
region is rising six inches day.
Assumption viii also suffer severely
the creyasse 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 tc
be considered also.
If we undertook to examine the cot
tan interests, it would be necessary tt
begin the examination of the overhoweC
country from above Memphis, and al
the tributaries of the Mississippi IN thC
southern country.
The sugar crop of Louisiana vii
probably be cut short one-third by the
Il floods, and the cotton viii no doubt bt
Iessened 300, 600 bales by the floods anc
rains up to the present date. BY tht
time the waters subside and the grounc
Il becomes dry enough to plant cotton,
viii 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 tn
country for succor under misfortune
which We ourselves are powerless f
meet. It is we'll that the country shoUll
know to what extremibies We have bee
reduced.
River and Harbor Improvements.
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