Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-08-10

tHe CITY OF New Orleans was Hooded b
q oreyssse in l7S5 at the came time.
Flood Of l79l.-Both ST. Louis az
New Orleans we're flooded in the sam
way ss Ia 1855.
Flood Of 1895 The Teche river Ovel
flowed its banks FOR sixty miles sbov
New Iberia, and poured into Grand Lax
IN smooth sheet OF water. The lax
st this date attained its highest lsre
being two feet five inches,higher THANH
lS2S, six feet eight inches higher than fl
1855, and four feet higher than the ord
nary level of the gulf flood Of 1888. l.
this year the cities OF ST. Louis and Ne7
Orleans were again flooded in the nlonu
OF April a. in 1855 and 1871.
Flood Of 1S09.-A most Gisasirou
flood, according to the notes of G1vera0
Sargent. 1t inundated all the plants
tons near Natchez, and destroyed al
ths crops. At NatcheZ this food wa,
one foot six inches below that OF 1915
and two feet one inch below 1858, thC
highest ever known there. The line o.
the highest flood was May 4th,
Flood Of 1Sl1.-There vas great
Hood this year.-Brackenridqe. DIcing
this inundatiOn much damage was done
by the water rushing through the unTe-
paired rents in the Ievee. Gov. Sargent
places this flood as being, a. Natchez,
where he made his observations, one
foot five inches below the nigh water OF
1915. The highest food was ia June.
=. Flood Of l8l3.-The same facts as re-
corded of 1911, but the water was six to
eight inches higher than that year.
flood cT lSl5.-A very great flood. AT
the mouth OF the Ohio it attained the
highest point ever reached-two feet
above the high-wster mark OF 1858. The
| highest flood was on the ninth Gay of
! April. 1t was due to q general coinci-
dence OF rises in the upper tributaries OF
the Mississippi. AT Natchez Governor
! Sargent states that the highest flood was
on the twenty second day of June, where
as the highest food at Cairo, at the
mouth of the Ohio, was seventy-four
days previous. 1t was two inches higher
| at NatcheZ than any recorded flood,
save 1858. On this occasion, fortunately,
Red river was low enough to allow the
Atchafalaya to do good service as an out
let, for no damage was done below Red
river landing.
Flood Of flS2S.-En this year the YazOo
bottom was completely overfloWed to a
depth Of three feet, the Indian mounds
being covered with wild animals that
perlshed from starvation. The rain be.
gan early and continued until August,
making the season an unusually wet
one. The bottoms were full of water
before the Mississippi food came. The
highest water was on the fifteenth day
OF August.
There were subsequent floods in 1914
in August, in 1850 Ia April, in 1851 in
April and May, and in 1858 in July.
This was Very great flood indeed, six
thousand eight hundred square miles
OF the YaZ 10 bottom and nine thousand
nine hundred Of the st. Francis bottom
being covered with water. In 1859 there
was also flood, which was very high,
but not so disastrous as the form er year.
THE LEvEEs.
1t ls a fair inquiry what amount of
protection the owners of property in
these sections have received from their |
levees. The first settlers came from |
France, and established themselves at |
NatcheZ upon the bluffs there, and at |
New Orleans. Here they at once found |
they would have to adopt precautions to |
save the infant colony from inuudatiOn; |
and in the history Of Dumont it is writ |
ten that M. De la Tour, a royal engineer,
ordered solid stone die to be con-
structed in front Of the place as early SIS
IO7. But, for want OF funds, this Was
not finished until 1927, when, in the re-
port OF Governor Perrier, it was an.
nounced that the levee was five thousand
four hundred feet in length, with q
width Of eighteen feet at the top. In
two years this commencement Of the
levee system reached above The city for
D distance Of eighteen miles, but 1t was
not so strong or go efficient above as that
in front of the city. For these latter
were composed Of the earth Of the
banks, mere silt and detritus thrown un
ly the river itself, and liable to be
washed away very speedily, In 1875,
when the Mississippi colony was traus-
erred to King Louis, the ievee extended !
we've miles below the city and thirty
niles above. But this was food year,
md there were so many crevssses, part
IN consequence Ofthe inefficient man
Ter in which the banks were made, that |
series OF edicts were prOmuig lated ra-
luiring every planter 10 complete his
evee under pain Of fOrfeitipg hiS lands J
o the crown. In this way the Ievees
Vere extended more and more without
ny system by mere individual efforts of
ettlers, so that when Louisiana was I
eded by the first Napoleon to or coun-
ry there were continuous I5vees from the
)West settlement south of New Orleans
the mouth of Red river on the west
de and to the neighborhOod OF Baton 1
.ouge on the other. And so they
.ngthened and heightened, until 1914
ley had orept up to the mouth OF the .
.rkansas. And in 1850 the Federal gov
desiring probably to have the .
stem completed, made d grant of all =
le alluvisl land south of the mouth of !
le Ohio to their respective States as a 2
lcleus for fund to reclaim them. The ="
tates of Louisiana, Missis sippi, Arkan- II
IS and Missouri organized offices for the I
lie OF these swamp lands, and ap- I
)lnted commissioners for the cOnstruc, L
on Of the levees. Some recommends u
Ons were then made for q united and
system of management, u
prior to that time each parish or coun- II
had looked after its own levees. In st
the police jury had charge of d
Q business, and in Mississippi there "
as board of levee cOmmi ssiOners
ected by the riparian counties. Under
e carpetbaggeTs the matter has passed y
TO the hands OF the State, which is q 90
anIfest improvement so far as system h,
concerned. But the practical working cy
these men has simply been to get all II,
g money possible and to use it for ~
her purposes whose nature it is un- ito
cesssry to particulariZe. 1t is obvious, tL
en-, that the levee system was not the ba
liberate choice of American engineers r.,
the most thorough protection against n,
3 Mississippi floods. We found il, and ~,
grew lnder our noses. And we have oG
IN it fsil repeatedly. Southern engi- Go
ers have at different times suggested O.
Ter methods of protection, which may 81
briefly characterized as two-fold. The A,
1t way is to modify the actual rela- BE-
MS existing between the accelerating m
d retarding forces in the channel in or,
,h manner as to enable the former "a,
carry off the surplus flood water with Of
so great rise in the surface as
y now require. This is the sys-
a of cut-Offs. Secondly, it has
N proposed to reduce the Of
ximum discharge OF the water bJD arr
ersion. This is the system Of arti- era
al reservoirs and lakes and outlets, Hs
W, the supporters of both these plans COZ
g their propositions upon the idea the
[ the levee system, useless now be- vis
Sc imperfect, would, if thoroughly Lii
ried out, tend TO Taise the bed OF the ste
r. This would end in an eternal Br
fe between man and the Mississippi,
which the latter must be finally We
Gus. The idea that 8 river confined {
its channel by sTtificially raised spe
ks will elevate it's bed originated Der
b NJ. de PrOhnV OF France and was Wi