The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-04-04
A GREAT NATIeNAL WORK.
improvement Of the Mouth Of the Missis.
sippi.
Speech Of Gen. Sherman at the Eads Banquet In st.
L0uis-viewS Of the Army Officers on the
improvement Of the River.

,r the banquet gwen Capt. James y. Eads by me
i chants OF 81. Louis in that city, on Tuesday ev
!, ning Last. Gen. Sherman said:
p Mr.. President and EtialeHen-I am rejolced
see 80 large and respectable an array OF tl
nelshbors and friends of Capt. Eads assemble
a ton ght TO do honor to one OF the most extrao
= binary men Of our day. I was his neighbor o
!. Chouteau Avenue twenty-four years ago, an
4 therefore claim right to share in these proceed
O lngs by title older and stronger than the on
q which influenced YOUR committee to invite me- q
i the general of the army Of the United atet
I such is my appreciation If Capt. Eads that fet
cure that he Will be more pleased to know ths
his personal friends appreciate the importanc
and magnitude Of the work he has already &C
n compished, and the still greater rk he propose
!, to do, than to receive any amount of praise o
! fiattery. Before approaching the main subject
let me say few words. which l believe are ex
!; |pected Of me, and which are pertinent to tn
. subject Of my toast.
Ihe newspapers Of the day, especially those o
st. Louis, have given the impression that tn
. army is not fri. ndly to Capt. Eads and his dc
signs. This l am certain is a mistake. Th'
> army alwa:s honors great deeds, but it is no
their custom to parade their opinions, lest the,
be called on to act, when their duty often requires
> them to execute the plans of others. Eut OF
all public questions, officers OF the army are JUS
Ike any other class Of their fellow citizens each
, forming his own judgment on the facts as K OWL
to him, or as represented by others. At this
present moment the army contains 22'4 officers
Of which number 1903 only are Of the en- ineel
corps. These latter constitute distinct, sepa-
rate body, and do not compose the whole army
or the one.twentie.h part Of it. They are, how
ever, men OF great intelligence, high culture and
OF strict integrity and honor.
| On any Professional question, when they are
harmonious, admit their opinion would have
great weight with their brethren, but on few
quest ons are tt.cy united. ach officer has his
| own Oplli Il, and only expresses it wh n called
on by authority; and on the great question OF
| opening the Mississippi to the ocean ships by
lab
| know that our military engineers have differed
and do Eow differ, as widely as any other class Of
| honest men.
| Tiis is no question: tits older than any of
1 us. Long before the Ere Canal or any of the
railroads had turned the tide Of commerce from
the West to the Atlantic ports the surplus pro-
ducts. OF the Ohio and the Missi sippi used to
| float down to New Orleans for market. Even
| we're Interested to improve the bars at
| the mouth of the river. and from that
day to this the subject has been living ques-
ton; but, like al! such questions, woul rise and
fall according to the popular tide. / myself
have heard it discussed, and ably discussed,
more than twenty years ago. No single man has
prob fbly given it more patient study than Gen.
Humphreys, the present head Of the Engineer
Corps, and it may be said to be his "hobby."
He seems, however, to have become so con-
vInced that canal, and canal alone will fulfill
the problem, that probably he is not sufficiently
patient with those who have as honestly reached
the other conclusion-"the open mouth" Now,
1t so happens that the very next name on the
roll Of that corps, Gen. j. G. Barnard, an officer
OF like merit and experience, is equally positive
on the other side. Nor is this recent CONVEX
sion.
He has been an officer Of the Engineer Corps
for moro than forty years twelve OF these years
spent professionally near the outlets OF the Mis-
sIssippl. As early as 1852, when associated with
Majors Chase and Bramyard, he openly opposed
the project Of q canal. which was the hobby Of
Major Chase, and officially advocated almost
identically the very scheme that Capt. Eads now
proposes to execute, viz to extend tho natural
banks a.. the Southwest Pass by artificial jetties.
Again, in 1872, when member Of the Engineer
Board, having this very scheme before it when
the local engineer, Capt. Howell. reported in
..4yor Of the st. Philip Canal, which General
Humpl.re vs. indorsea he General Barnard) re- !
prt. 4 officially in THE language:
1T is said tie time has come when the needs +,
OF commerce demand the canal, but answer that |
the time will come when the cry Will be for a
navigation unimpeded by locks. An open river
mouth ! nave much personal knowledge on
tlils subject, but cannot now take up your time |
am sure, however, That Capt Eads will bear me
cut in, the assertion that be himself has utilized
muck III the statis.ics and data furnished by Gen.
Barnard in his battle against the caual scheme.
He must remember that Gen. Barnard sought
the acquaintance OF Baron Offehburg, Russian
member of the International Board of Engineers
which superintended the jetties at the mouth of
the Danube; as also Of Sir Charles Hartley, Of
the British army the supervising engineer of the
same work, who happened to BE- visiting the
United States at the time; the result OF which was
the appointment by the PRESIDENT OF joint board
Of military and civil engineers to proceed to |
Europe to study the similar works there in prog |
ress. This board reported favor:bv to the jetty |
stem in preference to the canal, and two out |
Of the three military engineers on that board |
voted in It's favor. This settled the controversy
and paved the way to Capt. Eads' final success /
1sx
military engineers are, aud have been, advocates |
OF the open mouth; SO that l emphaticllly say
that the army is NOT hostile to Capt. Eads project
but assure him that they will watch his progress |
with intense interest, and viii hail lis ultimate
success with as much enthusiasm as any other |
body OF men il this country.
But there is another thing III this pass for |
which the army will ever be thankful to Capt.
Ead.-which partook Of a double nature, COM
mon to both the army and the navy-the con-
5 ruct.on Il the iron-cclad feet Of gun-boats at |
Carondtlet in the autumn of 1So1. l have al
ways believed that the h nor Of bringing to the |
attention of our government the peculiar energy
and skill Of Capt. lads due to your most |
honored ftll citizens, Edward Bates, then At
torney General. The first contract was with tn
Army Quartermasrer General MeiSs, for the
building of screw b ats Of uncouth patterns, and
shielded with iron plates two and a half inches
thick. The timber was still III the logs and the
IRON In coar.e booms-and yet the ways had to
be improvsed and most Of the machinery
brou yLt from the East
Yet Capt. Eads undertook to build them in
hundred days. He did the work, and on time,
and all the su cess was honestly due TO his i'm
energy. Now, it is matter Of history
that these iron-cads, with many others which
rapidly followed, constituted that naval fleet
which, under Admirals Feote, Davis and Porter
helped lis land-lubbers to clear out and remove
the obstacles which puolc enemy had placed
along the banks Of this mi hty river for one
Thousand miles Of it's extent. Will any one pre-
tend that the army and navy were not grateful
to capt. lads for this F?
hope he himself feels no doubt on this score;
and il he does, assure him that had his labors
in the cause of his country ended right thco, he
would have left to his children legacy of honor
that few III can pretend to.
Then, the bridge, which spans the N ghty
Father of Waters, aud stands in the gaze of mil
lions the proudest possible monument to the
genus of the architect. For dimensions, sta
bility. strength and auty, it speaks for itsef-a
triumph of gsnins. But even here I must ask
that my military friend, Gen Flad, may come
in for a share Il the honor. He was with us in
the wa as an e. gin er, aud myself recall him
hard at work on Bear Or. ok Ridge, and the hun