The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-11-08
ma Mi.al.s,pp, ] e,sIss, Again.

sssssss ssH 1MiS6iAHiPpsJee tleSs xRan. ss
i1essss III Gg,assss snFcst:
respondents xielF 10 account for heavy
annual outlay leads him into d grave engi.
Enee.ing error, Isl hlch he would have avoided
e he had passed q Few hours ir. d ben or ar.
NOR among the drifting lands III the bottom
OF the Miss.ssipp 4 river s. He would have
found QUO that the river undermiues any
thing that 10 iHtpiugss agatrsss and lets tie
top fals 10 She bottom. Captain Eads. With
bis long experience in this river. dohs 6 If.
tempt 10 e0nt,terect this undermining psos
cess by driving lreah rows OF piles az, stha
chattnei aide or kis snatsresses. but 5sImpay
lets the chanuel edges or sthe mat tfasses sif,k
- the sand under them scours out, until tho
mattresses lie on D ssrpng incline, aud MOI
horizontal, and form really The neN bauk
OF the river, which will be covered with veg.
esatfon as The willow brush sprouts and
grows. OF course these mattresses will keen
on sisksng on the slope until an equilibrium
y established between their resistance to
further sc0ur and the action Of the current,
and other mattresses must be sdded, bnt not
on the Channel side with plies ID the, deep
water, as j. Il. N. supposes, as they will be
pot on top OF the osbert mattresses and on
the shore side or edge, the whole WALL OF
jefty thus being formed of shcIined regular
courses or layers slopinge upward and back.
ward from the bottom Of the channel with
regular steps from one course to the next on
the riVeriaces and reverse steps ontheshore
side. FZs = - = s,ts2as -, ;%sf3 ~, y,
Cs5.ain Esds has also, taken advantage. 81
this undermining tendency of THE river tn
another way, for. ne IL building bis eastern
jetsy with slight curve to the west, thus
bringing the current more and more squareiy
against the jetty, as he crosses the line OF the
river, as the current of the, South Pass turns
suddenly to the southeast as 1t meets The
eastward shore current of the Cuff He thus
brings the undermining action Of the river
into play at the earliest moment, which ac-
counts for bis surprisingly rapid progress.
The east ward GnR current also helps mat
ters In another way, as II washes CT the sedi-
ment as fast as It Is carried ont BY the In.
creased action, Of the narrowed river, and
deposits the sediment not il the form Of 9
bar In. front, but In the dead angle OF, EDDY
in the shallow water behind the jetty - 49,
The existence of this. eastward current
al1ng' the Gulf coast has until lately been
vigorously denied by Captain Eads's oppo,
pents, but since operations have been car
riad out some distance Its action has become
|soducreasipgiy apparent that many engineers
who are watching the matter are beginning
to think that's jetty on the western side OF
the Pass, will never, be needed except for
the purpose OF, counteraeting the wash from
storms on the Gulf. !;.u &sfI. ~
Captain Eads proposes further to apply
his plans and experience 10 deepening the
Mississippi river all the way up to, ST. Louis
to which point. he states that he can get
twelve feet. at extreme low. water by mat
tressiDg at d ca :ult points on the bars and by
some blasting near Grand q Tower: and
elsewhere on the rock hedges above Cairo
Respectfully, 80. -. FRED. a. SMITH.
Baltimore, November 5, 1876 &;.s ~