Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-06-24
mHE MISSISSIPPI JETTIEs.
What has been Accomplished.

tEt'm the New Orleans Times, June IL.
On Thursday morning last 4 small
pal y, composed of Bradish johnson, II.
NJ. Payne, Richard Miiiken, T. Dugan,
Judg~ j. Ii. kennard, Capt James Is.
Eads and representative of the Times,
left ina city to visit the jetties. No one
OF the party, excepting Captain Eads,
had ever seen the great work.
No one except by personal inspection
can gain any clear and comprehensive
idea Of the iettles and of what has been
accomplished by them. One must know
what the condition of the Pass was be-
fore work was begun, and then see the
swift, deep current of water now rush
ing out to the Gull, before the change
which has been wrought can be fully
realized The condition OF affairs was
something like this.
There was Il narrow pass ten miles in
length and from twenty-five t. Ltiy feet
in depth, reaching from the heal If the
Passes 10 4 point few hundred Feet be-
low what is known rs Port Ia Is. AT
this point the banks OF the Pass ceased,
and the water spread out over wide
space. and found its way TO the Gulf in
no clearly-deiined channel. The force
of the current was, OF course, lost. and.
as i consequence, the sediment brought
down by the water was deposited over
;ll this wide space.
From the point where the banks of the
Pass ceased to the guli WIS about two
, and Il halt miles. From the point where
| the banks OF the Pass ccascu to within
$500 feet of the gulf. the water gradu-
ally shoaled up from % feet TO S feet,
and throughout the 5000 feet the depth
Of the water varied from 10 Icet,
The task to be accomplished then
| was to restore what may be called
hill the base line of which, y feet be-
low the surface, measured from the end
of the banks of the Pass, to the Gulf,
nearly two and a halt miles, and the
top line of which, in the same direction
feet below the surface, measured !, 600
feet.
In other words, lump Of earth two
miles and half lopg at the bottom, s.
600 feet long on top, and fourteen feet
thick, was to be removed.
By means of the jetties, nearly all OF
this vast mass OF earth has been melted
away, with the exception of small
mound at the sea end of the jetties,
, which, at the same depth of twenty two
. feet, has a base of 600 feet, and which,
/ dcTOSS Tile top, dL lllc uePtu VI soScuIcou
and halt feet, has breadth Of 200
i feet. There is now throughout the
d whole length of the jetties clear chan
4 mel Of over 20 feet, with the exception
of the lump or mound above mentioned,
and of the width of 200 feet, with the e1.
y ception of two or three places-in all
? > about three hundred feet in length
n where tho width does not quite reach
200 feet.
II, On Friday morning the whole party
went out in a small steam yacht ane
"a sounded the entire length of the channe
between the jetties, beginning in thu
= deep water in the gulf. The sounding
h were made as rapidly as the lead coult
- be thrown, the boat going at the rate Q
!. about six miles an hour. The sounding
were made at ebb tide. The least dept
10 shown was II IA feet, and this dept
. was found at only one throw of the lead
and that on the lump or mound alread
mentioned at the sea end of the jettle!
"a The greatest depth found was 81 l.
feet The majority of the sounding
- showed a depth OF %, Is and 80 feet.