The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1877-10-03

pEolhlllsHt SSiNVIlltu N'''''s''N ' "'''' 49,
lettie project and is Of no special interest,
EDITOR REPUBLICAN,: \ friend has
handed me two pamphlets in favor OF
scheme 10 make canal from the Missis-
sippi at New Orleans 10 Baratarla bay on
the Gnli OF Mexico a; 70 the merits OF
this project | have at present no
remarks 10 make. IL is only because Of
the remarkable peryersions Of truth ana
absolute talsehOods by which the proice'
tor OF the canal undertakes 10 sustain II
that | iacl n.lied upon to ircsspasi upon
anyone's attention.
/. In what he calls his second paper the
Blratarlan says:
"In Ills the mouth OF the Mississippi
was distant from New Orleans ninety
miles, and Island Balise was on ,1' and
beyond any other land. wiiha imH mar
Dor OF seventeen 10 eighteen lc, III
which the Dromedaire and other ship'
anchored IN safety"
This statement would bring the mouth
OF the Mississippi above the present
head of the passes. | have before me |
the report OF the chief Of engineers, |.
;. A. Tor 1874. vol. }, which contains |
copy OF a map OF the moulh ~ one oI |
the passes in l122, showing ls.e de IN
! Balise." with shOal water al round II
and channel close TO It on The east, WIN
/ 10 feet water in what IS now called
/ Southeast pass on our coast survey maps.
/ The same Old map OF l122 from DE IA
/ Tours suryeyl shows "PaS,e dc FEST,
now Pass aIOutre's ship outlet. Two
other old maps are given by the chlci Oh
ENGINEERS. one dated 1921 and one ISL,
Win the outlets and depths OF water
about the same as on the maps OF l'22,
bur with aisle ri Fort dc In BaliSe ON one
and ~. Toulouse Fort de In Balist on
the other. These old maps plainly SHOW |
I Thar he fork Of the river NJ the pres /
rnt head Of the passage must nave ON, ,
listed l722-l73l, rs they exist now ana /
Thar the general outlines Of the las, F.
n rOutre mouth were then defined |
The Barbarian, CXaggcratng the |
amount OF bar deposit at the mouth OF !
the river. in order TO discr2dlt tue let'( /
enterprise, has misrepre'enled the IAc's /
| Of history, Tor he makes the river - or
| % miles shorter in Ills than 1t r.aly
was II we take the maps OF one nun
/ bred and fOrty-siN to one hundred ana
6uv.iye wears ago and compare them
/ wilma coaSt-survcy mapOt lSjb we ana !
mat "Bal7e" is now only about J miles
further from the deep water OF the gun .
! than il was lhcn--giyng a yearly pio-
/ prcss OF tie bar seward &C the Iass .
/ l'Outre outlet of only about llO ieIt M
stead OF one.liith of Ia mile, rs required
by the Baratarlan's assertion. Inc gun
/ being deeper in front OF South pass the
lar advance there has no, las found by
comparison Of WalcOtt's survey OF IHi'
with the coast survey OF 1919 been over
100 feet year see Humphreys anu
Abbott
! II, The Barbarian says: "lhey may
wash out n greater depth between theT
jetties, but beyond the bar VIII form, on
which they will get only the normal!
depth of sixteen to eighteen feet ut low
E tide: and that is all that Mr. Eai' with
his iettirs. or the government with IFS
, dreigc-boats. no matter how powerful,
r will ever get.
The normal depth on south PCS. bar Al
low tide before the ieHieE We're begun,
: was seyen and a hail feet. On Aug. ON,
1871. rs rcportcd By Mr.. COr,Erli, rn@l-
upcr In charge, there was an average
lood-tide narrow - foot channel, and
! q foot channel us .eet wide. such facts
are very satisfactory reply 10 tie pass
age quoted. 20 the allegation, repeated
! i'm the panphlet. tla. the bar VIII con
n s,sn,IT AMI rapidly reform III 2drllc- o!
n tho iejtv ends. can hcsi reply by a ga0'
), tarign from the official report under dat,
az Aupust !. 1871. q capt. u. y. Brown
j. L. =. engineers, inspector ~ Inc l'--4as
+. ,,..,.r order, q: the secretary al W.r.
.Dg sheet 30. viii be found the r.
zg'-. 0ia survey on june 70 10 June =
1S-1. OF 4 mile az more beyond the en1
r Of the ieftiCs, ami for o coHs,AeF4hi,
. space on either SIDE. \ c"hFail o.
. this chart with that Of the -CiFay "I
June - 70 u, 1871, reveals The lolio".l!S
REGARDING various curves Of equal Depth
I Averaging. the twenty feet curve has re
, ceIed about two hundred feet; the thirty
fec. cuTyc about 300 feet; the forty fee
cgrye has remained nearly stationary On
; the Hbole. The fifty and sixty fee
curves have rccedcI very slightly, am
the seventy feet line has advanced q III
. lie. ana the eighty and ninety icet curve
considerably 20 the eastward, otherwise
! there l. 10 change in the latter two
= The one hundred lcetcnrye, on the whole,
has received no notable translation with
in the chartered limits. \ table
cmbo6yiug the results 0! this com
y parison comparison OF surveys 80
: iS-G and Is71l is given. and fqc chart 90
No. shows the Limits Oi the -ubdlYl
sions ana the depths found Throughout
each. 4 comparison Of these successive
: charts Of surveys made In tins space
during two years, had prepared me &c
find that little change had occurred If
them the last ycar, and in fact the last two
] years, and the result confirms TN
3 opinion for the year past. The space
Z. under consideration has depth icgtend
seaward1 in the direction Of the jetty line
Of one mile, and its largest base, nearly
G at right angles 70 the ietty lines, Is 1906
6 feet in length. It's smaller base, nearly
n parallel 10 It's larger, Is 3,JjG feet II
length, The area contains about l,2i,
= square miles one mile and two hundred
n and torty.Gye IhOusandths and in lN7l
1. the average depth Of water was CO.'S fee
u nearly. In 1877, G0,3S feet. lSee Capt
- Browns Report, PIP. 2G and y.
This official statement Of Capt. Brown
Is worth great deal of hostile prophecy
e. The chart No. covers the exact grounC
upon which the new or extended bar wa
to rest; but it is not there. On the con
Ie trary, the line Of thirty feet water i
ii reached a. we go seward in 800 feet les
rs distance than il was when the icttie
n were begun. -.
W 1t will be observed that in The cntir,
es area embraced III Capt. Browns char
Il, No. 4, about square miles. the ayerag
NO fill is 40.l00ths Of foot, OF q fraction les
oo than } inches But we must also obsery
w that this area, extending a mile scawar
he from the lefty ends. is 0,003 feet wide
N. its outer line, ana 3. 500 feet wide on i
IN. inner line, Immediately at The ietty end
- Now, as the jctties are 1000 feet apal