The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1877-12-01


'ur sou 4ings showed as much, OF more.
Ahu &c engineer In charge assured us
."' d. there had not been less than 20i feet
N the channel for years. ~
Here is record at Celia river essen>
tally different from that at the mouth OF
the Rhone; buff Sir Charles Hartley, the
engineer, had stopped his jetties when he
reached the bar, or had he even carried
them to the crest Of the bar, he would
have produced only the same miserable
record which attaches TO the dykes at the
mouth Of the Rhonc. II Captain Eads or
any engiater had carried out jetties only
to the crest Of the bar, and therestoppeu'
itwould have been something like a
repetition Of the failure at the Rhone,
though at the latter the dykes v ire never
protruded even that lar out. Whereas,
the jetties at the south pass OF The Miss.
issippi, although yet in an unfinished
condition, have been carried en-
tlrely through the bar lbelng II miles In
length TO the 1eep water outside; and
where, In 1875, there was no channel, and
only depth of 81 feet, there is now
wide channel over twenty feet deep,
through which vessels drawing twenty
feet can and safely pass, where tor a hun.
dred years or more there has been no
channel atall for sea- going vessels. This
might be considerably disinterested en-.
gineers success, and is SO regarded BY
shippers who ore now sending their vess
sells through this new jetty channel"
MIR. Roberts also refers TO the better Op.
portuLity afforded by the Mississippis
greater depth of water, to secure deep
er channel TO the sea outlet, as contrast
ed with the Danube:
There ia a radical difference between
the Lower Danube and the Lower Mis-
sissiDpl, In an important particular. Ii is
said in the case OF the Danube, while the
jefties have created channel depth
through the bar OF twenty-one teet, the
river itself above, even where it has been
trained has only eighteen feet depth;
while In the Mississippi, above the head |
Of the passes, Ii Is 100 feet or more in |
depth, and so continues Tor more then
100 miles. Such is the depth at New Or
leans, and fora number of miles above |
that city .H ...
Hence the natural conditions Of the
Lower Mississippi are remarkably favor>
able tor deep entrance between the
main river and the Gulf. Compared
with the RhOne the contrast Is still more
striking. On the Rhone, although en-
gineers have, at great cost, constructed Il |
splendid canal having nineteen and |
half feet depth Of water, the river itself |
above the canal has no such depth, and |
never had"
There seems little reason to doubt, from |
all the testimony that has been brought |
forward. that the jetty system will ac-
all that Is claimed for it, and |
that it can be successfully applied, not |
only at the mouth, but throughout the |
entire length of the Mississippi, and we
hope to see an early and energetic effort |
made to secure beginning In the vast |
and important plan OF improvement con.
The immense value of navi> |
gable channel, enabling boats and grains |
laden barges to pass readily toward the |
gulf, needs no demonstration. The local |
advantage would reach into the many
millions, while the benefit to our
country as q trading nation would be felt |
by all. Put the products OF the great |
valley into New Orleans, at a rate ten or |
fifteen cents per hundred cheaper than
they can be laid down on the Atlantic |
seaboard now, and we have a margin at |
once that would give us great advan tages
in competing with other nations in the
markets Of the world. An executive
was provided for at the st.
Paul convention, whose duty it was to
bring this matter before the people and
before congress at the earliest practicable
time. We trust to hear something from
the committee before long.