The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-11-23
The Mississippi Jetties.

The improvement OF the South Pass OF
the mouth Of the. Mfssissippi.is the greatest
blessing to American commerce that has
ever been conferred upon it. We cannot
find 1t in our heart to be indifferent to any
great advantage that may be secured to the
physical welfare OF the country, no matter
In what part of the Union it may be located.
No citizen Of the Mississippi Valley can feel
more qualification than we do that the COM
merce of the Mississippi is completely freed
to fly to all quarters Of the globe by the
deepening of the way of exit from the
river to the Gulf The immensely of the
achievement is beyond thereach of calcula-
ton or appreciation. There is no other
valley on the globe that is capable of so
great WELD Of the necessaries OF life as the
Mississippi Valley, while the great river and
her tributaries have a transporting power
unequalIed in magnitude by. any system
OF interior navigation. That such q val
ley, with such water transportation, should
by the simple and effective means employed
by Colonel EADs at his jetties be relieved Of
all impediments In the transit from river to
/ the ocean is fact that in its .benefcent con-
sequences rises above local considerations.
It concerns the world, and the felicitation it
imparts encifcles the globe. 9, ','.I.:: '' 81
We felt much interest in reading the fol-,
lowing article from che New Orleans Demo
crat, and we think our readers will find
equal interest in it, .@a>s:s" = > az
At Port Eads nine vessels passed through
the ietties Thursday Of last week. Four OF
them were steamerS-viZ: the Hudson, the
Baltimore, the Frankfurt, and the Hewes,
OF these the Baltimore drew 81 feet inches.
The draft OF the others ranged from 18 to ~
feet. The sailing vessels passing through
were the ship Saranak, the barks julia
Ernestine, Colin E. McNiel, Regina, Aube-
pine. and the .schooners Amos W aIker and
Mary A. Drury. They all passed without
detention, the large steamers going through
and on out OF sight at a rate OF speed
showing the utmost confidence In the
depth and breadth Of the channel. The
change effected in two years on that once
desoiate bar and shore is indeed remarkable.
No such work has been accomplished in so
short time at any port in the world. Where,
little more than two years ago, pclicans
and gulls tapped lazily about 3 solitary
lighthouse, and about one tenth Of the wa
ter Of the Mississippi flowed slowly seven or
eight feet deep, over sand-bar two and a
half miles wide, Is nova bona fde port,
where vessels aggregating thousands OF
tons measurement and bearing cargoes OF
hundreds OF thousands Of dollars pass in
and out daily. Sailing vessels OF all
I Isles, from the fruit schooner to the great
ship, lie at anchor in the deep. natural
canal inside the works-a land:locked
lharbors--waiting for orders from the
city; long plumes Of smoke far out at sea
indicate the approach Of steamers from va.
rious directions, and Of toW-boats with Tall
ships following, al HconYerging upon that
open riyer-moueh. SO long dream and an
| aspiration, but now a reality. AZ. practica-
BILE channel OF u feet y lis. found there, ac-
eording to Captain Brown, OF the United
| States engineers Gan, official authority;
and VIC know by actual test that vessels
drawing more than 81 feet can and do
4 phss through 1t now, There is also. a
wide channel Of 90 feet or more all the
way through the jetties except Tor q
| distance OF q little more than 400 feet.
This the great dredge, the g. w. Il.
Bayley, now shipping her huge scraper and
suction pipes, will very soop cut down and
| widen until The g pract ichble channel" is
I22 feet, thef "a feet, rs feet, and 80 feet. It
lis beyond dispute that the jetties haye al
Isfeady made o channel three times the depth
i Of the original natural channel as South