The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1877-09-05

PlOO0-Llme OF he hi'o'
Area Almost as Great nv INV
ss.se Of Ohio. and the Per
nm aneney Of 2.20O Miles
OF River Bank.
pit,sbu,p Commercial: BY this time
quite large number OF citizens had COZ
lected In tine rooms OF the chamber WIN
the .xpectation Of hearing Captain ). b.
rads deliver an address on the important
Question OF the improvement OF western
,,v,rs The board OF directors adjourned
TO the large room ironing Oh " ood
.,rss, In order that all who might desire
to hear MIR. Eads could be accommodated
The meeting consisted exclusively Oh The |
Representative citizens, including many
s,samboarmen and coal OPERATOR @AH
a.. unusual sizs demonstrated thai Tie
,ubjse. ia one in which the ba.iaes' fl'eD
OF tha community feel srrp Interest
c~per,l MoreLead introduced Ca"l@lh
E.As IN = most felici,ous manner. lie
rrssrrxd 70 him "a being i=SS years sAiis;7
p,k.owu TO fame, oai his t1i!A4ng o'
,ss ondz. ever the Mississippi :; -
Ioun. a one Of he greatest enzif'--'iAs
,sx,a Of The age, gave lin WIZ 'sI''-A'
Lon. uhiea. IA s.lGs been eIisl'S-7- Z!
hus evcuec.4oa Win tie e01.-c-->'..''-i
q Tie jeriks IL tie MAN 81
,ss Mississippi. IL oj~--1s
ha sdcress, wbsca ~as l.;els~l 70
,hrUxhsa. with uu- 4-~p~ai alssD'aoa'
Captain Esds sal tat IL pfoi1i-I -
explain the iesly system AID i-ai u La
elected AZ Tie uogth u The Ais.lasipiH'
And thea ahou how Tia. ,.si.A can be
spol,ed TO the improvement, OF TIE Nils
,i~aiopi risex IRON C4iso 10 Tie gull
he i,nrresses upon HE hea,rs the In
,,or,ance OF bearing IN mind that the
ist,y ~ stem restl upon the fact that TIC
Mississippi ID supporter Of solid matter
carried in suspension by the water
This IL proved by the fact that during a
food . glass Of water taken from The
surface OF the river will be found % con-
tain n great deal vi sand. And when
there Is no food, sand can be discovered
with the aid OF microscope IN the sur
face water. The velocity Of the river Is
the sole cause of this suspension OF mat
ter. With the aid OF blackboard captain
Eads then explained to hi. auditors how
the jetties now building at the mouth OF
the Mississippi would wash away the
sandbar which has always been a
hindrance TO navigation, and which is
the growth Of the deposits Of the river
fJr one hundred and ten years. After
the jetties shall have been completed,
will this bar form in front OF them in a
little more than another century, lie
confidently asserted that no man could
toreshadow such result in five hundred
years. The jetties in their yet incom.
plete stale are already demonstrating
their success by cutting away the sand
bar. That obstruction once gone, there
will be u greater depth and wider
expanss OF water 70 receive the sediment
OF the Mississippi, with the various
currents Of the guilt u distribute IL,
thus sf-ctually preventing any rc-iorma-
ton Of the sandbar.
IMPROVEMENT or THE uEsIs.lPPI.
Turning TO the part Of his address oi
most interest here, the improvement Of
the Mississippi by the ietty system from
its mouth 10 Cairo, the speaker .aid LiIat
IL rests upon the following facts:
First--That ihi, part Of the river flows
through al alluylal bed Oi IT, own crea-
lion.
SecOnd-Tbat It's waters transport ia
suspension 10 the Sra the enormous mass
Of sand and earthly matters which are
annually poured into this nam stem
from lis various branches.
Third-Ihat It's quantity oi sD.i1
fnattsf annually discharged INTO the gea
through the main stem Or trunk must h.
very nearly equal TO the quantity annu.
ally poured into the stem by the bran.
ches. for II 1t discharged less than IL
received, the remaiEder would finally M
up the chaupel and destroy 1t. and II il il
discharged more the excess must De Ia
ken from Ito bed, and thus constantly
increase its capacity.
Fourth-That the velocity Of the cur.
rent determines the proportion OF solid
matter which the river carries In sus-
pension. and thus gives II the power TO
regulate the size oil its channel according
70 its own needs. II the current be too
great to carry forward the normal
quantity Of sediment, 1t takes up from
the bed OF the stream the quantity due
70 higher velocity, and thus scours out
larger dimensions, whereby the current
at that locality becomes gradually re.
duced; while, on the other hand, il the
current % TOO sluggish, 1t IL unable 10
carry - much sediment, the excess ia
dropped In the channel, which Is thereby
reducedin size. This reduction acceler.
ates The current until Il attains the reuui.
site velocity to carry its normal burden
without further loss.
ass n TDaEsoY pboop.
Fro0 thsoo premises 1t follows that
when doo1 u passing down the river
the current b most rapid Ia the narrow
parts q e, and less rapid in the wide
sa1a. The banks and bottom In the
norruw parts ere consequently cut out
By u leading up action Of the current,
aad ~ W. pesees receive the material
thus NoOvsd. When the flood subsidies