The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-02-06
ST. LOUIS NEWS.
CArTo EADs AND HIS PLAN ron In-
PROVING THE MISSISSIPPI.
The Temperance wave-The Hsessar Sue
reaalaH-'The shenutt Ease.

made speech ON Change Yesterday, explain
iug tn the shippers of st. Louis his plan for
improving the Mississippi river between
Cairo and New Orleans. AS is well known, he
is opposed to the levee system Of making n
chaunel for the river.
| 1.BvEEs.
| he claims, raise the bed Of The river instead
uf deepening the channel. They raiss the food
line and do not prevent bars from forming
while jetties lower the food line and keep the
channel clear Pho channel should be Of a
uniform width. Capt. Eads said In his speech
and Its bed OF uniform slope and
both Of these results can be obtained by the
jetty system. The power Of the water 10
transport sediment depends wholly upon it's
velocity. The "most essential truth under
lying his plan of improving the river Ia thai
| the quantity nf sediment carried In suspension
by the river to tho sea depends upon the
velocity OF the Uut rtztttt, tetliaeA hetgevar hy
the depth that Is, the quantity III sediment
Increases less rapidly with an Increase Of cur
| rent in deep water than 1t does In shallow
water" This essential truth of Capt
Eads is rejected by Messrs. Humphreys and
Abbott. the army engineers who opposed the
| jetties at the mouth Of tho Mississippi. but
Capt EaHs says that he Is ready 10 prove
the correctness Of hiH assertion. If he is
wrong. then the ietty system he admits Ia
| utterly worthless" and the outlet theory Of
the Lsvee Commission Ia correct. His plan
| is based on the Concentration and eonssrva-
| tion Of the river volume and theirs on TIL
| theory that It's diffusion by outlets will lower
| the flood line" He says In contradiction to
| them that changes in tho velocity Of the cur
| rent cause It's deposits TO be thrown down In
it's bed. and that decreasing the volume ef
water win lessen the channel and stespen Its
slope They claim that long and carefully
conducted experiments at Columbus and
Carrolton utterly disprove tho OK
istsnee of any relation between the
velocity Of lilo current Of river and the
quantity Of it's sediment, but Capt. Eads said
In his speech before the st. Louis merchants.
yesterday In relation to the table OF results
published by Msssrs. Humphreys and Abbott
from The Columbus and Carrolton OBSERVE
tions ''1 hold myself ready to prove before
any COMMITTEES Of Congress or any eonpstsnt
scientific authority or In the presence Of either
Of them that they have mtstnterpreted their
own data and have thus been led into the pub
They have not given the total
quantity Of sediment carried per second.
but only The speed Of the current In Esst per
second and the weight Of the sediment carried
In one cubic foot Of water, no matter whether
the number Of cubic feet per second was ten
times as great In one case as In another"
THE COST or IMPROVING THE RIVER
from Cniro to tho Gulf would be about
$50, DOC. 900. and the Improvement would secure
u depth of Mt least twenty ftet In low water
fits that would result to the nation from the
Improvement, Capt Eads said that no eo
auenee of tongue or pen could picture it, 1t
would be OF even gre,te1 Importance to the
Mississippi Valley than the opening Of the
mouth Of the mississippi river alone can be.
Grain could then bs proftably carried from
St. Louis to New Orleans for three cents Il
bushe.
At the conclusion Of Capt. Eatls' address
the members of the Exchange passed q series
of resolutions. requesting the board Of diree-
tore of tho Exchange to take such action In
reference to the plan Of Capt. j. II. Eads for
the Improvement Of tho Mississippi river as
will bring. tho subject prom inently before Con-
gress and the Mississippi Valley" and ten
deting Capt Eads
A VOTE OLE THANKS
for the great work performed by him in
opening the mouth OF the Mississippi to the
commerce Of the world and for the effort he
ls now making TO give the co1nmerce OF 1T.
Louis and the Mississippi Valley an unob
structed and deep water outlet to the jetties."
THE TEMPERANCE WAVE
now. travelling over tho country has reached
st. Louis. Temperance meetings have been
held every night for several weeks In the
northern part OF st. Louis, but the first meet
ing In the heart OF the city was held last night
at MsrGhsnts mt Library % Hall hs hd ball ns ths w,e
ladies'. and most Of them, Of course, enthusi-
astic on tho subject OF teetotalism, or temper
ance, as they call it.. Several speeches were
made the principal one by H. Clay Sexton,
Sexton has been n teetotalist all his life, but
there are very few Of his firemen
thatO can say ns much for them.
selves. The present Temperance movement
fifty miles Of st. Louis, and the friends of the
cause are hopeful Of capturing this city also.
They say that over 5000 people have signed
the pledge since tho commencement Of the
Temperance badges, red and blue ribbons,
are seen on the streets now and then, but. IL
the pledge signers are numbered by the rib
bon wearers, then I'm afraid the Murphy
movement, rs 1t is frequently called, has not
been as successful in st. Louis aS represented. |
Mrs. Harriet DeBar,
WIDOW OF BEN DE BAR
the actor and theatre manager, has petitioned
the probate court here to set aside the power
OF attorney under which the Comique Thea |
tire was mortgaged in 1873 by John g. Priest, |
to secure the payment Of certain notes given
Wy NIL. DSpaI, VII VIC g' 'Vu'lh tuhL hti olsHtt- |
t,lre to the paper is q forgery. The power Of
attorney is dated New Orleans March 10, |
1866, and purports to have been witnessed by |
William Bosworth and sworn to before Will |
liam Shannon, u notary Mrs. DeBar claims
that she never saw the. paper and that |
she never heard OF it until few |
months ago. Shannon is dead and Bos- |
worth, who Is still living in New Or
leans Is reported toy have disowned the sig |
nature accredited to him and to have denied |
all kna,yedpe of the document Mr. DeDar
left good many debts for his executor, Mr.. |
Priest-the same gentleman who holds the dis
puted power Of attorney-to settle, and since |
his decease Mr.. Priest has been applying the
rents Of the Comique Theatre, amounting to
about $1,000 month to the liquidation Of these
debts. Mrs. DeBar claims that the property
is subject to her dowry interest, and asks the
court to compel Mr.. Priest to pay her dowry
proportion, to be determined by the court, Of
the whole amount realized from the rent OF
the property since the death Of her husband
The original power OF attorney fhe document)
is in New York city, but it has been sent for