The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-03-29
NEW ORLEANS FRIDAY, MARCH 2o 1873

day the Mississippi was discovered to the
present .hah has s made plan or uttered an opin,
this very thing, and nothing else has ever
been dreamed of, except by sanguine but ig-
norant inventors and patent mongers. The
plan, was practically applied to the Missis-
built pier or jetty from the foot of Bloody
Island In 1888, and in every pier, dixie, wall or
jetty built or proposed from that day to this
Mr. Eads goes beyond other engineers in
promises to carry this contraction and deep
ening to an extent which will result in setting
Cairo on HILL and no one will dispute the
possibility OF doing so, as hypothesis or
purely theoretical ca propostiqn any more than
old philosopher, that, If fulcrum or place to
fix his lever were furnished him he would
move the world. Perhaps school boys may
remember the problem: given the weight OF
the world and that Of said philosopher, and
shoulder for a fulcrum and an inflexible rod,
void OF gravity, for the lever how many miles
pei. hour would the philosopher require to
swing on his lever to move the earth one inch
In year, In this not unlike case, without
disputing the theoretic base of the proposition,
the call is for q statement of means, time, and
what Will be the consequences to the genera
tIons that must come and go before such
can an, be paid, to proposition to place forty
millions in the hands OF Mr.. Eads or any other
man or set of men under a single contract,
pledge or appropriation Of money or bonds.
according to MI Eads philosophy what he
the bed as he proposes would require the ex-
cavaton Of some IL, 900, 100000 cubic Yards: to
carry this quantity out into the sea In fifty
years would require the carrying capacity Of
the river to be just about doubled, for it is
nearly fifty times the cubic contents given by
Humphreys and Abbott as the annual dis
charge OF sediment; but, as by the theory, the
river now carrying every grain it Is capable
OF, it is not within the power Of man to make
it carry more, let alone to double the load;
and let 1t be embered he is going to lessen
the eslope, which will lessen the velocity, which
will diminish the ability to transport.
Mr., Eads stands in the attitude of one ask
being informed Of the amount or the purpose
for which he wants the indorsemdet Not
one OF you would entertain such proposition
from your nearest friend, either at the hsz-
ard OF your personal estate or the funds of
corporation of which you were director; for
the more your friend might claim that you
should do so to show your confidence in him,
the stronger you would assert that he should
confide to you the purposes and plans for
which he asks you to share the responsibility
Exchanges and similar bodies are altogether
too free in indorsing schemes they do not I'M
derStand, and their Endorsements would be
enhanced in value if obtained only with diff
Guilty, after searching examination.
possibilities OF the plan. Claiming that hav-
ing proven myself its originator, 1 can better
unfold 1t than another, even If he were dis
posed to do so. When | mentioned the results
which would follow the systematic improve
ment OF the river, in my letter In 1878, as
already shown, did not mean to excite de-
lusive hopes that a low lying town site should
be lifted above overflow, or the necessity for
levees done away with in a lifetime, but I saw
then, and do now, that the protection of
cavng bends would do more to lessen the
amount OF moving sand tn the river than any
other step, and although apparently an in
direct approach to improving the navigation, |
it Is the first and Indispensable preliminary to
Such Improvement. AS it progresses, the sue
ceeding steps OF narrowing wide reaches and
closing chutes should follow close after.
l say: First-That as the width of the
river below the mouth of Red river is nearly |
the section Of the river from the mouth of the |
Red to the Passes is outside of the range OF |
this discussion, as it cannot be improved in |
any appreciate degree by the plan under con-
slderatlon. Close all the bayous and cut-offs
and the bed, believe, will be enlarged to suit
the normal discharge of the river, but as this
normal discharge is contained below the food
line, levees as a protection against overflow
will be required, not only in the immediate
future but, so far as can now be foreseen, SO
long as man wants anything
Any talk or proposition, by Mr. Eads or
any one else that defers or tends to defer by
one hour the repair of the ievees below the
mouth Of the Red river. or their completion to
a sufficient height, is direct blow at the vital
interests of that section, whether given in ig-
norance or prompted by malice.
Second-The alluvial section ends abruptly
on the Mississippi, and about the same dis
tance above Cairo, on the Ohio at the Grand
little as thirty inches S On tn the rock rocks SIN IN the he
channel. Now, materially lessen the slope
from the mouth Of Red river to Cairo, and |
you necessarily produce cascades at the two
Chains, which shows the necessity of caution,
and, moreover, establishes a point below st.
Louis where a modification of the plan and
results IL ust be expected.
AS the improvement of the river above
Cairo is already in the hands of those who
are more familiar with the plan than Mr..
Eads, because longer and much better ac-
luainted, it would be wiser to leave it with
them until some one proves himself better
capable OF grasping the practical problems,
and mastering the difficulties here met At
any rate In the present hands nothing will be
lone inconsistent with the plan advocated
80 far as scientific methods and plans are the
field OF contest, this section above Cairo like
hat below Red river, is not the theatre of
var, there being no dispute concerning it.
ore, which can grow out of this discussion
s the sacrifice of material and important
interest to petty strife as to who shall ride
IN top OF the tide OF popular opinion, now
'tGLllB 5CIODSly tCWhTQ Glc eueTSeLlC prose- |
,ution Of the improvement of the great river
The upper and lower parts of the river hav-
ng been shown to be outside the practical
fleets Of the plan discussed, there remains
he section from Red river to the mouth of
he Ohio.
Mr.. Eads says: "From Memphis to Cairo
t tthe slope exceeds five inches per mile. The
ligh water mark at Cairo is twelve feet above
he land; il this slope could be reduced from
Red river to Cairo, 300 miles, only one-quar-
er OF an inch per mile, it would lower the
loods at Cairo 200 inches. or more than six
cen feet"
Well, the bank then at Cairo would be four
eet above high-water mark. Four feet con-
ain 1872 quarter inches; therefore. if the
,anks have relatively the same height to the
lood line, the lands 1872 miles below Cairo
you'd be liable to overflow, and from there to
Red river, 600 miles, more or less Of leveeing
would have to be done the same as now; and
,et he says: 'The levee can be ultimately
dispensed with and there is no need of doing /
L 1z..4I