The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1878-05-07
NEW SERIES---NO. 5.
THE JETTIES.

CAPTAIN EADs' REPLY TO THE STRUCTURES
! OF THE NEW ORLEANS PIcAYUNE.
! DEAR SIR--Plcasc do me the justice to
correct the following misstatements made
by you in your editorial of the 2Gth of
| April. You say:
! Capt. Eatls said. in his address to the
Chamber of Commerce in this city. that he
was in favor of restoring the levces to the
condition in which they existed before the
war, but that finally, his scheme would dis
pense with lcvees altogether. But il is
known that Capt. Eads is opposed to an in
dependent appropriation of $4,00O000 or of
any sum of money for this purpose. We
say this on the authority of Capt. Eads him
self, and because his supporters in Congress
have labored zealously and effectively to
prevent the reporting Of bill to appro-
pirate the money
"We assert that Capt. Eads is opposed to
Il direct and independent appropriation of
money for such a purpose--that he has
worked against it, spoken against it. and
has so far prevented the adoption of any
initiatory measures looking toward its
adoption. And finally Capt Eads has de-
clared with great emphasis, that the levec
system is, and in the nature of things must
be failure, and that the money expended
on extending and perfecting it will be sim
ply thrown away"
am not opposed toan Independent appro-
priation of 1000, 600 to restore the levees
to their ''ante bellum condition. and you
have no authority from me, either printed
or otherwise, for such statement.
have never said word in Washington
or out of it, at any time, against such indie
pendent appropriation, nor have | ever
worked to defeat it. have said again and
again that am in favor of an appropriation
sufficient to close the gaps and crevasses in
the leyees AS a means of beneiitting naviga-
ton because know that shoals are formed
below crevasses in the channel have
said over and over again that the plan pro-
posed by the United States Lcvee Commits
sion, and sanctioned by General Humph-
rcys, Of building the levecs up many feet
higher than they ever were before, is based
upon unsOund theories, and that it is alb
solutely unnecessary to restore them to Il
greater height than they were before the
war; because the bigger is the volume OF
a river flowing through an alluvial dis
trict the lower will be its flood
slope, and consequently the lower may be
its levees. Every outlet of the river proves
this. The smaller its voleme, the sleeper
is its slope; and challenge every advocate
of the ''outlet" theory to disprove this fact.
The proposition to increase the height of the
a s A..
belief that as the escaping water will
make the river bigger, if its escape is pre-
vented the floods must necessarily rise
higher. This is directly contrary to the
lesson taught us by every part of the Mis-
sissippi below Cairo, and by every silt
bearing stream in the world; and the prop
osition to expend $46,000,000 on such
d. theory is as absurd as the proposition was
to build a canal and draw-bridgc around
the end of the st. Louis bridge for the ben
eft of four or five tall chmneyed steam
boats at cost of over three millions. This
canal was proposed by Gems. Warren, Simp-
son and others of the school of engineers
whose plans you are advocating and de
Tending and it met the approval of their
chief, Gen. Humphreys.
Your editorials upon the lcvee question
are doing more to ruin the chances of a
lrvce appropriation than anything | know
of, by misstating my position, ridiculing my
arguments. and defending Il counter plan
based on mistaken theories. Precisely such
a course delayed for one year the opening
of the mouth of the Mississippi.
As you deny that Mcssrs. Humphreys and
Abbot are advocates of the outlet theory.
respectfully refer you to page 42O of their
report, where they say of high water out
lets, after a long argument based on crro-
: neous premises, THE conclusion is then in
evitable, that so far as the river itself j.
concerned they are of great utility
will also refer you to pages l35 and All
Of the same report for additional evidence
Of it. If the lcvec commission and Gener-
ais Humphreys and Abbot do not advocate
the practical application of the outlet theo-
ry. it is not their fault, but simply because
there is no place where artificial outlets
can be made without injury. They
declare they are correct in principle. while
declare they are pernicious both to the
planting interests and to river navigation.
In proof ofitlook at the innumerable gaps in
the lcvees from Cairo down, which have
been occurring and existing since the war
broke out and then read Major Suffers
statement, page sixteen, in his report in 1875
on his survey Of the river, in which he de-
clares the shoal water has lin memory of
living pilots" extended from Plum Point.
100 miles above Memphis, down to Lake
Providence, total distance of $50 miles.
The shoaling between Cubitts crevassc. may
all be explained by outlet theorists, and So
may this $50 miles Of shoaing. But the
facts remain to prove that none are so blind
as those who will not see.
Very respectfully, JAS. B. EAps.