Daily globe., 1878-02-25
! TUE M1ss1ss1pP1 RIVER.
Cant lsads.. .Pyopossd AsthOd for Deepe,
ing the River aud the Principle Ipo
Witch e Works.

oeoe- Eadss.F FsoJ,osed Nslhod for Deepen
4n0 ths River aud fhs Psinciple upou
Witch It Works.
Prof. +. ". Bardwell, Of Kansas University
The recent address of Capt. Eads. irp the
hall of the chamber of commerce. of St.
Louis, promises to mark the beginning of a
new era in the history of the valley of the
Mississippi, and indeed in the history of the
country.
believe the opening of the Mississippi
to the navigation Of ocean ships from it's
mouth to St. Louis, would be more potent
in shaping the future destiny of our country
than any event that has transpired- since the
close of the war of the revolution, save
only the late war of the rebellion.
Imagine the ocean steamers, taking pas
sengers direct from st. Louis and Cairo and
Memphis direct to Liverpool and Bremen!
Imagine steamers and ships taking the pro-
duce of this fertile valley direct to the marts
of the world! The course of trade between
East and West and South would form new
channels and establish altogether new rela-
tions between the sections of the country.
New cities would spring up, and the banks
of the mississippi would soon be teeming
with hundreds of thousands. where now are
seen only thousands of people.
Some who have read the synopsis of the
address Of Capt. Eads as published, do not
clearly understand the method proposed, but
think it can be made quite intelligible even
to those who are not scientific.
| The principle is precisely the same as that
already successfully tried at the mouth OF
the river. There the bed of the river widen
ing out permitted the current to slacken its
velocity and deposit the sediment which the
stronger current of the river above had en-
abled the water to keep in solution and bring
perhaps from the Falls of St. Anthony OF
from the tributaries of the Yellowstone.
Whatever diminishes the width of the cur
rent obviously tends to increase the velocity
and deepen the channel, by taking up the
sediment previously deposited. By the con.
struction of the jetties at the mouth of the
Mississippi the width of the current has beer
contracted and the channel deepened.
Between Cairo and the gulf 43 sand-bars
are known to exist, and at each Of these
places it is necessary to force the current in,
to narrower1Dh when, of necessity, the
channel would be deepened. 1t is probable
that in some instances new bars would bt
formed in other places, but these would. OF
course, require the same treatment, and it il
evidently possible to establish channe
of sufficient depth from St. Louis to tn,
gulf.
A good illustration of the effect of con
tracing the flow of river current into mar
rover limits has been seen in the construc
ton of the Kaw DAM When the portion o
the dam structure near the banks remainet
in position, at the same time that a gap wa
formed near the line of the main channel
this channel was soon opened to a depth o
35 or 40 feet.
i The action i'll this case was precisely th
same as in that of the jetties at the moutt
of the Mississippi, and the same as is pro
posed for the forty three bars above tha
point.
i Were it not that my present topic is seri
GUS one, 1 would suggest that the engineer
who have been SO successful in deepening th
channel of the Kaw offer their services t
Can't, Eads