The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-21
OUR UNIVERSITIES PROSPECT.


vorable to the planter In bottom lands TO an
unprecedented degree, II Is important to
look ut the question Of the levees and to con-
slider the prospect for the season now ap-
preaching. 1t would, Of course, DO unreason-
able to expect recurrence Of tho conditions
which have prevailed this year. There has,
perhaps, never been such low water In the
Mississippi and lts tributaries certainly not
for many years past. We have now expe-
| rlenced three summers Of low water-threc
summers during which the Inhabitants Of our
very lowest lands have been In no danger what
Eoever. Since 1876 there has boen no rise In
the Mississippi Of q nature to imperil the
most unprotected bottoms. The planters
have pursued their avooations undisturbed
and bountlful harvests have made good the
claims Of our alluvlal region az being the
most fertile district In the Civilized world.
But experience forbids liz to expect that such
good fortune will DO repeated inden-
nitely. We know that from time To time,
at eccentric intervals, we are liable to be vis-
tied by great foundations, and there IL no
guarantee that next year may not prove to be
one OF those occurrences Of high water which
hayein the past proved SO disastrous. There
Ii the same chance always that no flood may
occur, but, on other hand, It ID only q chance
And, meanwhile. the most fruitful tracts I'm
the whole United States are watching their
fate suspended In the balance, to be- inclined
for good or evil, for fortune or misfortune.
according to some standard Of which no
mortal man knows anything.
We have just been looking into this matter
and obtaining information from the Off Of
the Chief Engineer, Major j. M. Harrod, with
a view 10 giving the public the benefit Of
plain, unvarnshed statement Of the facts In
tho case. From Major Harrod and his ac-
compllshed assistant, Major Richardson, We
obtain the gratifying intelligence that the
levees are tn d better condition now than they
have been at any time since the war, From
the mouth Of Red river up TO the Arkansas
line there are only two breaks; one ut Glass
cooks below Natchez. and another at Brown
Johnson's. below Delta These breaks will
have but little effect upon the planting coun-
try ia the rear, as In each case the water
passing through runs across point, md IL
redsoharged Into the Mississippi at Davts's
bend. Ashton levce has not been rebuilt. for
two very good reasons. First. 1t 10 Immediately
upon tho Arkansas line, and to rebuild It
would do no good. since the levees put above
IL In Arkansas are down and no benefit could
thereby DO secured; and secondly: It has DO
filled up during the past few years that little
Or no water could pass through there except
stage which would result In the inundation
of the country, whether 1t were up or down.
Water entering through that break or through
4 h. h,.eo lruo al, n, Arkn o,YufH
directly into Bayou Macon, navigahle
stream with capacity for receiving and die
charging vast volume. This capacity would
hnvo to be exhausted, ard the ridge interven-
ing between Bayou Macon and the Tensas
would have to be surmountsd by the flood
before the waters could fill into tho rich Ten
sas bottom, and so devastate that magniti-
cent planting district. The Tensas Itself
heads up In Lake Providence and can only
receive water directly from the Mississippi
through that medium. The lake, however,
ls protected by the Bass levee which has
been rebuilt since Gov. Nicholls's accession
and may safely be relied upon under almost
any circumstances. In addition to this the
levees all along that river front have been
raised and strengthened Mt various points and
are In excellent condition. The Macon and
Tensas bottoms. therefore, are safe against
any ordinary spring rise. and can only DO
harmed through Arkansas and by o peculiar
combination OF misfortunes.
Below Red river there are only two breaks-
at Morganza which crevasse discharges into |
the Atchafalaya, and ut Bonnet Carre, which |
discharges Into the lake behind New Orleans. |
These two openings are calculated to Rlieve
the pressure Of very high water by taking off
a vast proportion Or the volume and are
hence benefit rather than an injury TO the
planting interests. Indeed. the commission
ers representing the Atchafalaya district
passed q resolution requesting the State
Board Of Engineers not to close the Nor
CANA orevasse. It will thus DO seen that we
have very satisfactory levee system along
the whole river front Of the State, and that,
but for the neg elected condition Of the levees |
In Arkansas nearest the Louisiana llne we
should be In no reasonable danger from
high water In that splendid section
the most productive In the State-included
In the parishes OF Concordia, Tensas, Madi-
son and East Carroll. 1t Is exasperating to
reflect that an emergency may possibly arise
In which all tho labor and money we have ex-
pended will be rendered fruitless through the
fault Of neghboring State, but such Is the
case and such the contingency which we have
to face. Otherwise, the prospect Is most en-
and we may safely calculate upon
comparative immunity except under extraor
binary and rare conditions.
It would not be proper to dismiss this sub
ject without complimenting our Board OF
State Engineers upon the creditable record
they have made and the surprising results
they have accomplished during the last three
years. And this is oil the more to their honor
and renown when we consider how meagre
have been the means at their disposal and how
inadequate their opportunity to answer the
demands upon them. They have done
great deal more than 1t would have been fair
to expect Of them and they deserve the
grateful recognition Of the people whom they
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