The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1879-03-14

TIE CRET1SSE At BONNET ClRRl
The closing Of the Bonnet Carr
* crevasse is n subject in which th
citizens of our gulf shore ar
. vitality interested, and one which
,, should command the immediate at
tention of all who wish to see th,
!, interest of the coast towns protect
ed. Should this great volume OF
fresh and muddy water be allowed
to flow out OF the Mississippi river
through lake Pontchartrain thence
through the Rigolets into the
sound many months longer, the
waters of tue latter will become
so impregnated with the mud.
freshness of the old Father of
Water that the health of not only
New Orleans but of our coast will
he seriously jeopardized, and the
oyster and salt fishing ruined. AS
it is, we + told that the bay wa.
tiers as far east as Biloxi become
muddy in low tides, and that the
oyster business is seriously threat.
ened.
Should the water along the Mis-
sissippi coast become fresh by this
continual flow of water from the
Mississippi river, our coast towns
would become malarial districts
and soon would be so unhealthy
that it would ruin our coast as a
summer resort and drive the in
habitants away from here. 1t is,
therefore, of the utmost Importance
to the citizens of the entire coast
that Bonnet Care crevaSSe should
be filed up, and that the fresh
water be turned away from our
shores. The longer tue matter is
delayed the wider and deeper does
the crevasse grow, and the cost
thereby of closing it is increased,
and if work is to be commenced it 5
should begin at once. a
Some months ago Maj. T. S. /
Hardee made Il survey of the |
crevasse, and estimated the cost of e
closing it at 100000; $40, 900 of a
this nmount is to be furnished by 4
the State of Louisiana, the remain p
ing $4,000 is to be raised by the Ii
of New Orleans, the New Or b
cans, st. Louis and Chicago rail Il
Dad, the planters of the riparian IT
counties and the citizens of this fl
cast. oil
AS will be seen by an article II
the New Orleans Times, to be L
Dund elsewhere in our columns,
he commissioners of the First ST.
svee district of Louisiana have N
equested Gov. Nichols to use his sl'
ltluence to have the levee tax col. te
,cted in New Orleans applied to dc
ne closing of the crevasSe, and m
S the city is vitality interested in CT
lls matter we suppose Gov. Mich. NJ
lis and the moToers of the board ad
State engineers will favorably III
the request and do all they i'm
n to assist in raising funds for Sc.
is purpose. ar,
The citizens on our coast could ma
FL afford to contribute $4,000 or Oh
5000 toward this object, and we fro
'uld suggest that meetings be jur
He'd at every town to take the OrS
cessary steps toward raising be
'Ley for this purpose. Let no. the
'es be issued of such meetings, sio
t the citizens together, discuss ant
e subject, and we believe, after by
e people e the Importance of thi
wing the crevasSe closed, they eel
II aid in having the work per mu
med. Let the waters of the the
sound become fresh a s.
i and this whole coast would not vic
worth the having; in fact PEG. SEES.
could not live here, as the is Il
rshes would soon be changed tail
D hotbeds for the generation of ers
aud in a few years the and
would grow so sickly that it A
nd become uninhabitable. Our No,
zens, "a well as those of New 70 4
cans, should see to it that the tok,
amount of money is poo
without delay, that work dot,
7 soon be commenced and have To-
V closed before the thi,,
ing fall. t;si,