The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-02-15
CAPTAIN EADS ITTERVIEWED.

From the Cleveland Leader, Jan. 30.]
Said the correspondent, "Captain,
how much water is there now be-
tween the jetties 7"
"Sometimes over twenty-threo
feet" he replied.
"How much money have you thus
for received on their account z"
"About 81, 100000. T have had
this in four payments; ono of
S5O0.O00 upon getting twenty feet
OF water; ono Of S500,000 upon got
ting twenty-five feet; an advance
ment of $5OO,000 to satisfy some of
my creditors. and a payment to-day
Of about 100000 for work done
since the 10th of December. T
have now done four-ffths of the
work on the jetties and have only
received about one quarter of nv
pay. To- day New Orleans, the
Mississippi River and the entire
country are receiving the benefit of
the jetties. I have spent all the
money I can possibly raise on them,
have assumed oil risks of failure
and almost made them, Q perfect
success but my meaf1s are ox-
hausted, and want Congress- to
help me out. It is general rule
that all contractors for the gov-
ernment receive about ninety per
cent Of the cost of what they are
doing. Why should not I be treat
ed in the same way? This has
turned out to be a mighty hard
bargain financially, although prac.
tically I am fully satisfied with it's
success. So are the engineers Of
the government; 80 arc the sailors,
who have abandoned the old pass
and adopted the route through tho
;etties."
l then asked if bar outside tho
jetties was forming in the manner
predicted by the Cincinnati Conn.,
neercaal and the rest OF the press
hostile to his endeavor.
"Not at all," said he, cas- thoy
predicted; but the sediment car
ried out by the river has to go
somewhere, and the whole Gulf of
Mexico will bo filled by the time
the Rocky Mountains are washed
down into it. The jetties, however,
throw the mud far out into the
Gulf, and west current spreads it
over a large area to the west. At
present the water directly in the
mouth Of the ietties is deepening
and I calculate that when COM
pleted they will not require to be
extended for 400 years.
"Do you intend closing mp the
otber passes through which tho
rest Of the river finds it's way to
the sea?'
"No, sir; wo do not. That
would give us too much water,
undermine the present jetty banks
and swamp ,1s. We at present use
but ten per cont Of tho rivor When
we get thirty feet of water it will
be trifle more, but at present this
is all we want"
"Who are the stockholders in the
South Pass jetty companies
"They arc mostly st. Louis,
Pittsburg and New Orleans gon-
tlemen. I do not care to mention
names" was the reply
"How long will it take to com.
plete the jetties, Captain7"
"About four months"
"When will there be thirty foet
OF water there?"
"Well, sir, that is little moro
difficult to answer; but am con-
fi5ant that yya shall hova r. in fiffooN
months. at tho furthest, after their
completion"
"Captain, is there any truth in
the report that you are to improve
the Potomac front Of Washington,
so as to dry up the marshes and
get harbor for sea-going vessels9"
"I have been spoken to on the
subject, and have suggested plan
by which it could be done; yet r
do not think I shall take hold of it
very soon"
So ended the interview.
Captain Eads has accomplished
two great works of engineering, in
the most common sense kind of q
way, under unparalleled financial
difficulties, and in the face of q
'relentless war upon him, waged by
the technical and doctrinarian
engineers of the polytechnic ins
stitutes, from which he has not
been so fortunate as TO bc Q gradu-
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