, 1879-02-28
JETTY AND LEVEE JOBS.


Tax-Dovour'ne 3cl.etaes Of No Utlity-A
Hundred Millions tn DO 6qunaderod OIL
Folly.
In the face Of TIC innumCruble statements
that have bvcn laid before Congress aud the
country, to show tile utter laliacy Of Capt. Ends
jett1cs for tho improvement Of tile Mississippi
mud lii tho farc uf Reports TO tho contrnEy madc
heretofore hy their associates, Bourd Of army
engineers say that " These jctties rs far rs they
have goue, and as fnr as they have Affected the
suuth rass Of the river, arc OF substantial and
permanent character; tho Jettied channel Is re-
Earded Us 4 great improvement, nnsa at no time
more cYucnt than at present." No report hos
ever bce, made to Congress upon moro fisnsy
grounuB ttlan this one, nrd whatever benefits
mar accruc to Capt. Eatls and his associates can
br sufety charged TO tho duplielty of army en-
giuerrs among whom eau bo found class OF
talent lllut would lend ttso!f to almost ,uny.
thinE,-cyen 10 saY tlsat thu moon 'vas tnadc OF
Ereei, chccso, providing they wers Instructed to
Tl,e jr.,!cs, like The loyecs, arc mere o1ucrs-
nel.tB, md tllut too, hs demonstrated, ol very
doubtful character, md tic ni0rc money Con-
estuhltshcd.
In 1875 Commission Of army engineers wns
appointed to nsccrtal1 the rost Of moro
Thorough mud complete lryeu system. The
engineers selected for tile work wcrc UGu War-
rem, Ueu. Ahbutt, Gen. DcnyulrA, ton. SIckels,
ut.,l tielI. Herbert. These gentlemen iii .helr
5upoft day:
10 c'o.a ths existing crcvassos viii cost 81 45o,-
600; i1nl survey Of tho flsGr is nGcukaaEy, WHICH
will cost 2;lp0, O0U, and occupy Two feass time RiA
anuther yn'r for t'liso work, y a!I Ihsea yca,si
river Is rum SIX to scsGn tret too low, and II all the
outluIs 10 closed IT will eoss SAC, uo COO to
ra!se tho eyue4 high ur uuEh 10 hold tho water 0l
tho valley, us. In othos words, MS thGy say* pro-
| teat the country IRON orertlow.
In auutller report Of board Of army engt-
nocrs, II Is esttntuted ttnt In order to carry cut
s vii iles cost s. S5o wie iii Eas cla|ns al t Viii
tnst $!,l, ,O0; 10 Sc have twu propositions,
t|r lrvces aud the tcttes, M expenditure OF
over tule hundred millions Of dollars, without
cthIr 10 the navigation Of the river or to the
prntcytion vi lands on both AIDES Of it now sub
| jcct to overflow. On tic other t.antl, the prnc-
tlcai plan Of Capt. coWdon is ignored. whicL.
! only naks tho Government to risk $50, 000 to
nuku 4 test at Laho Horcnu outlet. which will
| gya mora relief against Hoods and oyrrtows
thnll $a 100 ,DOO spent In building leYees OF S5O
GotloUo III E:uls' hurno4g !ctttcs.
| Iu show llu.t cycn thu frictlIs Of these costly
theories ars doubtful OF tclr pracieabtIlty, thry
nov ask tor u new Commission, ut MI unnl!nl ex-
ysuse vi $95Q, 200, tu rcopen autl exa,utuc tlle
Whole auolcct, os rather tn prevent amy other
Commission 10 to STAND IN the relation Of a
budyguasd to tiIr leyne and lefty sCt,eEncs; That
IL, to keep of outstdeFs. 50 as to allow tAe1nful
a far us tho work Of civil ang!nccrs 10 con-
cerncd, they apnear to llaye exhausted the snb-
lert, nu Il shown ln a report recently published
by thu War Department Ut seventeen ycars'
Iaoor; anl any number Of Congress who will
exaInu il car. easIy sntIsfy hlulse1f Of liz utter
class ol talent. 1t, is acitkrr practical, nor
sound tn theory; 90 tlsat there !s ouly ons
| a cnmniisaon composed Vi its own members, to
Eu direct, tes with thelr own eyes, Anl consult
Lie ent.lnoIl-scnsu nntnons =! Inan living on llG
rivers, wt,s,.u ,eas Of It's di:llculles aru bascd
UPON ycars OF experience with them. This caI
tm done Ut Il triH!nE expeElsu, nf'd wl!rn done
will result in sotua practical benefit. II. low.
ever, this Commission Is to be apnointcl, SHOULD
thrro 10. bo some spec!lle tImu liked for 1t &c
reporti
Tt,u Mouth OF tho AIts.t@sIppi-A Proposltios
ty Henry II. Knapp. Q. f..
70 The Eslitor # Ms H'ashugIoa ltpuNiean
II III. Faculty Of cl!l.cr Columbia College, New
York. or ials College. New llaveu. vii! pgrcs It
!: dccsau the question ton arguments written d
ycrbal}, will wager s5o0 or more sat thu reduc
ton u tho capacity of the outlets of the Mis-
slssippl RIVcr, or auy other river, US Is alway
done In tilu execution Vi lctty works, cuuscs tn
elevation ot ,he surface Level Of the river by IN,
pr1lng Its outflow to lle sea. ara also plcya,e
It's bed huttuin by drpoals, silfluses It's Channel
md increases tho difficulty 0t navigating IT, ullt
also inctcasss the BerpuutEnG nl.tl Wndit,g chag
actur al thu river antl Its tendency to overflow
Will alsU wag2r sht BA!s.u amount THAT II LII
mouth Ut tile river 10 scientifically upcnutl. thu
thu seycrso Of al tn, noovenalncd consequence
Will result, ytz.: lint tho surface level III thu
wafer Will be luwercd: likewlso tl!e he'd bottulI
|. A tbs river: that t!.s Aow u TIC current vii
be slutckec.l, nlll tut tho channel viii bc NOR
concentrated. Strengthened, Allt urcppHc,
throughout thu length of thu river, AtAl its xes
pent.aa a,st Winding character VIII be reduce,
!. and lhs Navigation therein Improved. all III IL
cnElauce with the iucreascl capacity ol its ous
lett Or discharge.
For tho Faculty to decide this question II Is no
< ~ al! necessary that they should ba sntin.atcI
s hiyer,-t!so principles Ut hydraulics, like light
= gtayltat!on u1nl llotiun, being the same Ia a
! paTts ol t.u world; therefore the question vii
bu Of easy solution. ~ but few pstactpes arc IL
! vulyed; besides y u subject Vt national iI1