The Osceola times., 1880-02-14
LEVEES AND JETTIES.
4 Caustic Review Of Capt. Eads'
Scientific Theories.
Some Stubborn Facts for River
Commission JObbers.


great an interest in the improve.
ment Of the Mississippi river it was
quite natural the New York Herald
should interview the great jetty
jobber, recently, on his obscrva-
tions Of European rivers, and it Is
quite natural ;he iobber should find
everything there to conform to his
plans here.
1t was quite natural that he should
say a jetty system was eminently
successful at the Sulina Pass, mouth
Of the Danube; when the facts are
they have TO dredge to MAINTAIN a
channel Of even twenty feet.
1t was equal y as natural that he
should not mention this little fact of
dredging at the mouth of the Dan.
ube any more than do the jetty
journals mention the fact that to
maintain the present channel thro'
South Pass they have to dredge.
If | remember correctly, when
the great job was started at South
Pass, no one deprecated dredging
more than did the jetty contractor.
He declared "no channel that had
to be kept open by dredging would
do; and that the commerce of this
valley must have a wide channel, 80
that the navies of the world could
steam or sail through-a half dozen
ships at time"
Now we are told that "a channel
fifty feet wide is all.sufficient and"
that "drcdging is not SO bad thing
after all"
Qucstlon--Havc the jetty organs
forgotten these little things?
The jetty jobber informs the
Herald man that he visited "Szege-
din" the city in Hungary that was
overAowed last summer, and says
at is scarcely possible to exagger-
ate the misery IT has caused. Out
of $500 houses which the city con-
tanned only 500 remain" No doubt
this is all true, but he did not tell
the Herald man that this great in
dundaton was caused by scientific
levee system carried on there by
the engineers for hundreds Of years
! believe It's Macarthur who says
that these same sclentifics, during 8
period of 5000 years, leveed th,
Hoang Ho river, IN China, unit
the bottom Of the river was raised
sixty feet above the country or
either side; that finally the river
! (Hoang Ho) broke these artlficia
banks and sought the sea by route
200 miles shorter than by the way
Of the old route to the sea. Even
so will do our Mississippi river some
day by going down the Atchafalaya
to the Cult of Mexico, distance
of 100 miles, whereas now by the
Mississippi river it Is 800 miles
This will come to pass if they STOP
up the outlet below Red River and
continue thcsuicidal process of con
fining surplus water to q small com
pass. ALI this disastrous conso
qucncc will result on closing the
outlets, for, as Gibson, of Louisiana
says, "a levce is (rivcr) jetty and
u je,ty is a lcvec." And If he and
others can ever succeed in getting
the United States of America com.
mitted to this levee policy, and
even after the spending of hundreds
of millions, the results will be. il
any difference, more destructive
than in Hungary or China. And
still he (the jetty contractor) says
these are the systems that he and
others are trying to have applied
to the Mississippi river.
This is the plan foreshadowed by
the Mississippi River Commission
In fact, it was 80 understood before
the Commission was appointed.
But since have exposed these JOBS,
and shown that there is a way to
deepen the river channel and re-
claim the low lands from overflow
at % small cost and in q short time,
these jobbers are not going to come
before the country asking for $780,
100000 for levees and over S70,.
100000 for river jctties, as they
have done. They will now play a
flank movcmen, by gong about it
in another and less direct and open
manner. Indeed, it is pretty much
foreshadowed by Mr.. Ben Harrison,
who, 1T appears, went down to New
Orleans few days ago with the
| { ommisslon.
He says the plan that is TO be
adopted is to "experiment with mat
trasses to prevent the caving OF the
rivers banks" And here 1t will
appear that the deepening of the
rivers channel and preventing the
terrible ovcrhows are matters OF no
importance.
Now, | would ask the people of
Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas
and Missouri how they like tins?
Especially would call the atten.
ton OF such mon as Mr.. Edward
Richardson, Of New Orleans, who
pays annually levee tax of slS,-
900 on 60 900 acres OF land in the
Mississippi bottom.
And OF course the lcvce taxes and
ali other expenses and losses Incl
dent to an overflow and bad river
navigation are all nothing to the
people.
And Gibson, Ellis, Robertson,
Young and others who were instru.