Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-03-17
The Lovee system ruaor,ed.

| To the Editors of the Appeal:
In yesterdays APPEAL appeared letter
from Catfish Point" Bolivar county, Miss,
signed "Naboth," commenting on the pres
| ent over flow, in which "Naboth" states the
| present high water found the ''levees" the
largest and in the best condition ever known
| to resist the high waters, and yet we had the
most disastrous oven flow that has ever &C.
CURED, and argues from that fact that the
| ''levee system" is failure and that the ad-
vocates are deluded or set of vile hypo-
critics. This is very choice language for
"Naboth" to use toward his friends and
neighbors who chance to differ with him, and
| it is especially choice from "Nabotb," who
| sometimes oficiatts minister OF the Cos
pei in the absence Of the "Shurenuff minis
| ter" ''Naboth" took especial pains not 10
mention the fact that, the river was nearly
! two feet higher than ever known before by
the oldest residents in his county, aud pro-
ceeds in gushing style TO depict the horrors
of the overflow, not forgetting 10 alluds to the
poor widows who are suffering and the loss
of lie by drowning as il this is not occurring
from time to time, overflow or no overflow;
and also taps the Ievee board over the head
gently by blaming them from not working
on the levee in low water, which if they had
done no one would have been quicker or
louder to condemn than "Naboth" lor an un-
necessary outlay of money when there was
no rise in the river to justify it. "Naboth"
winds up his letter by the remarkable state-
ment that it is the universal desire OF "eyery
owner of real estate in the Mississippi bot
tom to do away with the "levee eystem."
The writer happens to live in the
same county with ''Naboth" and happens
to know OF his great desire to see himself in
print, and that he loses no opportunity 10 do
so when occasion will afford him a hearing,
whether describing funeral, murder, the
high water, and is quite happy in the de-
scription of a "quiltin'." Now that our
county paper, the Leader. has suspended ON
account of high water, "Nabothp has trans
ferred his insipid and stupid correspondence
to the APPEAL, aAd continues to inilict us
call the samee" Now, Messrs. Editors, /
wish to state that the levee board for years
has kept up long line OF leyees around Cat
fish Point, including "Naboth's" little turnip
patch of plantation, al heavy outlay, in
stead OF going straight through the Point,
leaving "Naboth" and others Of our best citi-
zens "out in the cold" Tuey have been pro-
tected by the levee board at their own earn
est solicitation, and no more blatant advo-
cate of the "levee system" than "Naboth'
could be found, and but for the l=vee this
very day occupied by "Naboth" and his
neighbors, they would not have hoof OF stock /
left. | deny in the most emphatic manner |
that real estate owners in the Mississippi |
bottom conceds the "levee system" failure, !
and assert without fear of contradiction that |
they are more unanimous in favor of levees |
than ever before, aud l appeal TO the large |
number of prominent gentlemen now in this |
city from Bolivar county and Coahomo il / |
am not correct. Arkansas can't, or won't, |
put up her leyess, and many gentlemen on |
that side wish to see the levees ON the Missis-
sippi side down. On the principle OF the "iox |
that got his tail cut off" they want to
bring into fashion not to build levees
Tho To- 81 he IL hra OH
high water, Unprecedented and not likely TO
occur again in generation, no more dem
onstrates failure than that the houses, viii
lagos and cities destroyed and swept away
by tornado demonstrates that building
houses and laying off cities is failure, or
that the blowing up Of a steamboat does
away with the use of steam. or the bursting
Of cannon should dispense with their use
by every civilized government. The silly
advocates of the outlet plan of Captain
CowdoD will learn nothing, and in face of
the fact that notwithstanding oil The outlets
now by the many breaks in the lsvee and
he whole country under water, certainly
greater outlets than Captain Cowdon with
any amount of money can make through his
Barataria canal ever hope to accomplish, the
liver at all points below continued 10 rise at
he same rate until it ceased raining all over
he country. i state the fact on the authority
II gentlemen Of the highest character for in
that in Bolivar county, after the
breaks in the levee, the river fell from twelve
o fourteen inches in few days, and then
the rise and continued till within
few days, when the present fall reached
here. Captain Cowdon's ridiculous idea of
training the Mississippi river through
,imblet-hOle won't go down with us who live
behind levees, but may suit citizens en- the
'luiis of Memphis and on Broadway, in New
York, where they know nothing about it.
We are tired of his everlasting clamor, and
isgusted with his forcing his stupid nom
ense on every man he meets, and many Of
5 avoid him ~ we would the seven-year
tch. Captain Cowdon is a clever man and
means well, and would make a frst-rate saw
all boss, and with hard study might, in the
Curse OF time, learn how 10 navigate saw
g cut Of big eddy by taking the dimen-
ions of it with tape line, and, in my judg-
lent that Is about the sizs of his capacity
: an engineer. REFUGEE.
MEMPHIs, March 16, 1851