The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1882-12-15
The Three Principles.

Iue new iuTN c., lu hh tN-
itOrial article on he Italian hOo,is,
published du,ing the past week,
asks if "se cannot learn spmethlng
from the experience Of l. imbdrdy
and spare ourselves and our poster
ity the Labor and cost of dikes,
which nc best can afford us only a
temporary proteetiour z Answer
ing its own question il argues that
We should spare ourselves, after
which the writer endeayoIs To prove
that it is a waste OF money to maiu-
tain the levees on the Mississippi
river. With this clipping from the
Tunes member OF The local force
called yesterday on Mr.. James Il.
Eads, aud. submitting to him the
following extracts from the edito-
rial, asked his opinion oi hem:
"rhe problem ot preventing the
destructive overflow OF the Italian
rivers,p says the Times, SIS one OF
the utmost ditiirul irs. The pll
which has been followed Tor ceuta
res IN that of building hugo dikes
to coufne The rivers within their
beds. 1t isa feeble and desperate
effort TO thwart the course Ot Nv
ture.'
THE po now flows between vast
artificial banks, and wlen The water
is at It's lowest it is still many feet
above the plain, aud n break in the
dixie at ANY season Is followrd by
4 destructive foo; the attempt To
cohtine snrh rivers AZ the Po and
the Adige by acknowledgements is an
endless one. Their beds will c9a-
tinur TO rise, and the dlkeS must be
constantly made higher aud strohg
,r 10 be OF any usr.'
In reply, Mr.. Eads said:
"The system of Improvement ~
commented 10y the MiSSlssippi
River Commission is totalIy dil1el.
ent from that which is referred tu
in this article. This plan recogn.
zes the fact that it ls au expensive
aud doubtful system to attempt to
improve the navigation OF river
by le, ees alone. Tue diAes IL the
Po aud the Adige were bu,ll with
view OF protecting the lands from
inuhdation. The plan Oi the Mis-
sissippi River Commission, while it
recognizes the imporlance OF mann.
tainiug the le,ees OF the MiSSi>slp.
ri intact duling the progress OF the
Improvement. looks 10 the ultimate
disuse of the eleyees altogether. A |
sediment bearing rivers have ma
turally high water channels diiier
ing very greatly in width. Al
some places in the Mississippi the
high water channel is several miles
wide, while the normal width is
only about 5000 tert. These wide
places are the disturbing elements
which create raving banks, shoals
and shifting chanuelS, The dik,s
of levees inclose these WIDE places
and consequently do not tend IL
produce II uniformity of curreul,
rhe plan of Improvement recon
mended by the Commission dlile !
from any other rre,io sly propo
sed in the IacI that IL looks to a rec
tiiicatiou OF the nlsD wafer channel
by the ultimate narrowing of these
wide places as the o Is method ~
| which a deep and uniform low va
ter channel eau be permdnen ly 81
cured.
There are three great principles
governing The problem. Thr, ar,
very simple, but unless they are tnl
N conprehended 1t is Impossible
tor any Que to torn Il correct ludg
mrut on the subject. The first is
the force producing the current
the second il the frlction OF the bed
winch is the force retarding the
current; and the third Is the int
riate relation betweeu lhe qu lntilS
OF sediment suspended ia the watei
and the velocily Of the current
The DIST force results from The sur
face slope ot the river; or he fall
of tue water from . higher to u low
er level. The friction increases ~
We increase the surface of he be
in contact with the water. Hence
ut the wide places, the friction il
greatest. This causes loss OF cur.
rent /; the sediment cannot be llel
up in the water, aud lt is coise
quentl, drpositel in these placrs,
ana This pioslnces a sleeper sloie
OF surface and makes an Increases
height of leve. necessary. Ii til,
wild. places are narrowed, friction
ia reduced, aud an abnormal eur
| rent will then result, owing to tue
steep slope of the liver at sucd
places. This current rapidly cat
away the lNttom IN the Restricted,
With and derpens IL; nd as eaci
one OF the wide places bpconei
thus dreI~ned, the sIeepnrss .
slope OF lie surface OF the river i
diminished or lowered. aud heat
makes suoh high levees nnnecessl,
ry. The gain By the reduction o
the sui face slope simply thtoa.l
this narrowing OF the wide piacei
brtwe-n Red river and Caro-, u Iii
tance Of about 800 mites, anlonntl
to sixteen or eighteen feet ~ Cailu
The lmp,rtsu ce of the le,ees as
means oi improving the navigation
OF the river comes whulll ttpm h
relation which the .0,nnr OF n Sell
imeutary stream bears 10 the frat
tionul rpsigtanrn uf thu brti. III fh