The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1882-03-11

~-A@ - OGt"NCA 1870 anu lOtJ Mac
rom 10000 to 10000 cubic feet
per second. 1t is estimated that
the discharge of the Atehafalaya /
has trebled within As years. Major
Suter and his associate says: 'We I
believe that there is reason to ap-
prehend continued and rapid en-
largement of the Atchafalaya, even !
to the extent of its becoming the /
main river, thus jeopardizing the
of the entire valley and
the permanenee of its port and
outlet. This diversion of so large
a part of the Mississippi discharge
would tend to impair the naviga.
ton below and thro' the jetties.r
Commenting on these statements
Eads remarked that the natural
consequence of the increased vol
ume was that the slope of the cur
rent of the Atchafalaya had been
lowered, and the natural tendency
is to draw more and more from
the Mississippi until the entire
volume of the Mississippi will be
carried into the Atchafalaya. AL
ready one-sixth of the volume of
the Mississippi goes into the AT.
chafalaya. Captain Eads read with
much emphasis the following para
graph from the last report of the
commission: "No decrease of
food height in the Mississippi
from which the volume has been
distracted is observable as the
result of the increased outlet in
the gauge records at Natchez, Red
river and Baton Rouge, although
it practically amounts to the divi-
sion of a tributary with about one
sixth of the food discharge of the
Mississippi, but such decrease
Of food elevation has been obser-
we'd on the Atchafalaya, to which
the volume wasted from the Mis-
sissippi has been added"
"What stronger proof than
this" said Eads, lean there be OF
the failure of the outlet theory
The people living above the mouth
of Red river can at this moment
testify to the greater elevation OF
the food level of the Mississippi,
resulting in the terrible overfows
and destruction" He called at.
tention to the following declara'
ton of the commission: "The ell
ovation of the water surface at
the junction of Old river and the
Mississippi is almost constantly
above that at the head Of the At
chafalaya, the difference on the
18th of last October being Z 3-1C
feet in a distance of about five
miles, Eads regarded this fact
as of well nigh alarming import
ance. Here was a fall of over a
foot per mile to drain the Missis
sippi into the Atchafalaya. The
Atchafalaya is rapidly converting
the Old river into the Atchafalaya
The Old river can soon be prop
erly called the Atchafalaya, ant
the Red river and the Mississippi
are now really tributary to The
Atchafalaya. 1t is practically sc
now. In other words, the Rec
river and the Mississippi are now
really tributary to the Atchafalaya
The commission recommends tina
a continuous brush sill be lait
across Old river, between Turn
bulls island and the Mississippi
to check the enlargement from th'
Mississippi. He said that the tru'
remedy is to put a dam across tn
head of the Atchafalaya. A sub
merged dam should be first pu
down, to cause the flow Of the on
sixth volume from the Mississippi
to cease. Then from year to yea
the height of the dam should b
increased, SO as to divert Red ri,
er from the Atchafalaya to tn
Mississippi. This would necess
tate the putting in a lock at th
head of the Atchafalaya to accon
modate commerce.
Eads again urged the closing @
gaps in the levees. He asserte
that there is not a crevasse nc
followed by deposits below th
opening causing injury to navigi
tion.. The levees deepen the char
mel, and the public gets the bent
fit. Only 5 per cent. of the lengt
of these levees are in need of II
pairs, and it is manifestly to th
advantage of navigation that tn
gaps should be closed. He said
II urge with all the force an
energy I have the closing of th
! gaps. If the gaps had been close
the present floods would not hav
have brought such destruction an
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