The Evening critic., 1882-06-12
THE LEVEE SYSTEM.
ITS HISTORY, COST AND RESULTS.

After Trial of $50 Years the Levce
System Has Utterly Failed TO be of
Any BeneGt-It Causes Overnows,
Injuries Navigation and Will Bank
rupt Any Government That Under
takes to Keep Them Up and will
Ruin the Adjacent Country.
Resuming our inquiry into the great ques-
tion, "What shall be done to improve the
navigation OF the Mississippi River, reclaim
Its lands and save its valley from devastating
overflows p we now present brief history
OF the levce system, with Its costs and re-
suits.
General Humphreys, on page $50 OF his re.
port, says: "The river banks from Its earliest
history have been under tho high-water
grade"
History of the Levecs.
The flrst levee was commenced with tho
founding Of New orleans in 17l5, and was
5,400 feet long. In. 172s thirty miles of
levees were built by planters. In 17fS lovees
extended twelve miles above and thirty.iive
below New Orleans. These leyees were found
insufficient, and In 1874 orders were given
sSvernCr sn.', to build iovoes unaeF the
penalty Of conilscation; In 1870 lovses
miles below New Orleans. In 1928 they were
in many places built as high as the mouth OF
Red River, and a,ls In 1874 they & had been mex ex-
mud walls can only be estimated by millions
OF dollars, being built In the first place by
individuals until they were DankrupteI, then
by parish and county taxes until they, too,
were impoverished. Then, In 1850, 1t was
undertaken by the great States of Louisiana,
Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri, aided as
they were by the land grants from the General
Government amounting Co twenty-six million
seven hundred and seventy-two thousand
three hundred and seventy nine acres. With
all this concentration of wealth and power this
great work of human folly was begun, aud in
1853, as we learn from the report OF the Chlef
Engineer of the Army, "the river was leveed
with few exceptions from Cape Girardeau to
New Orleans on both sides with embankments
averaging four feet high" Then what followed?
1858 stop overfows2 Far from 1t. on page
43S OF the report referred to we learn that In
1858 the overflow lasted 100 days, the longest
on record. On pages 600 to 613 he gives us
fve sectional surveys across the valley, ag-
gregating total width OF 2S5 miles, and
total depth OF water OF ~ feet, which divided
OF AK miles In width by IL feet deep, equal
to six and one-quarter trillions cubic feet of
water, more than the river. could discharge In
GO days were there no other water flowing
into 1t.
In this report 1t is shown that
Breaks and Crevasses
are increased by the building Of levees. On
page $50 General Humphreys says: "In 1850,
from Red River to New orleans, there were
eight breaks IN the levees. In 1851 there
were eight breaks from Baton Rouge to Carroll
ton. In 1858, from Helena to New orleans,
there were forty-nve crevasses, aggregating
width of twenty-eight miles," In 1859, page
1876, he says: "There were thirty-two crevasses
from tho mouth OF the Saint Francis River to
Bonnet Carre." The report OF the Board of
Engineers of 1876, hitherto referred to, says:
''1n 1874 the breaks in Arkansas and Missouri
alone are too numerous to mention. Their
total width was $50 miles, while In Missis-
sippi and Louisiana there were forty-eight
breaks, and II the levees had not broken the
waterwould have run over the top Of them."
This Years Overflow.
This year the overflow extended over a vast
section of the country, fifty miles wide, the
water averaging depth Of ten feet.
Where were the levees?
Under the water, the flood rolling over the
tops of them. There were no levees in sight
from vicksburg to Port Hudson, u distance of
300 miles!
The Height of the Levees.
This Board of Engineers says In reference
to the necessary height Of the levees:
"In order TO decide whether the flood OF
| 1858 was a safe standard, most careful
analysis OF all recorded floods was made and
when the report was published, In 1861, moth.
inghad been left undone to give the best pos
| sible solution to the problem Of the true
height for the embankments. Since that date
| four great floods have occurred, and 1t has
therefore, devolved upon this Commission tc
floods to the best analysis the facts collected
/ would warrant, with a view TO determining
| whether they suggest any modification in the
levee heights previously announced. This tasl
| has been performed by Commissioner Abbot
and in chapter will be found the detailed
analysis and the conclusions resulting there
| ITOH.
"Upon this solid foundation the commission
| rests Its opinions that the following heights
are necessary TO secure the alluvial regioI
| from overflow In a hrst-class Mississippi flood
Smear the mouth of the Ohio tho levee
| should be made about 3 feet above tho actua
high-water level Of 1858, which has beei
more unvarying than the surface of tn,
ground. The heightabove this level should b.
| gradually Increased to z feet at Osceola, Mem
phis and Helena, and increased to 10 feet {,
Island II, then decreased to feet to Napo
| leon, then increased to IL feet to Lake Provl
| dence, then decreased to g feet to Vicksbur,
| and Natchez, then increased to the mouth 0
| Red River feet; thence decreased to feet I,
Baton Rouge, ,Donaldsonyille and New orleans
and Az feet, with reduction proportional t
the range between high and low water marR
for points below"
| From the above statement OF this Board O
+ Engineers, there can be no mistake as TO tn
elevation Of the flood line of the river; drst
| by the closing OF crevasses, and then the con
sequent building OF levees to hold this i'm
mense volume Of water, which is bound +
raise the flood line of the river.
1t is right here that the levee system |
fatal to its own existence, for just as the levee
are raised the angle OF fall is decreased, tn
current slackened and the bed OF the river
raised In proportion as the banks are raised
as has been the case since time began, and In
make 1t worse, for the simple reason tina
levees cannot hold the water OF the valley, a
clearly illustrated since 1858, while nayiga
ton has grown worse all the time.
The Cost Of the Levees.
This Board OF Engineers estimate the cost q
building suitable levees to be $4,000, ,00(
General Humphreys says that the tributarie
| OF the Mississippi Will have to be leveed, toe
| The cost OF this work is not included In tn
above estimate, but 1t is acknowledged tha
| that work VIII cost as much more. Nov
then, no public work is ever built for tn
estimate first made The real truth is tha
to levee the Mississippi properly, If 1t can b
done, and all experience says that 1t cannC
| be done, will require an original outlay of q
least S15O,OOO,000 and continued .annua
outlay of millions, for all time to come.
The True System.
Is there, then, no other SYSTEM
There is. Give 10 the great river MOI
mouths through which II can discharge Il
waters at all times, in flood time and la ord
nary stage of water, safely 10 the sea. Thes
mouths Will lower the flood line, increase Ii
current, deepen the river, improve navig
ton and save the valley from overflow.
After $50 years OF trial by leyees, the adv
Gates OF the levee system admit their lmpoteni
| 10 "imprOye" the navigation OF the river
their present demands.
Grape Culture and Port Wine.
Mr.. A. Speer, OF New Jersey, ono of Il
largest grape producers in the East, col
| menced but "A few years ago, In a small wa
20 make wines from currants and blackberri
and other fruits. He now controls large vim
yards OF the Oporto grape, from which his
| nous port grape wine Is made, and Wink
| chemists and physicians say rivals the wor
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