The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1882-10-07
LETTER OF c. P. HUNTINGTON.

/ General Q. A. Gilmore, L. S. A.. Presi
dent Mississippi River Commission
New York City:
Sir-At the instance of Prof
Mitchell, of your Commission,
respectfully submit, through you
to that body, my views on the best
method of permanently improving
the navigation of the Mississippi
A long residence in the Valley
and a large interest in its prosper
ity have given me both incentives
and opportunities for study of the
subject committed to your control
in considering which l have haC
the light which the investigations
of your committee have thrown
upon it.
My personal interest in this i'm
provement is chiefly as an owner
of overtiowed lands; but l dis
claim any desire to obtrude the
interest ofsuch owners in the con
sideration of the subject. On the
contrary, | think the sole end and
purpose of the Commission should
be to devise and execute the most
economical and efficient plan fol
permanently improving the navi
CATION of the river. That is ar
object which appeals to the inter
csts of the whole American people
while the rescue and restoration
Of overhowed plantations are moi
within the proper scope ofnational
effort and control.
The chains of levees which were
built and maintained before the
war, as well as the fragmentary
lines since constructed, were al
built with the sole view of protec
ting the rich plantations on either
side of the river.
The limited appropriation re
Gently made by your Commission
for the repair of these lcvees is @
wise but only temporary expedi.
ent. A very large proportion Of
the levecs on which it will be ex
pended are set athwart the cur
rent, or close to the banks which
the river is cutting away. 1t is re
liably stated that one half of them
cave into the river or are swept
away every five to ten years
Hence the system to be adopted
by the general government should
not be a mere extension of the
present levees, but should use
them only so far as, like old ma
tcrial in house building, they may
be made part of the new struc
ture without impairing its proper
tons or efficiency.
The lower Mississippi Valley was
once an estuary of the sea, which
has been filed up by sediment
brought down by the Mississippi
and its present tributaries. This
deposit is not made by the river
spreading its sediment evenly over
the entire valley at the same time
but by means of runways OIL
"dumpsn extending from the head
of the Valley to the Gulf. The
disposition Of the solid matter
which the water holds in suspen.
sion is regulated by the velocity
of the current, the slackening ol
which, when the river overfows,
causes the coarser material to SET.
tie and fill up the bed, while the
finer earth is deposited on the i'm
mediate banks which are ten to
twelve feet higher than the land
a mile distant from the river. In
this manner the river makes q
ridge or runway upon which il
flows. The work of raising this
runway goes on more and more
rapidly each year, because each
successive overflow raises the
banks and bed of the river. The
present channel or runway has an
elevation at Commerce, which is
the head of the lower Valley, OF
about 275 feet above the level OF
the sea, dumping its dirt along O
tortuous line, which is about 115O
miles in length, though the dist
ance in a straight line is only COG
miles.
The experience of hundreds OF
years in Europe in leveeing the
Rhine, the Po, and other sediment
bearing rivers, and our own expe-
rience for three quarters of a cen.
tury with the Mississippi, have
demonstrated the fact that any i'm
provement of the navigation OF
the river must be sought by con-
fining it's waters to its bed. There
can be no doubt, too, that above
the mouth of Red river at least,
this can only be accomplished by
a system of levees. Below Red
river the question becomes CON-
plicated by reason of opposing
plans and theories for the jetty
system on the one hand and the