Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-03-26
woxDERs OF THE MISSISSIPPI

Some men have the happy faculty OF
creating sensations by new surprises, and the
Mississippi river is always creating amaze
ment. awe and bewilderment by its eccentric
lid this mighty stream seems to
be a thing Of life, and to take malicious
delight in disregarding the natural laws
which govern all other rivers, and TO mock
at the puny efforts OF man to control lis
anomalous and lawless Irregularities. The
Mississippi river has no disposition TO econ
omise space 1t meanders TO the gull by
a long and circuitous route. When by acci-
dent it secures Il straight channel for miles,
il soon grows weary OF the monotony and
commences a diversion, building sandbars
and engaging in those strange and unac-
countable freaks in which 1t delights. y
book could be written on the marvellous
wonders of the Mississippi river. The dill
ference of level between high and low-water
mark at Cairo is fifty feet. The width and
depth of the river from Cairo and Memphis
to New Orleans is not materially in
creased, vet immense additions are made
10 the quantity OF water IN the
channel by large streams from both the east
ern and western sides of the Mississippi.
The question naturally arises What becomes
Of this vast volume of water? 1t certainly
never reaches New Orleans, and as certainly
does not evaporate; and, OF course, 1t ia not
confined TO the channel oil the river, Tor II
so it would rise far above the entire region
soutb Of Ms If we'll be sunk anywhere in
Crittenden county, Ark, Immediately oPpo-
site Memphis, water is found as soon as the
water-level OF the Mississippi is reached.
When the Mississippi goes down, the water
sinks accordingly in the we'll. A refu-
gee now in Memphis tells US that few years
since the owner OF a saw-mill, twenty miles
from the Mississippi, sunk well to supply
the boiler OF his engine, during one OF the
periodical floods, When the water re-
ceded his we'll went down, till his
hose would no longer reach the
water, and finally his well was
dry. He dug ditch to an adjacent lake to
! let the water into his well. The lake was
drained and the well was still dry, having
! literally drank ten acres of water in a week s
| time. The inference is inevitable that the
whole valley of the Mississippi, from its
! banks to the highlands on either side, rests
| on porus substratum which absorbs the
| redundant waters and thus prevents that de-
! gree of accumulation which would long since
| have wished New Orleans into the gulf but
| for this provision of nature, to which alone
her safety is attributable. In fact, II the
alIuvial bottoms of the Mississippi were
! like the shores of the Ohio or the Tennessee,
the vast plains from Cairo to New Orleans
would now be part and parcel of the Gull
of Mexico and the whole valley fresh water
arm to the sea. Were the geological charac'
ter of the valley different, the construction
of levees combining the waters Of
the Mississippi to its channel, would
cause the rise in the river to become
| so great at the South that sufficient leveei
| could not be built. These facts show thai
the water go permeates the porous soil tina
the overflow is really beneath the surface o
the low lands. How to protect these rici
lands from overflow is question which cai
| only be solved by time, science and experl
ment. The recent overflow has diminished
! the advocates Of the levee system. But
1 large majority Of the jewellers Of the bottom
lands still insist that their only safety is II
levee-. They argue, and With force anr