Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-07-28
BAYOU GAYOSO
To be Surveyed by the City Engineer
and Estimates to be Made
of the Amount
Necessary to Fave the Bottom and a POr.
ton OF the Banks With
Stone.

How is the Sanitary Council Of the Bayou
Gayoso?" asked an APPEAL reporter of
President MADDEN yesterday.
HOh, ne still in The same place." was the
reply.s "But I'll tell you one thing-Bayou
Gayoso must be paved"
"Paved?'
Exactly. With rock"
what for?"
"Why, to stop all those cesspools snd make
il a grand sewer for surface water"
Isn't the present system adequate for all
purposes?"
tine pipes would AVE to be three or four
timer as large il the bayou was stopped up"
Gould not the bayou be cut and drained,
and all the water standing in pools allowed
to run off,"
81 think n3,, SAY we,began at the Beale
street bridge. The hole there is four feet
deep, and a trenen Of tina. depth would have
TO be dug 10 carry of the water. Then prob
ably another hole five feet deep would be
found lower down, and 80 or. The ouly way
to get rid of the standing water would he 10
fill up the holes. And even men the remeoy
would only be temporarY.IAotes would 5000
W ash in the bottom SSafn, aud there would
| be the same work TO do over"
"What ia yeur permanent remedy"
"a. j said. the bottom OF The bayou must
be paved. Large lat stouts should be laid
Il 4 u u " O UlutA u e lcCL III III uOi-
tom, the sides about two feet high and 1aring
OUT. The paving 10 the bottom might be
slightly concave. By leaving the banks
above the masonry as they are, plenty of
| play would be allowed for the volume of
water with which it is filled sf er great rain
storms. By having the paved bottom slope
| gradually from South street to The river,
when the water went down all that remaiI-
ing would rua of. The hight Of the fid-s,
two feet, would be sufficient for any ordinary
| stage Of water"
"Would mol large earlhen pipes answer the
purpose?"
mo. Why, the Volume Of water that
pours down the bIyou /, at tunes enormo
/ nave seen bridge sitter bridge swept away.
The bayou often overfows and destroys The
houses built upon lis bank. A man once
Offered, / SIN told, TO arch toe beyoL from
end 10 end if the city would give him the
land thus reclaiutd. The city ought 10
have given him a chance, but his arches
would not have Stood"
Chow about filling up the bayou aud abol'
ishing it ate geiher"
"That plan would not work. Ire bayou
is q natural drain aud if filed up would
wash out again aud again. 1t could not be
DONE"
"Whss other points are in favor of your
gigantic schfme?".
"WeiI, a Iargs amount Of land atutting on
the bayou could be ssved. When the bottom
il paved and the sides fsred aud walled up
for a distance of two or thee feet property.
owners could extend he val up TO the edge
of the bank and rest the rear piers Of theiI
houses directly upon il. After awhile III
whole Ct the bayou might b, paved and
walled up in thai way aud W. would hsve
oneof The ~grsniFst arrangements for carryira
of surplus drainage IN the void. The
bayou is nee essaiy TO our present sy,tsm O
sewer. That must me- be iorgotteF. T6ey
wers butt with a epeci.l allowance for IA.
work the bayou would do, and il is ou. bu,,
iues., 10 order TO make the sswes do then
work properly, 10 see thai. lh- b .you does il,
service IS ii sbould do. Anyone with hat
an eye eau see the adv apisse, ami l predirf
that when the FIRST 100 ysros is paved ans
walled 10 cement. i 8 u lily will b. pniver
ga ly rec goiz d.
"AnytuIng mJre?'
'Y.s. Look dIwn over this b~Inister a
the courthou e ~ tor, wi h nis hose, " SD
log Of the stem pivvmeat Of the v ri ibnie
Nov, Why cou'd not The s-ma urit ciple b
applied 10 The scheme | propose? Tue bivol
cou'd represent the Vestibu.e, ant toe Fir
Department the %initor. BsgIanirg AZ S Joil
stree, men employed Tor n pIfIInsa cou
wash out the bayou $ lar a. her hose wsuit
reach from me nfe plug 'ber6; ihtn NOV
on TO tie nexi one, and the nex', washing Gu
a square at a time, aod 10 a day, at leasi, to
botIom'and sides could be washed a. c eai
as that flo H."
"You astonish me with the gcrg' ousne,
of your scheme"
as il not reason5b'e?"
The reporter was oblig d TO admit that i
possessed all the elements OF feasibility, bu
gusrdedly asked The cos.
"Ob, about $4,000 or S150, 1000" said III
Judge, airily, as he. b',w from his mouth
curl Of black smoke from a two ard a hal
cent cigar.
Arc you IN esrnesI?'
"rhe decdest kind. / shall make arrange
ments in a day ortwo to have the city engiu
eer survey the bayou from end TO end sn
mske estimates of the cost to have the wor
. done in the way l have stated"
allow much does it cost TO pave a street.
Second, for instance, from Basle to the Loui,
Vile aud Nashville depot?"
"About S55, 5000"
"Then the cost for this enormous wor
: would be bat two or three times as much 9
! that of paving q ~streef?"
. Eyes, about that. OF course I cannot sal
l exactly. By doing a little every year "
would have the entire work completed in 6v
years. There is nothing so important 10 U
as thorough sanitation, and at whatever cos
we must have il. We can afford 10 negle,
! nothing that will add to the health an
cleanliness of the city"