St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-04-26
THE OUTLET SYSTEM.
AS DEFINED BY CAPT. II. p.
LEATHERS.
"OId Push" Talks Witga the OAississippI
for His Snbieet-OveraOws and GFle
Damage Effected by Thena-HOw the
Same May be Prevented.
n. o. states.

Same May be Prevented.
n. o. States.
''If the Cincinnati Commercial Ca
2ptte, and the Leathers and COWdon
clan of Lake Borgne outlet theorists
and projectors of II new ship channel to
the Gulf Of Mexiro, should inspect the
chart of Lake BOrgne and Mississippi
sound, by which vessels sail, they would
then discover how absurd they appear
tn the we'll nf'rmed, as the charts of
those waters Indicate only sufficient
water for ordinary cFaft, and that, be-
fore large vssseis and steamships, snch
as now ply between New Orleans and
/ Europe, could sail or steam easily into
Mississippi Sound, and through Lake
Borgne into the Mississippi river, a hun
dred million dollars WOnld have to be
expended. Even then there would be
no positive assurance of a permanency
/ of that course. The Commercial Ga
zette and its satellite, C0wden, or vice
versa, are seemingly irrepressible, but
the former will learn, one of these days,
how i'll advised and unreasonable it has
been, and will shake off the persevering
! little COwdOn,n 81
! Relative to the above clipping from
| the Marine Journal of Cincinnati, a re-
porter of the States, happening TO meet
| Capt. Leathers last evening, ventured
to PROFOUND to him some questions as
to this apparently new phase of the
subject discussed. Said Capt. Leath
ers:
"The extract you have just rpad is alb
sOlutely aud entirely wrong. Evidently
/ the editor of the Journal does not un-
| derstand the principles involved i'm
what is termed the outlet system in
fact, he gives expression to a greater
amount of ignorance ON the subject
than should have Thought in keeping
with so responsible an aVOcatiOn as that
| OF public journalist
"Well, Capt, what really is the mean
ing of the outlet system, as understood
and promulgated by you.n
1t means simply the most feasible and
practicable scheme to relieve the valley
of the surplus water, which is now COW
ering almost the whole western portion
of Louisiana and a great part of Missis-
sippi. l dm satisfied that
WITH THE FALL or FIFTEEN FEET
at Lake BOrgne, which Ia distance of
i've miles through, and which would
give three foot fall to the mile, o fall
of ten feet would certainly be secured
at New Orleans. This would put us
nearly if not quite in tide water again.
Aud then, should Lake BOrgne prove
inadequate to the task imposed upon it,
Bonnet Carre, with its % foot fall, and
which il nine miles through to Punt- |
chartrain, would render such assistance
as was necessary to the accomplishment
OF the work, which would be most salts |
factory and complete. AS it is now,
with river III many places from 30 to
al
front of the city of New Orleans there /
i more water than the clanuel of the
Mississippi river proper can accommo-
date, or Is capable of successfully pass |
Ing ufintU the Gulf LII the Mississippi, |
from Red river to VicksbnTg, it is notie- |
Ell that the Old-time securing process I
has ceased altogether, SO far as the bed /
OF the river is concerned and /
Low WATER CHANNEL
is never obtained until its surface has
declined to within 0 or 10 feet of the
sand at the bottom.n
What stream or streams have COM
hined most largely in producing the
great floods of the Mississippi ?"
The floods of the past three years
have been the result, as a general thing,
OF the unprecedented high water in the
Ohio and its tributaries. Practical OBJ
serVatlon has proven that the Mississip-
pl has never been narrower below Cairo
than the Ohio is above that point until
within the last four or six years. Be-
sides, during the past three years, as
you and all your readers know, the Fa-
ther of Waters has proved most wonder
fully lacking in the performance of its
duty in respect to carrying off and
properly discharging the vast volumes
emptied into it through the medium of
its natural feeders. am convinced
that it the work done at the mouth of
the Mississippi, or, if you like, in South
Pass, or the Jetty Pass, as it is called,
had been confined to that outlet alone,
and the channels in the Vest Pass and
had not been chOked up
and rendered useless by superabund-
ant application of every kind of obstruc-
ton, the disastrous results of the three
last great floods would never have been
realized. Il
am satisfied, Furthermore, that the
bottom of the river is
FILLING TO AN ALARMING DEGREE,
and this has necessitated the moving up 1
OF the different water gauges at Natchez,
aud many other important points ON the
river. As it is now, it is impossible to
tell just where the high and low water
lines are located, unless such informa-
ton can be obtained from old-time and
experienced Observers
Having satisfied yourself of the truth
Of all what you have stated above, what
is your opinion of the future of the val
ley gu Fl
There is but one hore in the world
for the planters of the valley, and that
IN mil III 4SFA | .
sific plugs with which ID has for wears
hann ahnnEaa nm orn6 ralaas 90 Ahn rr-n4ns