Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1884-05-24

{ Ioerville, lne,ia, Trnsns, lei .ebonn". s..
| Mary, Ouachita, Assumption and Poiat,
| Coupee. Partial returns from other pa
| ishes were received attcc tle comg; 10.
! was completed.
While there are no reliable data by
| which to calculate tho losses by the in
| undation of this year, there is good reason
| to believe that the area overfuwe1, and
| the damages resulting are far less than il
! 1882. The depth of the water over the
same territory ia less by some feet thar
| in 1882.
LEvEEs.
| In compliance with my request the
Board of State Engineers has submitted q
| report covering the period from April 20
| 1882 10 April 20, 1854. The report in ex
tensive and elaborate, containing grea,
| amount of digested aud tabaIated ,aforp
NATION resaessiDeseiie csnstrac.iyp. x.'ait
! and preservation oflevees, with estiG,a.es
| suggestiors. and other relevant matter
the report, when printed, will be sub
| mitted to tue General Assembly for irf.,.,
| nation. viii briefly not nero soma o.
tIe adIieub '3HfS presented.
Since tie Ienort maia to the GeBara!
Assembly, in April, 1882, one han ired ana
| twenty contracts for the cousbrnction 1i
levees have been made, aud nearly All O.
them bave boon faithfully executed. be
work done uu9er these CONTRACTS, and The
not completed in April, 1882, amounts to
nearly one hundred aud thirty niles o:
levee, requiring $685. ,636 cubic yards @.
earth-work, at q COST Of 1887 $40. The
State during tie same period, as expcI-
ded tor preventing or closing cre"s 3s,
335, 500, making An asgrega TO cost OF lev
&c work for the priod OF 1923, 47o.
The u. $. Mississippi River Commia-
sion, in August 1s32, allotted 1000 TO
Close gaps IN lcvees between tie mouths
of the Red River aud Cypress Creek, and
$4,000 to Close gaps in Poiate Coupee
a. for leyees in Louisiana except S65, 233,
whic!, was expended for levee work in
Arkansas. The sum Of Sl5, 200 was like
wise allotted towards building the Bonnet
Care Levee, all other ailotments we.e
nade for the protection OF levees during
the late food.
Tor the wo.S done by the q. S. Com
mission .he Louisiana Board cfS lie IN
gineers iurnished al possible tnfUrma ton
anil assistance. The Commission and
their officers and agents have ia ike
maaner CO operated VIII and AIDED our
Stale Eoa.d. The levee work in Douis:-
ana, by the L. S. Commission, nearly
EQUALS that done by the stale, being z
mai My abo We ;he mcuth of Eed River aud
il h-s cost the Uaited States Government
$3.50 Isl.
The riparian parishes expended'oh lev
ees, siuce lSSi, Large Sums, reports from
ten parishes n one showing that S&l1, t6j
oflocal and Individual funds was e4penG-
ed. Thee railroad com u. lies also expe.-'
ded S99, ,4y0. Tdus the toVs, amount ex-
pended, OH levees in Louisiana has been
two mi lion aud forty-e ght Thousand dol
lars (S2: 5,o00.) If the work of repair
and construction had been done durin z,
the low wate- season much saving Won d
have fssnlied.
"a tine ginning of March, 1884, the
ievees of Louisiana We're in much better
counit,ou than they have been at any pre-
v;oUs time for more ah>n tweaty years,
buu, Notwithstanding tut, fi.Ss, and tne
large expenditure on the levees toe svs-
tenn has proved to be Inadequate for ..effi
cent general protection from overflow
during extreme floods of the Mississi ppi.'
Such levcss as have heretofore been
built, or such as it ls possible for the Safe
to bald ana maintain with the means
available under existing laws, can only
be relied upon to give partial protection
to limited areas The numerous crevass-
es in 1882 and lSS4 are cited by the Board
as abundantiy demonstrating this fact.
Above the mouth of Red River the Gre
vases of 1854 are attributed to the fact
that the water rose higher than the tops
OF the levees-eniire!y SO, in the opinion
of the Board, in the case of all that have
occurred in Ievees buiIt under State or
parish authority. Below Red River, 50
far as they can ascertaia, cervasseS have
been due TO other causes than extreme
high water, and most of thom to rice
fumes or other cuts in the levees, or to
old cray.fsh holes" This was notably
the case With the destructive c.avas5s /
Davis, in the parish ofSt. Charles" caus-
cd by an abandoned rice aume iInpectactiy
dug ont aud retil.ed, which broke out be-
fore the hood had reached it's his hos I
stage, aud W ben the water WAS consider
ably below the top OF the lsvee.
"But there can 90 no question OF the
fact that to secure any certain protection
agaiusS overflo ". the levees both below
and above Red River must be MADE high,
er and stronger than they have over yer
been built. We believe tt an equally ult,
Gustionable fact that leveeS can be bull,
of size and strength sufficient Go eonfnl
all houds within the river, and if proper y
cared for, to prevent overflow. Tue con-
syruction Of such tevees viii depend less
uro1 the Il 7. inee.ing skill OF ehe,f ouU5t-
ersth4n upon their financial leso1s ces.'
Ayt;cies 2I3 aud PA OF the Cons ,itui,oG
limit .axa5.op iut levee PURPOSES to out
mil on tue State at large, Tor o.GeueiI
To mi =