The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1884-04-26

of all kinds c"uld DO sen for miles
buck ints the ya.t prairie, The direct
route e The Gsit BY this hayou, tas Va
lus OF its soil aud tho quite desss pop
ulatisn make it worthy Of Considerable
more attention than has ever been Civ
en- to it.
Tn" present iadiestions are that THE
beautiful waterway il slowly but sure.
" 6hing UP, and % from natural, but
artificial causes. For over eighty
miles the enemies VI good navigation
are seen cropping out everywhere.
III. principal Of these are the canals
aud railroad bridges that cross the ba.
you Ut numerou. points. aud the inuu-
n,erable little brenks ia the lcv~e.
Where these breaks existed | found
invariably shoai water aud mud, and
bars in large numbers. There il .
stretch Just above the South Louisiana
coast Of ten miles where there are near
" fifty cuts in The leyee made by the
natives to III a deposit on their
lands. on'e people will shy that this is
just the cOurse to pursue. That Is
tue for the time being, but in the end
such "a course must, in the natural
course Of things, become disastrous, as
every foot Of deposit you gain on the
land You will get two feet, if not more,
in the river bed contiguous to it, while
it the water was kept within lis bank
you would in a majority Of cases se-
cure u large scour aud every foot Of
SCOUT. neaus y foot of lev+e.
know it 10 pretty hard to convince
people that the facts mentioned are
realities, but when Que sees them in &C
tual existence from day to day, and
year to year, it would be difficult to
argue otherwise. Take airy %intelli-
gent man to day down the Lafourche
at the points referred to. and let him
sound yer the reaches where breaks
exist, then take him to q reach in the
same bayou where no breaks exist, aud
he would bo convinced at once.
The levee system on the Lafourche
could be with but little outlay made a
formidable 6ne. The crevssses of the
present Hood were all small ones. They
We're, with the exception of the Jami.
son crevasse. all closed. This cre-
vase was still running it was about
$50 feet wide when l passed it Monday
evening. Its effect is only local. From
what was visible it has only affected
the frontage Of two or three plantations
in the immediate vicinity. The Davis
crevasse water was coming in from the
back prairie quite rapidly, but had rs
yet done no very great damage. The
chances ave that the river will fall rap
idly enough to check the discharge
aud thus save a vast area Of sugar coun
try that is now in danger.
The numerous bridges that cross the
bayou at the upper end are also obsta.
cles that retari the discharge and
cause the bayou to fill. The discharge
is diminished at least 40 per cent by the
effects of tia obstacles mentioned.
We're it not for them the Lafourche
would he not only naVigablc to the
Gulf at all stages Of the bayou, but
would also be one of the most tormida
ble outlets on the river. But a. it is
to-day the canals, bridges. crevasses
and other distractions are diminishing
daily its utility as far az navigation is
concerned, aud the day is fast approach
ing when this beautiful sire am will be
entirely obliterated.
Engineer Ewens took the discharge
of the Lafourche near Thibodaux.
This is the first time the discharge of
the bayou has been taken since tho
days Of Humphrey and Abbott. The
discharge Of the Mississippi River at
Carrollton was taken yesterday.
Engineer Ewens has taken the dis-
charge Of . rivers than any man liv
ing. Tho list embraces the Upper and
Lower Mississippi. the Atchafalava
River, Yax0e River. st. Franci, River.
tho Des Glaixes, Shreses. Old River
and other smaller streams.
l: il probable that Engineer Eweps
will At no distant day guage the pass.
co At the Gulf.