The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1889-06-01
THE RIVER COMMISSION.


from whence be and Capt. R0Ssel re-
turned to Vicksburg, arriving Friday
night From Gen. Catchings was
derived the following interesting and
valuable information in regard to the
inspection:
The works at Greenville were in,
spected and it was the unanimou.
opinion of the commission that the
work was successful in stopping the
erosion of the bank. There was nc
doubt about it being so. While they
found much of the reyetment at Lake
Providence Reach gone, the effect Of
the dikes in narrowing and controlling
the channel was manifest in the I'M
provement of the river through the
whole reach. The Cottonwood dikes
the Baleshed system, and the Stack
Island dikes have accomplished theiI
purpose perfectly. The revetment was
lost because the act of 1886 prohibited
the continuance Of that kind of work
and being in an incomplete condition
it was unable to resist the attack of the
floods.
The work at the Atchafalaya is pro.
crossing favorably and the opinion
seemed to be that when completed al
danger of the Mississippi river going
into the Atchafalaya will be averted
and at the same time the mouth of the
Red River will be kept open during
the whole year.
The work in Plum Point Reach viii
be practically completed this season
That did not suffer any deterioration
worth mentioning during the time tha
revetment was prohibited, for the
reason that it was In more advanced
state and better able to resist th,
onslaught of the river
In Lake Providence Reach the reyet-
ment in Louisiana bend was interrupt
ed while in very incomplete condi'
tion and gradually destroyed. Tha
being the heBd of the Reach, when /
was destroyed rapid changes In the
contour of the river occurred, whicl
led to the destruction of the Mayors
vile Island revetment, and then of th'
island Itself.
The work in the Memphis harbo
has been entirely successful, and tina
at Hopefeld Bend has been finished.
Between the Arkansas river and Is
land 81 there are four sharp necks lik
the one formerly opposite Vicksburg
which, II not protected may, in time
cut through. This would set up
rapid caying above and below, an,
disturb the regimen Of the river 70
many years, to the great destruction 0
levees and deterioration Of the channe
The commission passed the follow
ing resolutions upon the point, an
will no doubt take the necessary ster
to prevent such disasters:
Resolved, That It bc represented
; Congress, in the next annual repor
that the Mississippi river, from tn
mouth of the Arkansas to Island "a,
excessively tortuous. The distance /
a direct line is thirty-two miles, Will
by river 1t is eight-three miles. Thi
condition is not necessarily unfavol
r able to navigation, but the bends ar
so deep and the necks so narrow tha
there is great danger Of cutoff occur
ring at any one of the several necks i
this part of the river If a cut-ol
, should occur at any one Of these place
1t would induce such rapid Gavin
above and below that II would certain
ly be followed by others. The change
In the velocities and bends of the rive
set up by one or more cut-ofls woul,
be highly injurious to the general nav
igation of the river, to the governmen
improvements at Lake Providence, ant
to the levee system and all interest
located on the banks. II is, therefore
highly important that provision b,
made, by sufficient appropriation fo
the general Improvement of the river
for the prevention of cut-offs
Again at places like Lake st. John
Lake Bruin and Lake st. Joseph, ther,
is danger of the river breaking int,
these lakes, which are old rivers, b,
caving, thus requiring the construc
tion of long lines around them, which
could only be done at immense cost
With view to preventing this, th'
commission passed the following rcso
luton:
Resolved, That the next report o
the commission shall represent to Con
gress the Importance OF revetting th,
banks of the river where they threaten
to shortly cave into old River or cut-of
lakes.
Lake Bolivar presented just such O
case and Sl50,000 were appropriated
by Congress to revet the bank there
which has been done, thus avoiding
the necessity of building Ions
line of costly levee and aban
doning to the floods large ant
highly cultivated section. | do no
think that the work or methods O
the commission are longer open t.
criticism
To the foregoing we subjoin th'
following extaact of an interview b,
the Times-Democrat with Col. Casey
ave think this work Is doing a greaI
deal of good, and has improved thu
river immensely. Formerly scores o.
vessels at time would stick on thu
reaches, but they are now clear and
there is no more impediment to navi
CATION. This is a source of great re
joicing. From what heard [ thinl
the people on the river are commenc
ing to see that something can be done
and that great confidence can be place.
In the commission. The work already
done by the commission has demonstra
ted that some of the difficulties have
been overcome and good thing car
be made out of the river
@Do you think Congress will pas:
the necessary appropriation for th'
Commission
Il do: and further, | think that |
majority in Congress know the neces
sity for these improvements. An ap
preparation for a continuation of thi
good work win have my sanction.