The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1890-08-16
TIE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
a Ohannel Formed by Natures LeVee
hork should Be Improved ana Per.
IecIed In the Same Way


horK should Be Improved ana Per.
Fected In the Same Way.
| Written for Manufacturers Record
INT great area Of 10000 square
lnllrs eoinprised in the Mississippi
Delta which from Commerce. Missonri
to the mouth of the Mississippi river.
distance OF more than 600 miles in a
direct line, was once an estuary of the
Gulf OF Mexico. How this immense
sea was changed TO a fertile valley was
explained by the late Captain j. B.
Eads, whose views have obtained uni
yersal acceptance. Captain Eads,
theory was that when the Mis-
sissippi river forced its way through
spur Of the Ozark mountains. its
waters being highly charged with sed-
lmentary matter, filed this ancient es-
tuary with alluvisl deposits to the
height of about three hundred feet
above the sea at the upper end of tho
basin. This process went on conun-
uously until the Delta was formed.
The surface ofthe land thus made has
a comparatively regular descent from
the upper end of the basin to the gulf,
being at Gainess Landing, midway to
The gull, about l40 feet above tho sea.
Through these deposits the river
winds It's tortuous course in channel
about l,l50 miles long.
Expcrincr anil observation prove
most conclusively that the quantity of
solid matter which the water of the
river is able to hold in suspension is
strictly regulated by the velocity Of
tho current therefore, during the
natural process of this land formation.
whenever the Hood waters escaped
over the banks o. the channel, the loss
OF current In the water thus escaping
caused tho sandy or heavier portions
OF the solid matter held iu suspension
In 1t to settle almost Immediately on
the submerged banks, while the argil-
laceous and lighter portions, which
take longer to settle, were carried
back by the feebler current to the
swamps or lower lands, on which they
were deposited over much more ex-
tensive area. These lighter matters
now constitute the blue aud other col |
ored clay strata which are found in all |
parts and at all depths of the basin.
The rivei banks were thus kept con-
stantly higher than the lands more
distant from the stream. Before any
levecs were built on them they were
usually ten to fifteen feet higher than
the lands one or two thousand yards |
distant from the river.
The size Of the flowing volume of
any river constitutes very important
element in determining the velocity of
its current and as the loss of volume
over the natural banks has the effect
of producing more sluggish current
in the main channel, a deposition of
sediment resulted wherever this loss
occurred.
In this manner the bed Of The stream,
during each successive flood, was
built up higher and higher, while the
water escaping over the banks built
them up also.
Thus 1t came to pass that the Missis-
sippi became what writer Of the last
century described it--a great ditch on
the top of ridge considerably higher
than the valleys on either side of 1t.
Nature constructed II In the course Of
centuries, long before white men ever
heard Of its existence. When il was
discovered by Spanish and French au-
venturers and the fame of Its fertility
was carried to Europe, the era Of set
tlement began, and with It began also
the construction of defences against
overflow. The first levee was COM
menced with the founding of New
Orleans in 1918 aud was 5,400 feet
long. In 1928 thirty miles of leyoes
were built by planters. That year the
leyees extended forty miles above
aud below New Orleans In 1880 their
length was tifty-iiye miles. These
proving insufficient, the Spanish gov
ernor, General O'Reily, ordered more
to be constructed under penalty of
land confscation for disobedience. In
1928 others had been built along the |
banks nearly to the mouth Of the Red
river. At that early period, when
planters became impoverished by their
outlays for this purpose, parish aud
county taxes were levied to carry OH
the work, and when that resource was
exhausted the States came to the res
cue. In 1910, assisted by congress
sional grant of 26,772,379 acres of pub
lie land, the States of Louisiana, Ar
kansas, Mississippi and Missouri un-
dertook the work, aud In 1858, as re-
ported by the chief engineer of the
United States army, 'thc river was
lcvccd, with few exceptions, from Cape
Girardeur to New Orleans on both
sides with embankments, averaging
four feet high.'
The lovee was not n Spanish-Ameri-
can invention. It had been used in
Europe successfully to prevent mum
dalions. The principle was the same
as that employed by the IIollanders,
who built great dykes TO shut out The |
encroachments of the ocean. They |
had been used on the banks of the |
Ioang Ho in China for ages. The |
river Po III Italy has been levced from
q remote period. Before A. ID. 1900
there were 5s miles of very ancient
construction, from Cremona 10 the
mouth of the 0glio, and these were
extended during succeeding centuries
nearly TO the mouth of the main stream
The conditions are the same in the
valleys of the po and the Mississippi.
1t is not surprising, therefore, that The
Spanish settlers of New Orleans should
have adopted tho leyee system, or that
it should haye been continued by their
successors, aud finally by the general
government The only wonder Is that
In matter of such vital Importance
to the nation, the protection of the
Mississippi valley from destructive
foods should have been left for a long
period to individual, local and State
enterprise, instead of being assumed
as national work by the general
government, to be paid for exclusively |
by appropriations from the public