The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-23

New Orleans has been a grievous sufferer
from the annually recurring inun lltions.
Az that city, the Mississippi is from ! ; 10 to
I,SOO feet wide, but much narrower than at
many other places above. The velocity of
the cdrrent at high water is five miles
an hour. When New Orleans was founded
some $50 years ago-the custom house
stood on the river bank Now it is far
inland, owing to the changes in the bed of
the river. In a century the Mississippi at
this point has Travelled westward nearly
l.S0O feet, and it is continuously filling up
ITS old channel and carving out new one 10
the ives. Heavy tropical rains peculiar TO
this section, an overflow from Lake Pom
chertraln in the rear of the city, CT the
flooding Of the levees in front, as the result
Of broken levees or crevasSes above, are
among the causes from which New Orleans
has suffered i'll the past. In 17lS there was
an extraordinary rise, which inun-
dated half the city, ard again in
1873, 1T0, 1882, 1875, 1889 and
1893 the city was inundated. There are
old residents still living who can recall the
CREST flood of 1916, which Taste for twenty
five days. and when the water was from
three to four feet deep in the rear portion
of the city. People travelled about town in
skitfs along CHARTERS, Dauphine, Bien-
vile, st. Louis and Rampant streets.
tie p.ivation to which many families were
subjected at that time. Again in 1851,
1887, 1874 and 1916 vast volumes of water
swept into tine streets On May 30, 1919,
220 squares were flooded and a population of
1900 we're driven from their homes. In
1874, 1888 and 1854, floods occurred causing
crest loss TO the city's commerce and sick
ness among the people. These latter, how
ever, were not SO disastrous as the earlier
oC hn IlpA hon hao
greatly improved. From 1850 till 1855 the
levees were in their most perfect condition
and iuund atoms were of rare occurrence.
II have been q close aad interested OBJ
server of all that has been done in connection
with the Mississippi levee system since Capt.
Eads first preached his jatty scheme, " said
Alfred Z. Beach, an experienced civil en-
gineer and editor of the Sctentif American.
These foods ara good deal like earthquakes
physical calmities over which, even with
all the science he possesses, man can have
little Influence; you cannot forsee them, and
it. seems impossible to provide wholly
against them.
LAS far as the Eads system and the work
of the government engineers are concerned,
the levees and jetties furnish tae best means
of mitigating the floods that have yet been
devised The mattress-levees or revetments
are superior to any of the older sort.
think they were first used III the Eads
jetties, aud they are very generally used
now in the government works. The effect
of the levee system is o deepen the channel,
and if as Eads' plan contemplated. the cuts
were made deep enough and the levees were
buttyessed, the objection that the levees
raised the surface of the river to the danger
point would not be sound one. AS far as
my observation goes the deepening of the
channel and strengthening of the banks is
the only method that can be depended upon
| for results"