Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1890-04-29
TO LEvEE THE MISSISSIPPI

The fact that the levees Of the Missis-
>ippi have not been easily made capable
Of resisting any flood IN the river and
holding back the destructive waters from
the plantations Of the lower Mississippi
valley. J. traceahe IA one PECULIARLY OF
The southern people which j. illustrated
iu the old story of the "Arkansaw Trav-
eirr lie asked a cabin-dweller why he
didn't patch the roof Of his habiiation tn
hinder 10 from leaking The man replied
that 70 was raining loo hard. Then.
said She stranger. why don't you patch
70 when nu rain j. falinga" With the air
~ one who las elinched an argument.
tlir native replied. ~Kase il don't leak
blessed drap then.
The prople. generally. who suffer from
toe Hoot> ni the lower Mississippi. which
pnur iu through crcVas>,> IN the lever> or
dyke, make considerable fuss about tho
matter az the time, hut after the floods
haze ahated they forget an about IL
again.
Persons who have Travelled on steam
poai, down ihe Mississippi are aware Of
tho fact that along nearly the entire
"cua>t country from abont Helena Ark
iu tlir l.elizc. the river al nearly all seas
"i- Is hank full. and from the decks 81
Steamer the country In many places seems
90 lic below lhr lrVel OF the river suriacc.
and in many places ID does held in hy the
ic,r,~ which meaudcr the banks. trey
as'e- CO., breaks prcur 10 these leyc-, for
the une single reason that the lcN,s.> are
NOT rs idr cuough. aud consequently not
strong cnough, and thus the surplus tide
PUSHES through. and vast districts nf
country. sometime. fly aud one hundred
miles wide are submerged plantations
are Hooded. crops are DESTROYED. improve
mrut- an" washed away. cattle aud othrr
stock are drowned. a. are also frequently
human hciug~. and many other lo>scs arr.
incurred.
\ gentleman from Kentucky who ha-
hong hocn cmploycd iu building railroads
and doing other things in the gulf states
requiring much civil engineering. years
aga evolved plan by which levcc>:eould
b. constructed along the Mississippi
which would positively aud forever put
an end 10 the Hoods caused 10y creyasscs.
aud which could b. constructed at COM
pamtiy-ly small expense. when the saw
Ing from LOSSES caused by the floods j.
considered. aud because the great river.
itself. would be- thus made to do the larg-
eSt part Of the work Of dyking. lIs plan
was 10 construct another levee Of the
same size A. those which nov meander
the stream. parallel with the present
leNce~ aud al a sufficient distance. say 100
feet inland from the first. to make
a very Wide aud positively i'm
preguabie single leVec when the space
between the parallel dykes j. filled with
dirt. Then at intervals Of a thousand
feet. on a. many yards where the topo-
graphy of the country would harmonic
with the praciicahility Of the plan. cross
dykes would be- constructed. thus making
reservoirs from lOo feet long 10 l.Opo feet
long. a. the ease might be. At the upper
aud lower ends Of these reservoirs on the /.
river side gate, should be- constructed. the .
upper one tu let in the muddy water Of I
the river aud the lower one To let the clear .
water oui. after il should have stood hong .
enough "a settle Ia the reservoir aud at
each hlling have deposited its several feet .
Of the diluted American soil which i con-
stautly flowing in incalculable tons from
far up he Missouri. the Big Muddy"
out into the Gulf Of Mexico. In the space
Of a month these great reservoirs could he
hilcd with Earth 10y the action of the river
aud there would be- left great lcvee> Of
any desired width. made BY hevery agent
Of all the iu~>e~ and destruction thus
forcing the destroying power To construct
protection against it, avn destructive
ucs~.
\ late telegram says that rertain mem
hcr~ ~ congress and other prominent aud
men are IL agitate the
for the sending To the scene Of
the late Hood disasters ON the Mississippi
a congressional commission Ia investigate
the lcvcc business aud formulate plans
for protecting the lands subject To inund-
atiun. u congress would consider the
very simple proposition herein sci firth
thai body could quickly solve the pro-
hlrm- hicl arise In the premises