The Port Gibson reveille., 1891-08-26
EDITORS REvErLLE:

For some time, as you arc aware, 1t
has been my purpose to notice quota
tions in a certain issue of your paper
from Prof. A. G. Ramsey, of the Esq
lish Geological Survey, doubtless a
recognized authority in his specially,
with reference to the effect Of lcvees on
the river Po, aud your deductions
II may be considered presumption
on my part to make an issue with such
authority as the Director General Of
the English Geological survey, with
+. II. S. aud f. G.. S. attachments 10
his name; do not possess the reck-
less temerity necessary 10 do so, except
through aid and support derived from
quite as high a source. This, howey-
CT, is not to be considered as on ad-
mission that England may not have,
as we often find in our own country,
Charletans and Mountebanks, in high
places, more especially the latter, as
shown by recent events in certain
game of Baccarat,t tho spelling of which
word here is somewhat at random, as
it is so English you know" that Web
ster fails to give il.
Without quoting the entire article,
economizing space, may say
Prof. Ramsey in an article devoted
mainly to geological topics asserts that
the river Po, in consequence of the
dikes, or levees, built along its banks
has had ITS bed raised so. that ina ccr-
tain year C1s72) of long continued rains
the swollen waters oyerfiowed.the sur
rounding country with great destruc-
ton oflife, property, etc; and the ed
itor Of the REvEILLE agrees with him
in the following language: "An rivers
are under the same law and levees
will raise the bed of the Mississippi as
surely as they have raised the. bed Of
The Po. If this system is persisted in,
future ages may see the wa
iers Of onr great stream piled up high
above the bordering plain. etc"
Logically speaking, this brings US
face TO face with the following syllO-
gism; "Leyecs have raised the bed Of
Ihe river Po. All rivers arc subject TO
Ihc same law. Hence, therefore, lcvees
will raise the beds OF all rivers"
Against the first Of these premises
we introduce the testimony of Genl.
COmstOck in connection with that of
pertain Italian writers Of good repute.
Gen1. Comstock is OF the CORPS of U.
5. Army Engineers and president Of
he Mississippi River Commission.
From his elaborate and comprehensive
report in regard to the river PO, made
10 the Senatorial Committee ON Com
nercc, May IS and IA, 1890, PIP 4 to 8,
We summarize: "At the revival of
the levees on the Po were
complete from Cremona 10 the Oglio'
10 Kilometres or 5s.4 miles. About
4. ID. 1900 they were carried further
lown, and in the succeeding centuries
o its mouth" Then follows tabulat-
ID statement of gauge readings, taken
It various times throughout the pres
mt century, beginning in 1907, to
which he subjoins "The above gauge
show that there has been no
rise Of the bed of the river
since that could not rise without rails
ng the low water surface) at Pontela-
,oscuro, the place of measurement, in
he sixty-eight years covered by the
able" Quoting from Lombardini
Del Congiamenti Del Po 1852 p. ID
le says: ale concludes that at Ostig-
ia the bed appears to have risen a few
lecimetres-a decimetre = 3.9 inches
while at Governolo it appears to
ave been stationary for four centu-
les" Continuing and concluding
bis subject as to the river Po he adds:
To sum up in reference to- the Po, il
nay be said that there is some evil
Ience of a small rise in the extreme
ow water surface of the river, which
aay be caused by rise in the bed"
{ should be noticed, however, that
be rise in the bed Gf it really exists
mounts to only two-hundrelths of
DOT year, aud that the annual cost
f raising levces to keep up with IL
you'd be but a small part Ofthe annu-
| cost of complete system of lcvces.
10 much for the Po.
The next river mentioned is the
thine of which he also gives a tabulat-
d statement of measurements extend
ng over a period from 1872 to 1880,
AIKEN at two points, Cologne aud EN-
lerich, beginning as follows: "The
thine is also a river which below Dus-
nldorf has long been lcvced aud il
wees raise the bed OF river, here
hey should have produced their fun
feet as they are rarely broken" (Co-