The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1892-11-12
Outlets VS. The All Levee System.

Outlets VS. The All Levee System.
II am surprised that the most people
ID discussing or speaking Of outlets
! ia connection with the river problem
call it 4 theory the ..optlets theory. I
Why, this is mistake, and altogether
wrong. 1t is no ttieory-no fancifnl
idea or snpposition. but fact, q practi-
cal, scientific fact that nature teaches,
andfa problem that nature has. demon
strated, and whose laws are as correct
and immutabie as- the great Creator
Himself, and Is asplain and as practf
cal as the draining of our fields. The
,i,ivers are to the continents what the
Iiditches are to our farms. only on a
much larger and gr,nder scale. The
laws of hydraulics and hydrostatics
ARE simple and plain enough, and re-
lquire no s.Grecian lore or Latin
strength to unravel. The laws of
velocity and the laws of gravity are
true and compatible, but shall not
| detain to discuss these laws, as it is
not at all pertinent or necessary just
here. The Mississippi, then, is but a
large drain or ditch for the great water
/ sheds lying between the Rocky and
] the Allegheny mountain ranges, and
this water, true to the law of hydrau-
lies, seeking, its level, and In It's "mad
rush TO the sea-" has plowed out a
channel, ditch, or river, that needs
only to be deepened end Strengthened
in order TO capacitate its discharge for
all requirements order to make it
4 carry off in proportion as it receives /.
that is, as is the source of supply so
must be the means of discharge and
how best to do this is the question.
! Nature and common sense point out
the onlys remedy, the only way by
which it can be accomplished. But
as. by artificial means wehaye hindered,
so by artificial means we will have to,
and must assist nature. AS we have
henmed in and prevented the escape
of the water and the sediment, and
thereby raised the bed of the river. SO
now we must, in addition to straight
ening, dredging eand deepening the
channel, not only open up all the nat
ural outlets such as the Atchfalya,
Lafourehe, Plaquemine. ETC., but
create artificial drains through Bonnet
Care. Lake Borne and Barataria,
which will serve to relieve the strain
on the levees and reduce the floodtide
of the river until the channel will even
tually deepen and accommodate itself
to the requirements, or rather until
the main drain, the Mississippi, can be
deepened and Strengthened, which will
greatly increase the velocity of the
current and make its diicharging
capacity commensurate with the inflow
Yes. apply the same common sense
methods that are employed in the
draining of oar farms. Instead of
piling up the dirt along the banks of
1.-THE river, take the dirt out of the bed
and fill in the low places. and thereby
make more space below the level of
the surface for the water to occupy,
and you will thereby reduce the food
tide just that much, and rs you
straighten, dre,lge and deepen, secure
the channel by revetments along the
banks, and there will soon be no neces-
| sity of building levees along the
stream to hinder commerce. obstruct
the view and mar the beauty of the
stream and of the surrounding country ;
| those unsightly, mountainous levees
that are SO much expense to the gov
ernment and such source of annoy
ance and menace to the riparian
owners, and which are ever and anon
caving off into the river, filing up the
channel, and letting the water pour
broadcast over devastating the country
and leaving sorrow and ruin in its
wake. Yes, dig out the channel,
deepen and straighten the "ditch. y
and all will be well, and overflows viii
become things of the past. unheard Of
and remem bered only as thing or a
practice of the barbarous ages, when
men lost their reason and sought alone
for gold ignoring security, prosperity
and happiness. Yes, am opposed to
the levee system per Sc. but / believe
that outlets in connection Herewith
are an absolute necessity, as without
them the higher you build your leyees
and the more you hem in the water
and the sediment the more you raise
the bed Of the river, and thereby in