Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-18
RIVER IMPROVEMENT.
The Work of the Engineer Corps, Its PUr
pore and Eject.

! Recently reporter for the Quincy
Journal interviewed Il. Monroe,
United States inspector in the corps
of engineers now stationed a short
distance above Quincy, on the SUBJ
ject of river Improvement by means
Of levecs. The journal says Mr..
Monroe is young man. probably
not over thirty. and vet be knows
considerable about river work and
river improvement. That paper also
states that the surveying party
which is with him consists OF nine
men. They are there for the purpose
of running the lines. setting the
grade stakes and doing cross section
ing for the levee which is being built
between Quincy and Warsaw They
are also to determine what and where
other work is needed for the i'm
provement OF the river. He in
formed the reporter that the levce
was being built to improve the river,
and when asked if the principle was
u good one, he replied: Yes. it
certainly il. The object OF the levec
is to narrow and deepen the channel.
That is the object OF all river i'm
provements, but the principle is that
if levees are built aad high water
comes, the increased bulk of water
will be confined in narrow channel.
and, as the bottom OF the river is
sand and easily moved, the river
current will carry the sand away ut
shallow places. Thus the channel
will be deepened. Levees are being
built along the lower part of the
lower Mississippi and they have
proven success. Large steamers
run on that section of the river, ard
a good stage of water is always
maintained. Besides this. they pro-
tect acres and acres of the low
lands"
Drelses, Dams and Dykes.
In reference to drcdges Mr.. Mon
roe said: 1T is the intention of the
government to do away with drcdges.
1t is thought by the best engineers
and the theory is an excellent ono
that lcvees will do this. They will
also, in n measure, do away with the
dams and dykes. The current will
do its own dredging and then a mode
of permanently improving the riv-
er will be had" Asked if dams
and dykes had proven success, he
answered.: The system isn't far
enough along to be complete sue
cess as yet. 1t was the original in
tantion, and it is TIE intention yet,
of the engineers to narrow and deep
en- the channel. There is no ques-
ton but that this has been done, has
kept fair boating stage of water.
Had this not been done, the river
would not be in so good condition
as it is. In fact it is question as
to whether it would he navigable at
all now if it had been left alone. 1t
is true that some river men say that
the river is in worse condition now
than it was Is or 90 years ago, but
that is not so. The river is in bet
ter condition now than it ever
was before. The system of build
ing wing dams and drcdg
ing has done this The only
trouble is that during the past few
years the river has been exceedingly
low, and there has not been enough
water. The work has been Of per-
manent nature, but it had to be kept
up nevertheless. The time is far Off,
aud it will doubtless never come,
when any work can be done on the
river that will keeps good stage of
water without a continuance Of that
work. The work will have to 30 on
for ayes, and large sums of money
will continue to be spent each year
| g., = L., ,,,>, g..
navigation unless the levee system
stops it. 1t is impossible to tell
whether this will do it or not, be-
cause the levees now in use are
broken and are not continued.
There is 4 piece of Ieyec here. and a
piece there, so it is difficult to tell
just what the exact result will be.
Even then they would wash away
and have to be rebuilt. No, the sand
in the bed of the river keeps moving
and it is very difficult to control it.
The only way is to so coniine the
channel that the river will do it's
own dredging. The supposition is
that levees will do this"
River Riplcts.
The Ten Brock came down with
eight strings of logs.
The stage Of the water at the Rock
Island bridge at noon was 2:05 and
rising; the temperature, 81.
The Zalus Davis and Verne Swain
came down. and the City of Winona,
Zalus Davis. Ten Brock and Verne
swain passed up.
Caught the Chicken Thief.
For the naSt two months Henry