The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-15
THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA.
Changes Going On Nenr the Threatened
Chief Pass to the Gulf.
From the s.. Louis Globe. Democra

From the s.. Louis Globe. Democrat.
The Mississippi sprangles as 1t nears the Gulf.
The great volume of water empties through
three outlets. These are Pass n rOutre. South
Pass. and Southwest Pass. From the head of the
passes. where the river divides into three parts.
10 the Gulf is about sixteen miles. Five years
ago n crevasse opened in the bank IT Pass n
rOutre. A mile and n half below the point
where the river divides and about fourteen
miles above the mouth the bank broke and
gave a short cut to the Gulf. Through this
.crevasse the water has been pouring in n
steadily increasing volume. 1t has worn a
channel half a mile wide and OF great depth.
This short outlet is carrying on the water so fast
that the volume which has hitherto gone by way
of South Pass shows diminution. This means
shoalinC at the. head of the passes. That shoa!-
ing is already apparent. The channel is decreas-
ing In width and depth. Navigation begins to
feel the effect. There will come. unless some
thing ia done. the practical blockade OF the
mouth OF the Mississippi.
The delta OF the Mississippi is settling. In the
days when the river at high stage was allowed
to spread over the low country and leave a de-
posit of silt. nobody paid any attention to the
subsistence. The laver Oh top was equal to or
greater than the settling. In tine twenty years
from 1876 to 1896 the Government has spent
S3s. 900, GOO between Cairo and the head of the
phSSec. 'tdtes hiu ItNcs ulSlTlCtS uhNtH lUti
10 this q large sum. The Mississippi is well con-
fined. II no longer builds with each successive
flood. Therefore the delta people begin TO au-
preciate that they live on y sponge which drops
n little with the squeezing Of the water from II.
about 200 years ago the Spaniards built n brick
fort on Balize Bayou on one of the now aban-
doned passes of the river. That fort stood with
uncracked walls until IA few wears ago when uor-
lions of it were torn down and the material car
ried away. The surface Of the water is now nj
most at the top Of the arch over the entrance.
The sill OF that entrance is nearly twelve feet
under water. Measurements taken when the
jetiies were being constructed and within u few
months show that the land upon which the Fort
stands has sunken AT the rate of onc-tenth OF u
foot iover one inch a year.
Bayou BHli2e was once n port Of no small i'm
portancc. The spanish gnlIeons cleared there.
The Government stores were kept there. Resi-
dences were hnilt on what was then high
ground. Streets were laid out and paved with
bayou n mile. BalIzc is no longer habitable.
The site is n part of the marsh. Except for
short stretches. the shell streets are covered
At the head of South Pass. when jetty huild-
ing began. n railroad track used for transporta-
ton of coal and supplies came out 10 the edge OF
the river hank. The ground on which the rail
road rested has gone down. Successive over
flows have deposited sed iment OF top until To-.
day there is two or three feet Of soil on the rOud
and the ends of the rails can be seen sticking
out OF the steep river bank. Thcy show in tho
diminished distance between them and the
waters surface tho settling, and also in the
everything nlIuviRl the building tLat las taken
There is u hon.c. known as Cnbett's. which
was thirty years ago near the head OF the passes.
IL was put on brick piers i've feet above what
was then ground. The carth's surface now is
up to the sills Of the building. but it is only
ground was thirty years ago. Residents on the
delta think the bottom Of Tho Mississippi L. ris-
ing. Engineers at first theorizcd that the level
of the Gulf had come up suf efficiently to account
for tho changes. Now, however. the scien-
, ,jinr. e<pl" e. Ss,. IS the ,ns 4 tSs Of @sl; ssp. /. ss,c
OF twenty-five miles, w the river the
Orleans the rate Is about tive-sixteenths of An
inch. In IL report 10 he chef OF EnEineers last
year the engineer in charge Of the New Orleans
district stated that The gauge at the mouth Of
the Mississippi showed the waters OF the Gulf
mater Of fact. The land on which tho gauge was
located had settled That distance, For periods
the snbnidSncs stops tops Ia l dSI,a y. let ,icn nnd ,ss
water Of tho Gulf encroachcs more and more.
Tho land of The delta is not unly sinking, but
n low but presumably solid piece of land near
the mouth OF Southwest Pass. Many years ago
, base line on Stake Island TO use for surveying
purposes. Tho pass was triangulated from II.
The Coast survey ma aESn are G Basra un nps IT, |oco Tss
according to it. This base line was laid out
originally as exactly 100 feet in length:
When the present custodian took charge OF
Stake Island in. 1871 he remeasured the base
line, and found that 1t had grown; IL was more
than 700 feet long; 1t WAS 704.2B feet. Tho
angles were considerably out. Su bseuuently
the base line stretclel to 10T feet; then 10 7lO
feet, and the latest remensuremont showed Tl2
feet. The custodian found, upon making a
largo comparative chat, that any angle which
had shown an increase at previous measure
ments had continued 10 grow larger, while any
angle which had shown n decrease had kept on
decreasing.
These facts and figures OF the settling and the
spreading are of interest as showing the unsta-
BILE character OF the delta. They help to under
stand what u difficult problem the engineers
have encountered. Practical consequences are
not very serious. 1t will be several centuries
before New Orleans has to worry about subsid-
ence. The question OF what shall DO done ab0ut
thu Pass ar0utre crevnsse Is more pressing.
In three years the Eads contract for twenty
years maintenance OF the j~stties will expire.
The crevRsse broke through in 1901. The OK
ecutors of the Eads estate wasted no time in
appeals to the Government, hut as soon as the
river fell made n vigorous effort to close the
cIevAsse. In 1893 and In 1894 two hurricanes
sdch as had not been experienced there for
many years swept over the delta. They de-
str0yed twice the work put In by the executors
at a loss to the estate OF over $3.50. 600. With
these two failures the executors have given W
trying. They feel able to maintain the south
Pass jetties and the channel a. the required
width and depth until 1897. Then the contract
will expire. the withheld 100000 Of the S..
300.0 00. for which Capt. EadH agreed to do the
work, will DO paid, And then Will come the