The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-02-25
THE FATHER OF EATERS.

currents and sharp Curves Make Ere- quent Changes in tho Course-Expen- sive Systems Used fyr the Guidance of the Steamers.
 Memphis Letter to the Philadelphia rlmes.l
 The handsome federal building, which stands upon the nigh bluff overlooking the Mississippi in Mem- phia, is the headquarters of the sixteenth lighthouse district of the government, which comprises the Red river and the Mississippi from Cairo to New Orleans, dis tance of one thousand miles by water but not more than seven hundred in straight line.
 The stream never has been and prob ably never will be held in subjection by mankind. It's current is swift and rem dsTed ,doubly destructive by an almost continuous series of sharp curves. The banks are made ground that is, the land was at some time or other deposi- ted in it's present position by the river itself, It has no rock in its compost tion for hundreds of miles, and the swift-fioWing stream eats into the black sandy soil on one side and piles it up in sand bars or beaches on the oth- CT. The federal government has spent twenty-nine million dollars for river improvements since 1879, has built le- wees, cleared the channel and thrown out jetties from the shore to confine the water into a narrow course, and cause it to deposit mud and soil against the Instructions, and, lastly, has laid miles of mattresses" to prevent the water washing away exposed reaches of muddy banks.
 These mattresses, which are now generally in use, will give an idea Of the vastness of the power that is being contended against, and the pains that are taken to harness the stream. They average one thousand feet in length and three hundred in width, laid from low-water marx toward mid-channel. The mattress is built upon a long flat boat, the loose brush being thrown into a series of slots running it's entire 7 length; then compressed and bound to- gether with wire until it forms com nact bIal.e the width of the mattress and sometimes aS much as foot Ill dl- ameter. These bundles are woven to- gether with lines of cables and form fabric so compact that the swiftest current cannot penetrate them With sufficient force to disturb the muddy river bed beneath them. As it is con- pleted, the mattress is lowered off the fatboat, and floats upon the surface or the water like raft It is lowed to it's final resting place, where it is sunk with piles of stones. The steep banks are also protected with a paving or rubble stone from low to high water mark, the construction being rough in rural districts, but smooth and even Tn the towns, like the paving of a city street, so that wagons can cross them to the boats at the waters edge.
 But even with these or similar pre- cautions it is difficult to keep the river within bounds, for during almost every flood bars are shifted, pockets or rifts cut in the bank projections, or changes made in the course of the river itself. The passing years witness many alter ations in this particular, wide curves being frequently obliterated or trans ferned into isolated lakes or bayous by the current tearing out for itself a more direct channel. Often towns suffer ma terially by such changes, as is the case WllH IlSlUIlC NlChoDbA ANOS 'AAeSAAS years ago this city fronted upon the river, but a subsequent shifting of the main channel to the westward has left ] it practically inland, upon q bayou cloggad with bars. with only small portion of the lower end of the town available for harbor purposes. Green vile. Miss, a small town about four hundred and fifty miles from New Or leans, had to be moved from the west side of the river to the high banks upon the eastern shore, because the floods damaged the settlement so frequently At this point the stream is about half mile broad at low water, and one and one-half miles wide during seasons ot flood, overfowng at such times a mile of beach, wood and underbrush.
 So when the federal government un dertook to light this one thousand miles of tortuous refractory stream with, beacons to guide the river pilots around curves and past dangerous bars, it had to deal with a problem en- tirely different from that encountered along a river and bay like the Della ware Where, in the latter instance the permanency of the shores and com parative perInanency of the channel: allowed the construction of lighthouses of masonry, iron skeleton work ol wooden superstructure, the constant changes in the banks and bars of the Mississippi made fixed structures i'm possible, and called for a system O lights that could be easily moved wher made necessary by the shifting of bars or alterations in the contour of the shore.
 The apparatus that has been found most effective consists of a stout wood en post from fifteen to twenty feet il height, with large diamond shaped board fastened to it's top. Tho whole structure is painted white, and in th' daytime the board acts as signal while at night it is the background fol large lantern fastened to it's front and serving similar purpose. Tht post is planted securely in the ground
 PnIIGHoN RATH