New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-04
CONTROLLING A BIG RIVER
GENERAL PLAN OF THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER COMMISSION.

EXTRA OUTLETS cuosEp-BANKs PROTECTED
FROM MISUNDERSTANDING THE BED WITH
UNIFORM cURRENr-THE LEvEE
SYSTEM NEARLY COMPLETED.
The annual meeting Of the Mississippi River
Commission in this city last week to formulate its
report TO Congress 10 distribute among the various
districts In Its care the money appropriated FOR
the new fiscal year and TO hea leading represen-
tatives of the lower Mississippi Valley on the latter
subjcc: aaturally brings up for review the work OF
this organization and the policy which 1t mas
adopted
It will be remembered that Just eighteen years ago
Congress authorized the creation Of a permanent
commission to consider and mature sucn plan or
plans and estimates Will correct. permanently
locate and deepen the chs0nel and protect tho
banks Of the Mississippi River. Improve ana give
ease to the navigation thereof. prevent destructive
foods and promote and facilitate commerce. TRADE
and the postal service" The President. in select
ing the original seven members and thereafter IN
filing vacancies. was required TO see that AT east
three men taken from the engineer corps Oh
the Army and the Coast Survey. and that al least
three should be taken from civil life with the pre-
caution that two of them were engineers From
first TO last the composition OF this commission
has been Of high character In the past James
y. Eads. Benjamin Harrison. General u D. oo"-
stock and Lieutenant Colonel Suter nave oeen
members OF 1t. At present the following gen'ie
men compose It: Colonel G. L. Gillespie. Leu
nant-Colonel Amos Stickney and Major T. II.
Handbury. Army engineers: Henry l.. Marinoin.
a. the Coast Survey: 3. NJ. Harrod. OF New-Or-
leans and Henry Flad. Of St. Louis. civil en-
,ineers ard Judge r. 8. Taylor. Of Fort Wayne.
ind. -oo,,rD
After a thorough investigation Of the subject
the Commission reported to Congress IN 1881 III
emphatic terms and with convincing argument
aeains, any system Of additional outlets They
say that whenever a crevasse occurs and the water
escapes inland. a shoal Is formed IN the riVeroeo
lust below the break The velocity OF the current
at that point having been lessened, there must De
a deposit Of sand and other matter carried IN sus-
tension Subsequent reports reafflrm this doc
,,,n. and show that experience Is uniform in re-
gard 10 the I'll effects OF extra outlets The pohcy
OF concentration. therefore. is the one ADOPTED
Said the Commission in 1881:
Dad navigation of the river is caused by tho
caying and erosion Of its banks. and the excessive
widths and bars and shoals resulting o'ecti'
therefrom . The work to be done, therefore,
is to scour out and maintain a channel through the
shoals and bars and develop new shore lines SO
as TO establish far as practicable the requisite
conditions of uniform velocity for all stages oil inc
river whether high or low. The eating away W
banks was most active in the great bends on the
concave side. Whole plantations have thus oeen
de.troyed. and the course OF the stream has been
-r.o,,v changed As soon as a broadening OF the
channel occurred. the velocity would De iesseneo,
and the enormous masses OF excava'ed ma'eriai
would be deposited
TIL. width Of channel decided upon as best suited
70 thu work in hand is about 5000 feet where the
river IA broader than this. 1t is proposed TO pud
out a series Of low bikes from the old shore lor
the proper distance to check the flow, to promote
On. denosit of silt where the current Is thus mace
sluRgish and by natural processes graduahy 10
bu,ld I'D new shores. The main channel wouiu NC
narrowed and the current In 1t Improved by THESE
means While It is still necessary In order 10 Sc
cure Temporary relief 10 dredge a passage through
tina shoals here and there. the great aim OF the
Commission ts TO cut off the supply OF materia! by
nreyenting erosion For this purpose II Is proposed
"a nrotect the banks with wicker mattresses,
covered with stone work
VERY COSTLY UNDERTAKING.
Experiments with this system were made fifteen
wears or so ago on two important reaches OF the
river the Lake Providence and Plum POINT eac"
thirty or forty miles long. Exhaustion OF appro-
nrot,on. and the occurrence Of foods before the
vork could be completed made the venture some
thing Of a failure but the Commission feels that
the value Of the general plan has been fairiy oe'
onstrated. Last summer. for instance at ~"
water stage, the Commission went over the river
in a tug and took soundings. And almost the
n reputation for difficult navigation where they
rot through easily were the Plum Point and Lake
Providence reaches
IN last years report the Commission maoe so"'e
estimates Of the probable cost OF the revetemeh'
Of the river bank. In their earlier experiments
they had been led TO believe that the work "ouio
M. cost over S2 per running foot. They now esu-
mate II at $50 per foot. or $4,000 per mile. Al
though tho distance from Cairo 10 New-Orieahs
nv water is $50 miles. and there are TWO shores u
be considered il is believed that not over on mies
Of reyetement would be needed Possibly TINS cou'u
he constructed for S63.0O.0J0 but II might require
ss5 ooO 900 or 100000, and, In any case the mann
tenance OF the work after completion would PROP
ably cost 10 per cent in addition These are START
ling figures Still. the work would exteho over d
period of nearly forty years. the Commission says
inasmuch as the present annual supply OF ma
terial for the wicker mattresses is sulcleht ior
IN. construction Of only fifteen miles. The bur-
den Of taxation, therefore. would fall mainly on
the next generation. AT any rate, the pan Vi
making the channel permanent. giving us u'ii-
form width and compelling the water 10 scour
out the bed is from a purely engineering point
~ view the one favored by the abest experts In
Oh. country II Congress should ever sanction the
undertaking work will be begun In the vicinity OF
Cairo and extended down stream as fast as cir
cumstances will permit.
THE CHIEF VALUE OF LEVEES.
The levee system Of the Mississippi mas OF
course received a great deal Of attention from the
Commission As TO the value OF levees. epart from
other protective works for keeping the channei
open at low water. engineers are divided Ihere
has always been a majority. usually large ma
tcrity, OF the Commission favorable to the theory
that leyees are useful in promoting navigation.
Nevertheless 1t is impossible TO talk five minutes
with any intelligent advocate Of the system with
out perceivng that the main argument for levees
Is to be found In the protection OF the population
cultural interests of extensive regions in Missouri
Arkansas. Tennessee. Mississippi and Louisiana. For
time Congress distinctly forbade the diversion of
any Of its Mississippi River appropriations TO the
reclamation Of lands or kindred purposes But In
1892 its policy definitely changed. since that
time 1t has authorized expenditure on the evees
systematically. Hence OF the 100000 or S. COO 900
given 10 the Commission every year. now. fully