The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-01
SUGAR LANDS oYERFLoWED.
Tho Crevnase Below Daton Rouge Beyond Con-
trol-aO0 Feet wide last Might.

Tho Crevaase Below Daton Rouge Beyond Cen.
trol-AOO Feet wide last Might.
New ORLEANS, Nay 31.-The break in tho
leyee which occurred yesterday morning at Con-
RAIDS, q few miles below Baton Rouge. and. IL
was thought, could DO closed, 10 now beyond
control and promises to DO the most destructive
crevasse of this season. 1t was like q thunder
clap in the clear, for all danger from high water
was thought to be over and nearly all the men
ct work on the levee had been sent homo.
Tho crevasss caught the levee district unpre-
pared for immediate work. and much valuable
time was lost. The Conrad levee was known to
DO weak, and was 90 reported BY tho United
Stated engineers. There were o number Of
crayfsh holes in It. which leaked body. and
moreover, the levee was built mainly Of sand.
1t began to leak through the crayish holes yes
terday morning.
At daybreak ten feet OF levee blew out, and all
the attempts Of the guards present to stop this
break with bags proved ineffective, as the cur
rent was strong. yaluable time was lost in get
ting men and materials TO the scene Of the
crevasse, and It was 90 feet wide when work
was begun. 1t was still thought possible ct tho
time to close the break, a. all the large interests
at stake oo0perated-
Gov. Foster visited the break, ordered Q large
force Of convicts thcre. and put all the available
resources of the State at the command Of tho
engineers In charge Of tho work OF closing the
break.
The Illinois Central Road. which 10 directly in
terested because Of its Yazoo and Mississippi Val.
ley branch. sent a large force of railroad aborers
there. and agreed to do whatever was required
ievee district. while the planters Of. the neigh
borhood offered their employees and materials
The crevasse-ciosing force went to work last
night with ZOO men, as many as could be used.
Two hundred more at Baton Rouge filled sacks
Sreak' and and three ar OF tugs Hf trensportod iS lumber. All
this work, however. availed nothing.
The crevasse widened TO 200 feet. and 10 to-
night 400 feet wide and averages eight feet deep,
being eif stso p feet feet E In some WS, pa PiISSe sS ,b se rsIisi
force and many thousand sacks of earth used.
but they have been all swept away By the cur.
rent Of the crevasse. and the sand leVee was
being gradually eaten away at the south To-
The effect of the crevasse is already being felt
f haar miif for t the ooun aag a me- tSd'i Is d Ein ~ p Ssas
lated and is far richer than any yet overfiowsd
being cultivated mainly in sugar cane: The
Baton Rouge, nearly to Bayou Manchac, u dis
lance Of seven or eight miles.
The Conrad, Hope, Ben Hur, Chatsworth. and
other big sugar plantations and q number Of
cotton farms are already oyeraowed an Syerag.
ST Sip few 9s afst; b Ths ass Sf tS Gs HI hiln 1ise Gamma ans M Il twt
Baton Rouge and New Orleans Is suIpsnded.
reach Baton Rouge tomorrow, overfowint
Goose Hollow and Cathshtown. the low lyint
and Paul will carry of some OF the crevass'
water. but II will cross these streams, running
south toward New Orleans. a distance OF nifty o.
sixty miles. to Bonnet Care. overlooking oil thu
~alluvial section OF East Baton Rouge. With nj
those parts of Iberville, Ascension, st. James
and st. John parishes east OF the Mississippi. al
Of 1t a rich sugar country. containing some o
the finest plantations In Louisiana: Some OF tn
plantations however. are completely surrounded
by protection levees and will esca pc any damage
The muddy river water which will pour int
Lake Ponchortrain and Mississippi Sound 10 eX
pected TO kill the fish and destroy the oyste
beds on the Mississippi coast: The loss is likely :
will be complete. as the overflow will not g
down before July, and 1t will be impossible b
plant then. The stock Is already being remove
from the country threatened with overflow,