The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1898-03-12
]. 3 MILES ON cUTOFFS.
HELENA, ARK

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EDITOR TDIEs.--
Dear Sir:-In your issue of The
Goth you have an editorial that
shows that some of your people
are getting a different notion
about cutoffs in their heads thar
they had some years ago, wher
Col. Percy told me they wouIc
shoot any man who came around
Greenville talking about cutofs.
This has induced me to invest two
cents in postage and little time
and paper in giving my views
about the effect of the cutotfs pro
posed. AS l have told you before,
l used to sail up to Greenyille al
most every day, more than fifty
years ago, in 1874, and | know
something about the place. In
those days Island SO was Il large
island, and at one time there was
sand bar in front of the town.
Now the island is all gone, and
Greenville has been moved up the
river and back until it is not near
the same place it was then. But
to come back to the cutoff or
rather cutofs. ! say "cutoffs, >
because it is more necessary to
cut off Sorell's bend than Spanish
Moss, both for the protection OF
Greenville and the levee. 70 cut
of Spanish Moss bend would make
Miller's bend cave worse, and soon
get to the levee. If the revetment
could stand the first assault of the
cutoff until the river could remove
the bar on the Arkansas side you
would be all right. Ii l had the
location of the cutotfs | would dig
the canal as marked on the map
sent herewith, so as to throw the
current against the bar pretty high
up on Point Chicot and throw the
current to the Mississippi side
pretty strongly until the bar wash
ed away. AS soon as the cutoff Is
made a sand bar would form under
or below the cutoff, and extend
not only around Bachelors bend,
but around Miller's bend also.
If the cutoff is made as marked on
the map, the shape of the river
would be in less than year about
Is marked, or even more for the
benefit of Greenville. (Mr Miles
here explains by his map that the
liver would re-enter the original
bed at a point south of Greeuville,
eaving d bar in front OF the city,
The cost of the cut off would not
exceed the same length of leyee in
Miller's bend. If the quick sand
comes near the surface of the
ground across the point, it would
,nly be necessary to dig down to
t. If it did not seem to cut out
asst enough one of the new dredge
'oats could help.
The effect Of the cutotfs on the
iver would be to lower the water
4 Miller's bend some 5 feet, and
4 Georgetown bend and Arkansas
'ity near feet, and would effect
le height of water at Greenville
ut little; and that would be from
le change in the direction OF the
as the current is now de- q
ected from Greenvllle, but would +
ome directly against the bank un- j
the bar opposite washed away. V
S to the effect upon the river in P
oh water | would say that '97 q
a high water mark at a
reenville and Arkansas City +
lthout the cutotfs. Now, after b
e cutoffs were made, when the :
YER reached the high water b
ark at Greenville, it would lack
me six to eight feet at Arkansas
ity, and the opponents of the cut
is would say that they made the ! !,
yer that much higher at Green '
lie instead of that much lower at "
rkansas City, whereas the same q
mount of water was passing both Il
)ints as IN '97. y
Lowering the water would :
extend to Helena or J., J.,
,ove, and would make the leyees :,
strong that they would hold all :.
ong the Yazoo front. Now l .
intend that had the levees been
rong enough to hold all the water +
at came down from Cairo in '97 !
at the river would have been
ON six to eight feet higher at
and Arkansas City.
With the cutoffs the river at I,