The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-04-20

lnCu tlsCuhIklQN into the river. DO WI
| rot readily see the wisdom OF outletsY A,
the food waters approach the gulf 4
loses It's dynamic force, henc. the peces
sity for sufficient opening Cor the wate,
| TO flow TO the gulf, and thus make IN,
outflow equal to the inflow.
Why have our government engineers re-
NAMED sient7 They do know thar the dis.
charge is impedcd. They do know tina
| instead OF making provision for an in.
creased outflow. they are indorsirr n,an,
that will still retard the outflow. The,
have failed 10 raise their voice. in bshal,
OF the observance OF natural laws The,
| do know that the river is shoalIpr ana
growing wider aud wider each year, why
Is this the case and the cause? Answer
Before the outlets we're closed the waten
did not remain on top Of the natural
psnks long enough n saturate them
with water, as Is the case now. We hayo
ten miles OF caves from bank and leyee
where we had one when the outlets wers
/ open. Eminent engineers admit this fsr,
ret we have men. calling themselves en-.
gineers, who state that outlets All nm ana
also NIL up the river Such statements ars
an insult to ordinary Intelligence.
ZenoIlno, the father OF hydrographIc
philosophy, states that Ignorant men hu,it
levees and closed outlets As proof of HE
wisdom we can not point out a single river
IN the world where they built levees and
closed outlets, but the bottom continued
70 rise, and today streams that have hean
seVced for ages, the bottom OF ,hoge
streams running through the plains are
above the plain. yellow river. China. has
hurled into eternity more than 10 o0o ann
of peoples In the past three centuries
shall we follow in their footsteps and place
the Mississippi valley In the same ccadi-
I ton There are no conditions existing
tnat require like treatment for the Miss
issippi river by Increasing the outflow
then we can secure stability to our leyee
system; outlets will prevent a necessity
ior elevating our leyees to a height that
In the event of crevasse life and proner-
ty would not be destroyed.
When Morganza and Bonnie Care ere
vases were open prosperity. peace and
plenty prevailed In the valley, Every
plantation raised crops every year We
had then floating palaces conveying every
week the products of The plantation TO
their destination. up or down the river.
the decision was finally reached that those
creyasses must be closed. Engineers were
asserting that all outlets and crevasses
must be closed in order TO deepen the
channel The result when the crevasses
were closed, the water level was raised.
neeessitating enormous appropriations for
raising the levees, for the bottom did not
scour out Plantations that raised crops
every year when the crevasses were open,
their owners found new obstacle TO cou-
tend with--they found that the food waters
remained against the levees so long that
the back lands filled up from seepage or
Transportation water which DESTROYED par
TALLY their crops, and in many places, it
would cover their entire plantation The
mai result and effect on the planting In
terest. crops were reduced year by year.
the value OF plantations were being re-
nj
once valuable to their owners, the owners
are now filing suit for damages against
the government for elevatlng the food
level, rendering once valuable property al
most worthless
Today the great steamboat interest which
existed when outlets were open is about
destroyed. To inaugurate a new era OF
prosperity we must have outlets. Outlets
Will save millions of dollars and stop the
necessity OF building mud walls mountain
high. With outlets the levee system is high
enough; with outlets the river will deepen
and the silt or washings from the valley
would be distributed in the lower lands
bordering on the gulf.
Now, have dwelt long enough on this
subject. ! want to say here We want no
more Cowden outlet bills in congress which
are always loaded up with ahsurdities,
and not intended for anything more than
as practical joke.
/ Again. / am In favor of deep channel
through the southwest pass II made deep
and wide, II will draw that much more
water from the river to the relief OF the
planters in the valley. believe that
congress will appropriate sufficient money
to do this work
Now. on the subject of canals. The Chi
cago drainage canal shows the enterprise
of our friends of the West. ! hope they
will get sufficient appropriation from Con-
gress to enable them to enlarge the canal
sufficiently to pass vessels from the lake
to the Mississippi river, then down the
river to point opposite New Orleans,
whore we can cut canal forty feet deep,
1000 feet wide, with double lock on th.
bank OF the river; the lock would be
placed for the purpose Of preventing the
canal from being an outlet. II the river
was permitted to discharge through the
canal the gulf end OF the canal would AL
up with mud and sand in the Same way we
find 1t at the mouth OF the river that lo-
quires continuous appropriation to remove
in order TO obtain channel for commerce.
A canal starting opposite Audubon park,
running out to Fort Livingston into deep
water would be hfty miles in length with
free canal with slips for vessels, belt rail-
road. warehouses, stationary machinery for
the rapid loading and unloading of vessels
also with double locks, permitting our
class OF vessels, to pass and repass into
the river. Then we would see vessels
flying the flags of every nation coming 10
the Gate City Port. competing in ocean
tonnage on grain and all commodities. We
would see navy yards and dry docks In our
Southern port. We have coal and iron
by the acre, steel and iron at our back
door and down hill all the way. We have
is, 600 miles of waterways to GULL aud col
lect the finest timber in the world and Il
can be cut and rolled into the streams to-
gether and foated down stream TO navy
yards, there cut and fashioned as may be
desired. This canal would bring great
prosperity 10 the TraDsmississippi val
ley and Western states. IT can be exca-
waited with soup spoon" no rocks TO be
moved. no timber TO cut and the distance
to deep water will only he fifty miles from
New Orleans out to the gulf into seventy
Ave feet of water. Grand Isle would serve
as a lefty to prevent the sand wave from
filling up this canal or channel. We would
have only about twelve or fourteen miles
OF solid dirt and marsh 70 excayate where
we would enter bayous and through
lake to the gulf This canal would settle
the question OF deep water for commerce
forever. and be a saving OF 5000. 600 on
grain alone annually 20 the Western and
TTansmlssissippi department. The cost
for constructing the canal opposite New
Orleans will only be 81, 900. 900 for a atty
MI Nf...st Dc a.. 4.