The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1901-07-12

Canal to the country In general that its
direct value to certain portions of the
United States has not perhaps been
fully appreciated. A section of the
country which might be said to be vi
tally interested in this undertaking is
that adjacent to the Mississippi River
and its tributaries. One Of the strong
est arguments which proves this as
sertiOn is the map. A child could de-
tect the important relation which the
artificial waterway bears to this great
natural thoroughfare
An examination of the map shows
the remarkable likeness of the Missis-
sippi, the Missouri, the Ohio aud their
branches to tree, the main river form.
ing the trunk and the others ramifyiRg
to the right and left, the larger
branches in turn sending out shoots
On the face Of the map this system of
water ways stands out like great
oak, placed by nature to foster the
commerce tf territory populated by
millions of people and the site of thou
sands Of industries Some of the great
est cities In the country owe much of
their progress and prosperity to their
location on the banks of the Mississippi
and its branches. The natural resources
of the States trayersed by these water
ways have been largely developed by
the facilities afforded to connect them
with the Genters of consumption. The
settlementtof what we now call the
Middle West, but which is in reality
the heart Of the United States, has been
in great rteasure due to the same sys-
TEN. The pioneers of Indiana, Illinois,
Kentucky and Ohio, as well as the
States west of the Mississippi, and
even part of the Gulf group, came to
this region in boats at time when
the railroad and the locomotive were
curiosities.
A few months ago United States
gunboat explored the upper Amazon
and reports were made by the officers
Of the thousands of miles of navigation
which this river afforded. Yet the
Amazon, the Ganges and the Nile com
bined do not equal the Mississippi and
its tributaries in the mileage of naviga-
bic water Towns and cities in no less
than twenty-eight States Of the Union
can be reached by steamboats, from
New Orleans. Fully one-third of the
population of the United States to-day
reside in the country adjacent to the
Mississippi and its tributaries-ful
25,000,000 persons. A boat drawing five
feet of water and starting from New
Orleans can reach 1000 communities
varying in population from 100000 to
500. Among the great cities which en-
Joy the advantages of water transpor-
tation by this system, and which the
canal would connect by water with the
Pacific are ST. Louis with its 100000
populations New Orleans, with its 30O,-
900; Pittsburg with its 250,000; Louis
Vile, with it's 225,000; and Wheeling,
with its $4,000. On the trunk of the
tree are Memphis, Vicksburg, Baton
Rouge, Quincy, Burlington, Daven-
port, Dubuque and La Crosse, a
chain of communities extending from
the cotton and sugar plantations of the
South to the timber lands of the far
North.
In a study of this portion of the Uni
ted States a surprising feature is the
large number of streams which are
navigable 1t is doubtful If the Mis-
sissippi has branch of fifty miles in
length which is not deep enough for
steamer traffic over at least portion of
its length. The same is true of the
principal branches, with the exception
of some of the tributaries of the upper
Missouri in Dakota and Nebraska. The
shoals formed by rock lodges are but
few in number This is owing to the
fact that the majority of the streams
flow through a region which offers few
barriers to the natural deepening of
the channel Along the lower Missis-
spp in the vicinity of New Orleans a
network of bayous and other water
ways forms series of channels which |
extend far into both Louisiana and
Mississippi. They reach the famous
YazoO Valley in the latter State, trav-
erse the coast country and give most of
the important towns in both States
water communication with New Or
leans. The same condition exists along
the Red River, which is one of the most
valuable branches of this trunk. 9th
er streams connecting with the lower
Mississippi and of great value to navi-
CATION are the Arkansas, the st. Fran
els, the White, the Yazoo, the Talla-
hatchee and the ouaehita. Steamers |
can ply on several Of these streams a
distance of over 200 miles from their