The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-01-19
AN ECCENTRIC RIVER.
Changing Course and Devious Career
of the Mississippi.

New Orleans Times-Democrat.
Mark Twain's statement that New Or
leans. in so many years, would be only a
short distance from Cairo may have been
a wise statement" said an old river man,
but in spite of this fact the Mississippi
seems 10 DE doing business at the same
old stand. Cairo does not yet enjoy the
distinction of being in the suburbs of New
Orleans, and from present indications it
Will be some time before this city TO the
north will get as close 10 the great port Of
the South as Mark Twain seemed to think
she would get. OF course, the great Ameri-
can humOrist was linking about the funny
side CT the situation, and he was trying to
arrive at the really comical side Of the
Mississippi's antics. The river has cut
some really funny capers. Old rivermen
are In a position to appreciate this fact.
Ihey know that many of the changes which
have marked the last fifty years have had
an element of the comical in them, and
yet in some instances there has been some
what OF tragedy In the change. But the
point l had in mind was that Mark Twain
and a long list OF other men who have
been making predictions about the Missis-
Slppl have simply been repudiated by the
logic of events. What Mark Twain said
was, Of course, in a humorous spirit. He
did not mean TO deal seriously with the
changes or the river. He knew that the
river was ~errattc. He knew that the river
was in the habit of switching. He knew
that there would be cutoffs from time to
time, and the river would gradually de-
scribe a shorter route 10 the gulf. This
has been the history OF the river. Pro-
ceeding upon this basis he figured that in
some remote time Cairo, in a relative sense,
would be IN the backyard Of the city Of
New Orleans. Distances had been shortened
before by the river, and IT was perfectly
logical TO assume that in time the city OF
New Orleans and the city OF Cairo would
be brought in such close proximity that
the corporate lines would touch. This idea
was the basis of his calculation, and to an
extent he reasoned wisely about the thing
In his humorous way. Other men who
have sought to deal with the question more
scientifically have come TO the same gen.
eral conclusion. but they have expressed
IT In different language. The meaning, after
all, is the same and in a minor sense the
logic of events has established the correct
ness Of the theory.
But 1 was thinking OF the disappoint-
mentS and the failures which have marked
these various prophesies concerning the
mississippi" continued the speaker. and
really it is astonishing, when you come 10
think or II, the number Of men who have
MLsse9 II IN their calculation 1t Is now
conceded that the most Insignificant thing
imaginable will change the course of the
divert the current. If the current is di-
verted there is Immediately a change in the
general character of the river at that point.
and for manifest reasons. For instance:
An arrest of the current at any given point
means a series of things which will have an
AAARoA NdAAL UCdIllS Oh the S0OTGHne. Inc
quantity of edimen deposited at any given
point depends upon the extent of the resist
ance offered to the flow of the river. The
sediment in the Missippi river is q very
great thing. The tonnage of solid substance
in the river between Lake Itasca and the
Gulf OF Mexico would make the average
man dizzy, and ii would make some of the
Dig owners or cotton and sugar plantations
IN Louisiana and Mississippi really ashamed
OF the .puny proportions Of their earthen
possessions. The fact of the business is
that at many points along the river the
deposit mas been so great hat wealthy
areas have been thrown UP almost in the
bed of the river because of the immense
deposit In the river. The amount of the
deposit Is governed by the resistance offered.
and all the changes in the course of the
river are due mainly to this one fact. OF
course. there would be changes if the river
were as clear as a crystal. but there would
be no violent changes such as have marked
the course of the river in the last half CEN
tCry. Vicksburg, for instance, is not strict
" speaking on the river at this lime. Vicks-
burg was on the river when Grant was
there. Part of the Memphis wharf. a part
where the largest steamers Of the river once
noated, has been filled in on account of the
vast deposits of the river. There are many
other changes which would furnish exam
pies along the course of the Mississippi be-
tween its source and its mouth. and it is
really useless TO multiply them.
9TH point l had in mind" he continued.
was the reputation of the river prophets
who claim to know so much about the
river. Andrew Jackson damned q BAYOU
up somewhere above New Orleans. and II
was thought that the whole course. of the
river would be changed. Men have been
figuring for more than three-quarters of a
century about what was going to happen at
New Orleans. This city was simply des-
tined 10 be left high and dry, an island
and a hopeless city on the map OF America.
1t hasn't happened yet. At various times
IL was said that the river would break
through at some point about the Atcha-
falaya river and would shoot through to
the gulf at that point. But it hasn't hap
pened yet. Again it would in time break
through Lake Pontchartrain and pour out
through the Rigolets into the gulf. But
the river just simply goes about its business
in its usual way and shows no indication
of changing the usual order of things. New
Orleans was To be left high and dry. Nor
gan City, Algiers and various other places
have peen put down as being the seaports
in the future in this exertme southern end
or the country. The prophets who claim
to be wise about conditions On the Nissis-
sippi, and who claim TO know everything
about what has happened in the past, and
about what will happen in the future. have
made all kinds of predictions about the
changes, and all kinds OF CHASTITY and awful
things were to happen 10 New Orleans. But
they haven't happened yet, and the indica-
tons are that they will not happen. The