The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-04-16
DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW LEyEE IS BROKE,

! DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW LEyEE IS BROKEN
water and the great torrent moving
grandlysat a speed of five or six miles
an hour, twice the usual velocity of the
stream.
| That the efforts to confine the waters
| of this mighty river within its banks
are not always successful is evidenced
by the widespread devastations which
have resulted from the floods of this
and previous years. While the stress
upon the controlling barriers is only
felt in the flood season, when the Mis-
sissippi2s normal waters are augment
ed 4 handredfold by the spring fresh
most care and almost ceaseless labor
are required all the year around TO keep
these barriers in repair against the
time when the snow and ice impris-
oned waters of the farther north are
let loose by the returning sun and come
rushing madly down toward the sea in
a wild, relentless and resistless torrent
From Cairo to the gulf the. Mississip-
pi flows through fiat land generally
at mean level above that Of the SUI
rounding country. Along the left OF
east bank there are bluffs here and
there, with lowlands between that
have to be protected but on the west
side of the river the land lies low and
at places really falls away, SO that you
have to go up hill to get to the river.
Originally the Mississippi formed its
own banks with mud which it washed
up and deposited and wasn't at all par
.ticular where those banks were, chang.
ing them at will to suit its fancy. The
aboriginal dwellers In the valley didn't
mind this much, since they could push
their canoes across the stream at one
place as well as another, and it wasn't
very important anyway whether he
got across or not. Nor was it material
to the red man whether one section of
the valley or another or the whole Of it
was covered with water. But when
the white man began to settle In the
Mississippi valley and cultivate its
deep, rich red. alluvia soil it speedily
became apparent that something must
full river within bounds. So for a Gen.
fury the building of levees has gone on
until now earthworks have been
thrown up against the spring invasion
of the waters all the way from Cairo
to the delta, a distance of about 1.5G0
miles. y.
The levees have been built partly by
the federal government, partly by the
abutting states, but chiefly by the plan.
tatfon owners adjacent to the river,
who formed levee districts, with boards
empowered to levy taxes for the work
of construction and maintenance With
In the main levees are often private
levees constructed by plantation own
ers or by towns. and sometimes one
will find places which resemble for
tress, with a series of earthworks.
1t is difficult to estimate the cost of
the Mississippi levees by reason of the
fact that the work has been done by SO
many different interests and paid for
out of so many different funds. Some
ten years ago it was estimated by gov
eminent engineers that the lowIands
could be protected from the delta to
Cairo at a cost of SAG, oOo, 900 for con-
struetion and 100000 year for
maintenance. Between these points /
there are 1,7T5 miles of Ievees. The
levees are now controlled and policed
by the Mississippi river commission,
created by act of congress in 1879.
These levees are mere banks of earth
thrown up several hundred feet from
the river at low water, the low water
mark being the zero or datum from
which the rise of the river is marked
up TO the danger line, which represents
the point beyond which more water
would destroy life and property
"a building 4 leree 4 trench Is DUG
three or four feet deep and about 100
feet vide & nd 80 this earth IS araped
Until q calstin NOUS rid e Is formed 100
xrszss..s.. I