The Bolivar County Democrat. (Rosedale, Miss.) 1887-1969, 1903-04-04

From these figures it is seen that the
ordinary stage Of water at Cairo, which
is thousand miles from the sea, is less
than 800 feet above sea level, while the
ordinary water at New Orleans, which
is eighty-four miles from the head of the
Passes. is at sea level. The slope is SO
gentle that there would be comparative
~ little current in the river but for the
vast body of water pushing in from be-
hind. But more than this, the flood
water, when it reaches sea level, meets
the sea water, and that must be forced
out of the way i'll order that the river
flood may enter.
1t should be noted that with the ex-
ception Of the break i'll St. Charles parish,
which is perhaps thirty-fve miles above
this city, all the crevasses are above
Vicksburg, 500 to 500 miles above the
head of the Passes, which is the place
where the river makes several Of it's
various mouths OF debouchmetts into
the sea.
1t should be further noted that the
Mississippi River constantly carries
mixed with its waters a vast amount of
earthly matter, mud and sand, brought
down not only from it's numerous trbu-
taries. but also from along its entire
course, caused by the cutting or wearing
away of its banks by the force OF it's
current. The load of silt 10 greater in
flood seasons, but there is no time when
the waters do not carry more or less OF
it. The amount Of this mud or silt which
is carried past the Carrollton station in
the city of New Orleans in a year is
reckoncd by the engineers of the Missis-
sippi River Commission to be nearly
nine hundred thousand million, or in
figures, ss7,5O6, 100000 pounds. esti-
mated to be sufficient to build one square
mile of solid land 26s feet thick.
It must not be supposed that all the
mud or silt brought down from the re-
gions above is carried direct to the sea,
but it finally gets there-it may be after
the lapse of years. What tn. river does
is to cut away it's banks where the cur
rent is swift and carry away the mate
rial until some place is reached where
there is an eddy or the current slackens
up. The water then drops part ofits
load, but goes on with the rest. Sand
bars or other formations occur where
the silt is deposited until these make
distractions to the current, which, when
conditions require it. digs away these
deposits and carries them on until other
deposits are made, but finally the great
est part of matter brought down from
the far interior of the continent is swept
into the Gulf of Mexico.
The constant erosion of the banks, not
only of the great river itself, but its
mighty tributaries and the unceasing
operations of the current in carrying the
eroded matter away, make the grand
difficulty of the problem of treating the
floods Of the Mississippi Valley. II the
water of the river were free from this
transported mud there would only be a
question of disposing Of the water.
What would be necessary only would be
to get channel of sufficient capacity to
carry off the water, and the trouble
| would be at al, end. Ifa waterway one
mile wide did not suffice, the width
could be doubled, or increased to such
tdimensions as would insure it's discharge
into the sea.
But the vast amount of mud carried in
the waters OF the Mississippi demands
treatment radically different from what
would be required to dispose of clear
water. The swift current cuts and picks
up the solid matter, but the sluggish
current drops it and so fills up the chan
nel The constant operation OF tht
river, when left to itself, is to enlarge it.
channel by eroding it's banks, at soms