The sun., 1909-05-23

rived largely from Mark Twain and stories
OF gambling and Of disasters Of various
kinds in the days before the war: We
know that the Government engineers
have been at work for years TO improve
the, stream and have vague ideas that
they are pulling up snags and dredging
sand bars, and Va have heard Of Efforts
to keep tho mouths Of tho river clear and
Of Capt, Eads and his jstties. An effort
to explain what the Mississippi problems
arc, what 10 the task to be accomplished,
TO show exactly what We have done
and by what means We have done 1t
and to indicate the condition toward
which We are or should be aiming
is made by MIR, JOHN LArHRoP ma
rHEws in volume Of moderate sire,
RcnaksHS the Mississppi, Houghton
Minin Company. The author tries as
much as possible to avoid technical
language 70 that any reader who will
give him his attention may understand.
Perhaps he would gain In olearness and
brevity at times by assuming that his
reader can follow technical statement;
but on the whole his plan is correct. and
he writes easily and intelli gently.
It 10 no mere account Of how the river
may be made navigsble that he writes;
he calls attention to the Itmmensity OF the
problems In hand. 'The Mississippi
system consists Of q veining Of rivers
spread fanwlse from base on the shore
Of the Gulf Of Mexico. northward. east
ward and westward to'the most remote
parts of the centre which lie within tho
United States. Into these rivers drain
i244.oo0 square miles Of land. two-fifths
Of the territory OF the Ufion exclusive Of
Alaska. They offer channels suitable
for navigation from Ner York State TO
Montana. from Minnesota 10 the Gulf.
No other river system In tho world is 90
nicely situated with regard to the strategy
OF trade" More than 1900 miles OF the
system have been actually traversed by
steamboats, and there are at least $4,000
miles Of channel that may be made naviga-
BILE. Had an engineer designed a gigaI-
tic system for carrying the products Of
the interior to the seaboard. he could have
shaped no better plan than this for
economy in construction and operation.
for simplicity and directness.'
Though we may be familiar with
fanciful tales Of the shsllowness Of
Western streams. yet remembering how
active traffic was on the rvers OF the
Mississippi basin Ia the hourishihg days
Of steamboats, surprise Is inevitable at
Mr.. Mathews's statement Of the depth
Of water in the main sections. a depth
actually attained after many, years in
some parts. but only hoped for after
the improvements are made in Others.
Tho clear depth to be maintained for
the main artery. the Aississippi from st.
Louis to Omaha, IL fourteen feet or
course the river is much deeper than
that In many paris. but that is the depth
that has beep or Ii to bAsecured for the
shallowest portions at low water. Four
teen feet too 10 called for for the ship canal
from Chicago by way OF the Illinois.
For tho Ohio. on the other hand. from
Pittsburg down ali that is hoped for is
nine feet. while six feet is what may be
attained on two important branches.
the upper Mississippi from ST. Paul
down and the Missouri as far as Sioux
City 1Al told the national Govern
ment has expended on the Mississippi
and It's branches between 5000, 900, 900
and S25o, 900. 400. Much Of this sum has
been spent in earning. Much Of it has
been wasted Much Of IL remains, how
ever, in permanently improved channels
and in public works ample for their task
|. for century t.ir... ~ .,r...a .
| Until the Inland Waterways Commission
was established the idea Of improvement
was generally confined TO the develop
ment Of navigation. Since then, new
policy has been established, that Of con-
serving to the utmost our national re-
sources and Of developing the waters
for all purposes. This includes building
reservoirs not only TO prevent floods and
maintain navigation but to develop
water power, the planting Of forests to
reserve water. the planting Of trees to
prevent soil wash, tho use OF the rivers
for irrigation and So forth. With the
new possibilities for efficient action in
mind Mr. Mathews in his more detailed
account OF the work done and in hand
is able to touch upon and to make sugges-
tions on many matters besides the clear
ing OF the river channels. His description
OF the major bed OF the river, that is to
say OF the territory occupied by the
| TtNSE WhSl " 10 lu ~
not only for the account OF the manner in
which the river ie kept under control, or
rather will be kept, but also for the in
formation about the condition and the
possibilities Of the land that is always
threatened. The account Of the minor
bed, withiA the banks Of which the river
flows at ordinary stages, deals with the
engineering achievements in rendering
the Mississippi navigable.
The way in which Mr.. Mathews disposee
OF a widespread error will serve to show
the quality OF his book; 1t is too much to
hope that It will dispel a picturesque fall
lacy. AS the closing OF the successive
swampe has limited the major bed and
sent the crest OF the confined floods higher,
and as levels have had to be increased in
order to meet them, the theory has been
advanced. and has been quite widely ac-
cepted that the river builds up its bed In
proportion as the walls are raised. and
that eventually We win be confronted by
massive walls indefinitely high. between
which will flow an elevated stream on a
bed higher than the surrounding country
This is, OF course, an absurdity. The
mouth OF tho Mississippi at the Gulf is at o
fixed level, and the river banks between
which 1t flows extend with almost immeas-
urable slowness. The head OF the lower
! riyAr at CommArco n Aleo at fixed level