The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-05-04
NEW RICH WATER MARX.
Record Established In 1897 Exceeded
by More Than a Foot-Volunteer
Guards Patrol Levees at Night
s+aoe of 34.5 Feet Predieted.

1ished here Tuesday morning, when
the United States gauge reglsoeIeo
1926 feet, exceeding by tWo-Ienons
Of a foot the previous record OF oz.aa
feet established May u, 1881. IL
was stated in this paper recehtiy en<1'
the former high water record ae Don
jacksonville was 1896 feet, recorueo
by the freshet of 1903, but capt. VIC
tor Maurin, president OF the 10
fourche levee board. says that tnls
Is erroneous, and that the hlghesl
stage ever reached by the river at
this point previous to the present
year was 32.75 feet on May 10, 1897.
The gauge readings for the past
week have been as follows: sunday
1928 feet; Monday, 1916; IuesaaXs
1926: Wednesday. 1925; Thursoay'
1885; Friday, 1915; and today 81;
| A crevasse occurred at Iorras wen
nesday afternoon, and the leVee pro.
tecting Bayou Sara gave way at
| 1920 o'clock yesterday morning, re.
su1ting in the complete inundatlon OF
Ethat town, which has population OF
Ialmost 1000. The Angola state penal
farm, comprising 5000 acres OF cui-
Etiyated land, has been flooded oy the
breaking Of protection leVee: ihese
have been the only breaks IN Tue
Ileyee system recorded during the
, past week, and fortunately none q
the crevasses has been attended
with loss OF human or animal NE,
: The property loss will, OF course, De
livery heavy.
The leyees In this section continue
Ito present a solid front to the FLOOD,
9 and these seems to be no ground
f and there seems to be no ground
t will prove inadequate to the demands
J. made upon them. The levee board
d officials and citizens everywhere are
y alive to the seriousness or the sltua,
t ton. and q careful watch Is belne
J. kent over the leveeS all along the
line.
= A meeting Of citizens OF Donald
zonville and vicinity vas held az tne
- powerhouse Thursday night, 81
which Il was decided to enlist vol
" unteers to patrol the leyees nightly
y and the response to the call was I'M
n mediate and spontaneous, GUARDS
n, have been posted during the past tWt
G. nishtB. and this system OF survell
&c lance viii be- maintained until ate
y all danger has passed. The levee
- on the opposite side OF the river
which are under the jurisdiction
the Pontchartrain leTee board. ar
. paarolled' nightly bytrmed guards Il
:, The employ Of that organization.
~ Ig there are no further creVasse
a. At points above this city, 1t is pre-
~ dfcted by the government engineer
~ that a stage of 34.5feet will be e
- corded here, aud rom the way To
~. river Is rising et4Gsssent It seem
~ certain that this forecast Will 9
u realized.
u Water from the Atchafalaya riv'
W crevasse has flowed into Lake We
~ Iret in such volume as to cause II
~ Flake to overflow its banks, and
ue considerable acreage of cultivate
Hands in the rear portion Of Assam
ton parish on the west bank
Bavou I4afourche has already BET
- inundated When the water from Il
49, Torras break begins to come doV
ON top of this, the deluge will
sumo alarming proportions, and u
d. less the crevasse Is checked vii
of area of fertile land in Assumpti
ty- and Terrebonne parishes will be
nag undated and heavy property &c
up will result.
me When the Morganza leVee broke
OF 1882, water from the crevasse reae
pa ed the rear portion Of some OF t
plantations on the west bank OF
- you Lafourche, in this parish, a
lit is apprehended that similar
81. undation may result from the II
~ ras break. The latter is now neal
Ana 1000 feet wide, and there Is no pr
~ pect Of closing 1t.
:. ~ The gap in the 1evee at the ne
~ of Houmas street, giving entrance
10. o. the municipal wharf, has been I'LL
LUZ In, and a number Of sacks OF eal
a have been placed at the base OF t
~ ~. embankment at that point, some
80 tie sloughing having developed. l
a. ~, :. work was done by force OF m
MS employed on the Peytavin plantat
~, of the Lemann Company, under
20, supervision of Field Manager w.
s 49, Hanson The floor of the wharf wa
a., ~ house is under water, for the II
e,, time in the history Of the structu
~ The levee from Chetlmaches str
~ ~ 70 the Bayou Lafourche dam IS
ing reinforced with earth on o.
the river and land side.
as Receivers From Spinal Menlngl
"