The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1912-06-15
Hymelia Crevasse
Lolds Menace Even
When River Falls TO
Safety.

s1t1lelld TiaHjiitOb. JaHp ..
Fears. expressed by engineers while
work 10 the enlearOr to close Il
crevasse here have baen realized. f
;. the current has eaten ont a ciearI
defined channe! on tie tower side {
the crevasse, from its mouth back t
: The bed of the river Trees and wi
" low shrubbery, which originally thick
iv covered the ba.tare immediatel
N front Of the opening. have bee
swept away by the current, and Their
= low pathway of about 300 fee
II width through whiah the watec
ry&h upimpeded at a speed of not les
tlan eight miles per hour.
On the upper end also there ART
two clearly defined channels. Blu
nei,Eer Of these connects with The
}liver, but draw water into them from
that which flows over the batture.
! With the two channels on the ap
+, ;'er side, and the larger and swiflel
channel connecting with the river Oh
the lower side, there are now three
distinct and~seperate currents empty
| lng their waters into the crevasse.
The chief apprehension On the part
of the engineers, when the waters be-
came SO swift shortly before aban-
donment, was that one of these cur
rents might eat back to the river bed;
and with heroic effort they labored 10
divert the courses Of these. channels
to Il direction parallel with the bed Of
the river But the loose, sandy soil
has assisted the gnawing powers of
the water, and now Il stream, varying
i'll depth from twelve to twenty fest,
and drawing its supply from the bed
of the river, mepaces prospect Of any
crops at all behind the creyasse dur
ing the present season.
"Unless something is done to stop
that channel on the lower end we will
have water back behind the leyee IN
til October" was ths opinion of R. e.
Dcwnman, expressed this afternoon.
And this very clearly fortells condi-
on-, unless the new ..stream is check
ed. for even after the river has with
drawn within ITS own bed, 1t must 60
Gown sufficiently TO stop the source
If tins stream before it ceases to d.
vert water from the liver through the
:tevasse. And it cannot be foretold
how deep the cIrren. through this
hsunel will dig before the river final
goes down.
~ bowman expressed the belief
hat the upper portion OF the crevasseI
;ou d now be closed, as the waters
here have lost much Of their force
.nd current. He also said that some
ffayt should bs made, if Es ssible, TO
,su.s he stream ON the lower end. fos !
i.is is the one which will do the most
q ,us damage.
lot less than q mile of the levee /
,a slisap pearea. While the creyasse
IT,, If is not that wide, yet thai much
! zee has been loat, as it was quite |
:Gfved a. the point where the break
occurred. Actual width of the ere
:asse is nor less than 1900 feet. Ii
Serious a!aughing has taken place
within tue Fast two days on the end OF r
he levee at the lower side of the Gre. t
.as,e. II was late Thursday that the
hannel leading iuto the creyasse con-
,ected with the river. And then there :
Vas u demonstration of seethiug, foam
ng current, such as has not appeared
N TIE south side before. Befote Fri !
lay mig ht it had taken away the tar
,auIin covering and 100 feet Of Ievee I
here. and during yesterday and today t
/ has taken another 100.
On'y very little Of the crib work {
rectrd On the lower side now stands. r
'wenly bents were intact this even
lg, but those III The edge Of the cur
en-, W re rapidly being torn of and :
alricd away.
1t was expected that there would t
e meeting Of. the Lafourche Levee +
'oard here to-day to consider future
lans of work on the crevasse. A t
ODDLY pum!:er of the farmers of St.
lares Parish were present to meet
he members OF the board but owing Y
, the absence OF nearly all members,
lcudlng the president, there was no
leeliny. Sheriff elect j. S. PattersonI
,ember Of the board representing the !.
was on the ground. r H.
'owiman, not a member, but inter- i
sted Ia there plans, was also present. =
'r. Bowman went up to Laplace do :
ag the morning, crossed to the up. t
CT end, where he spent the morning.
al was on the lower end during the
'ternoon. "a
Dir. bowman. reported that the :
aters back in his interior behind the 3
evasse have been rising steadily and G
at his mill at Bowie is under water.
ne Southern Pacific was put out of "
mmission yesterday. y
k@