The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-27
BILLY SHEA SAYS HE
DIDN'T PUT MUD THERE

To The News Scimitar:
Conference.-The many readers OF vour
valuable paper have been given q great
deal OF reading matter concerning the
wharf In front OF Memphis. and the in
ference left both by your correspondents
and local reporters amounts 10 this.
first-because OF the shortcomings
OF the whnrfmaster, mud has accu-
INFLATED on the levee front to the great
embarrassment OF river traffic,
Second-the wharfmaster's office is
not self-sustaining.
Third--Because OF these distractions
many boats have been taken out OF the
trade.
Fourth--Conditions have been worse
than they have been for many years.
Admitting these things to be true, I
respectfully disclaim responsibility for
any and all Of them and | ask that you
allow me to explain,
AZ is known to all rlvermen, during
periods Of high water the ba rks of the
rivers are worn away and thrown into
the streams; this soil is converted into
mud or silt, and liz carried down the.
river and is deposited In places where
there are eddies or no current.
Because Of the formation Of the banks
on the opposite side OF the camel the~e
forms a great eddy In the Memphis
harbor and the flow Of water being ar
rested, the muddy silt naturally de-
Scends TO the bottom and eventually
forms an island Of mud. which Is the
case at our harhor There ia an island
where not so long ago there used to he
from 30 TO 100 feet of water In the
harhor and which goes to show how
quickly the accumulation OF this muddy
silt is deposited where there are eddies
or shallow water. This year the water
remained high for an unusually lopg
time, covering the levee front or wharf
completely, and the slow moving waters
Of the eddy deposited thousands ef
tors " mud on the stone pavement or
wharf, making 1t difficult to load and
unload freights.
When the river fell and the water re-
ceded, strenuous efforts were made by
myself and assistant to remove the
muddy aocumulations. This could be
done only by washing off the levoe by
means Of fire hose which we have for
that purpose. | put two crews to work
right away with all the facilities we
had on hand and worked them night
and day. but the river receded no fast
and there was such a great aocumu-
lation Of mud that we could not make
any Roadway.
When | saw that we could not handle
the situation | Immediately went TO the
government office and asked Mai,
Hodges, who is the chief engineer In
charge, II he wouldn't bring up his
ithktN d"u klHNS' dH' AFN'NN. ls- y.
our troubles. and he told me he had
nothing to do with the leVee And q
come up whenever he thought Il neces-
sary, as II was only his DUTY to keel
the channel open and that a all he
intended to do, ] went TO him agar
the next dav snd asked him II he WOMB
rent the grader to the city as | was
told that was the only thing we coulc
get the mud of with, and he said yes
he would rent II TO us for $50 per day,
then went to see Mr., Goodman, whe
Is head Of my department, and he TOLD
me to close the contract with him.
went right off and saw him and HI
raised tho price TO siiT and then h.
fell TO sos and required the city Il
put In the bank n deposit of $1,000, ant
Il was at least two weeks before h
cave up with the grader.
They did not mako much progress;
as something was always breakinf
down, and when they worked out thu
$4,000, they had cleaned about one
third OF the levee; then the city put uI
81 800 more to get them TO continue
and when they had worked out ahoui
$500 OF the Si,5oo they quit and left Vi
for some reason with the levee onl,
about half cleaned off and In bad shape
Since that time and now we are work
ing two crews night and day and ar
getting everything In fairly good shape
I am certain by the time the busy sea
J son for the boats Is here they ca
ply their avocation with very little in