The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-10-24
ISEAPLANES LEAVE
ON DIFFICULT JOB
Win Take Photographic Mosaic Map
Of Entire Mississippi Delta.

in the world.
The first stop was made at Burr
wood, La. where an aerial photo
graphic mosaic map was exposed from
a height OF 5000 feet This map COW
cred the entire parish OF Orleans, and
when completed will be as large as the
side Of building" IT will be re-
duced however. to convenient size. AMI
is expected to be the means OF en-
abling the city planning commission ia
find new places for playground devel-
opment, for segregation OF factories
and manufacturing plants by the
exposing OF suitable sites. and. In gen
eral. to aid UNNECESSARILY in the plan
ming and development of a better
Crescent City.
This map will show all the streets
and buildings Of the city. the farms
and outlying districts. the canals and
lakes within the parish limits. and
above all. the course of the projected
new waterway to the gulf This last.
alone. will more than make the map
of value.
It is at this little u S. army depot
that the party win base for the larger
and far more important work of map
ping the entire delta from a height of
5000 feet. This work is under the
joint supervision Of the engineer corps
and the u. s. geodetic survey. When
completed a total OF approximately
three hundred square miles will have
been photographed, a territory larger
by far than any heretofore mapped in
similar fashion
The great importance OF this work
here can be estimated by the fact that
constant changes are occurring in the
delta formation. which changes are a
considerable factor in the navigation
or the Mississippi river. A break in
the banks of the river at this point
may mean the closing OF the river to
all shipping. by depositing such an
amount of sand and mud at the bar
as to prevent the ingress or egress OF
vessels Of more than very light draugint
The effects of this must be apparent
to anyone conversant with the import
ance OF the Mississippi river as an out
let for the products of the middle west
The constant search for possible
breaking point-places where the river
bank is eaten away by The current on
one side and by the gulf on the other
map. which will definitely show where
such breaks might occur in the future
Portions of the delta below Burras,
La, have not been surveyed since the
civil war, owing to their inaccesstbiIity
An idea of the immense of the changes
which have taken, place since then, may
be had from the fact that Bird Island
Sound-which is still shown or the
charts as being water--is now almost
entirely wiped out by accreation of
land which connects what was formerly
known as Bird Island to the main
delta. Similarly, the territory between
Pass a Loutre and South Pass has been
built up since the brealsfng of the
river through the banks Of Pass a Lou
tire at point a mile or so beyond the
Head OF Passes, where the three meet,
forming what is known as Pass a
Loutre crevasse The mud and sand
which has passed through this crevasse
has almost completely filled in the
space between the two passes with the
exception of numerous bayous and
streams, of which there are q network,
And so 1t is. that the Importance Of
this work cannot be measured In doll
lars and cents, for 1t is the means Of
aiding the progress OF the industrial
welfare OF not only the middle west,
but the country as a whole.
The difficulties under which the pilot
and photographed work on this project
are numerous and trying. They can
only be adequately apprecited by one
who has been through such an expe-
rience Such a one is Chief Photo
grapher d. w. Culp, u. S. N. who was
with the party which attempted this
mission last spring. and only failed
through weather conditions which pre-
vailed at that time. Speaking of the
work, he: Not only is the coldness
something to be recloned with. but the
constant strain under which both the
pilot and myself work is such as to re-
quire that we keep In the brightest
o. spirits and physical At all the time
there.
..Flying at 5000 feet for several
hours at time. with the rarifed at
which one finds quickly en-
feebles a man who is not used to it.
until he is soon so tired as to require
a considerable rest period after each
flight. Plenty Of sleep good food, and
lots OF recreation are the order Of the
day. But the last two are fairly hard
to find at Burrwood. 1t is such a
small place. not more than hundred
houses or so. If that many, and bulk
on land pumped onto swamps by
dredges. The moving pictures that we
have once a week are the only diversion
which reminds one of the large COM
munities. They do play baseball some
down there. but II they hit the ball too
hard it goes into the Mississippi and
the game stops. But the knowledge OF
what the results OF our work means
more than repays us for the hardships.'
Chief Culp. together with one me-
chanic and one rigger, left under the
NJ 1a