Evening star., 1927-05-01
DYNAMITING OF POYDRAS DIXIE
JUST BIG BUST TO SPECTATORS
Staff Writer Finds It as Exciting as Burst
ing of Paper Bag With Hole
Already Torn In 1t.

J breach with Niagaralike force. They
| had told of the wiping out BY this arti-
! fetal flood of thousands Of acres Of
! farms and villages in the Ca jan coun.
try OF st. Bernard and Plaquemines
Parishes.
They were, indeed, epics of drama
and moment these vivid advance
stories sent out and marked Hold for
release at the first flash" To say that
CONSERVATION reigned would be using
a phrase entirely inadequate for the
occasion. These we'll meaning writer's
were sunk, to use q Coast Guard eX-
preston.
Third Explosion" Heard.
AS thoughts of these stories went
through their daZed minds, and as the
distracted cameramen eased down
groggily to their seats and wiped their
reached their ears This was the best
of the three, but it caught them en-
tirely off guard again.
They were still several miles from
the scene, anyway. A fourth Of fainter
force was heard
Let 'er blow" said one Of the
crushed observers as he turned for a
drink Of ice water.
Capt. Benham. it is only fair to
say. seemed as acutely disappointed
as anybody He ordered full steam
ahead and resolved that if any more
of these puffs were going to take
place he was going to Sc that those
aboard ship got a better glimpse of
them. The Comanche hove to a
short distance from the grove of
trees where the blowing up was talk
ing place.
The original explosion according
10 Official statements, was to go off
exactly at high noon, central stand
ard time. The captain looked at his
watch and saw that it was now about
o'clock. Four little blasts had
taken place and men could be seen
on the levee carrying boxes of ex-
plosives on their shoulders.
Four Shots Fail.
Another shot was to be made.
Those on the boat drew from this
that the four tries had been unsuc-
cessful. They waited patiently for
the final effort. After an internin-
able period of anxiety. a boom was
heard behind the trees and a few
loose clumpS of dirt barely lifted
above the weeping willows.
This boatload of news gatherers,
sent out by their papers and press
associations to get the story of the
blowing up of Poydras crevasse had
to wait until the Comanche docked
at pm, to learn what had taken
place. They found. of course, they
had been mis.nformed as to the place
of the dynamiting. They already
knew that. however. They found that
the first small charge Of explosives
had cut only a small cash in the
levee, through which a puny little
stream of muddy water had to be
coaXed to wend it's way. They found
that the second and third blasts didn't
even disturb enough dirt to let any
water out of the river.
They found that gangs of negroes
had to be sent into the breacheS-the
very breaches their papers. no doubt,
now were featuring as filed with a
roaring torrent-to open a ditch
through them with p.ckaXes and
shovels. There was one consolation
which greeted them as they stepped
ashore, however. 1t was an extra
edition of the New Orleans Item, con-
tanning a blaring account of just such
an eruption as had not taken place
at all. 1t was dramatic. all right, this
dynamitinG of the Poydras levee. but
to the newspaper men covering the
"momentous" event it was a drama
with distinctly tragic touches.