New Britain herald., 1927-04-30

Ne" orleans. La, April 80 Pl-
 X widening lake of water w.. spreading gradually today over parts Of two deserted parishes to the southward from three small
 creVasses made in the Mississjpnj
 ieVee yesterday so that the threat | Of serious flood might be rs.
 moved from New Orleans.
 Not So Successful
 The blasting Of the broad earth erh emoankment thrown up 10 keep the Vagrant river in its chan
 nel was not as successful as sfata engineers had anticipated. but ero. sion in the deep trenches cut bv
 the dynamite charges was noticed
 early today
 George o. Schoenbereer chief state engineer announced that the leVee definitely had been broken and that there was an opening 50 feer Wide at the end of the series of
 gaps through which water was i rushing into the parishes of St.
 Bernard and Plaquemines. He ad,i-
 ed that he expected the opening 10 widen rapidly and that 1t would
 nave an appreciab,e effect on the
 rlNer level which would be felt T,
 New Orleans within 4S hours.
 No Spectacular Rush A situation so serious that it was ] 0ee'ned necessary deliberately io i break the dykes for the first time 1 in history has served 10 focus ,he i eyes of the world here. but the
 spectacular rush of waters. sweep
 ing all before it's fury. failed ,o
 materialize.
 The blasting was done on each Side Of the dividing line between
 st. Bernard and Plaquemines par lshes and directly in front of tho
 lltl'e canning town of Caernavat. which. like most of the other yil-
 lages in the threatened area. had
 been deserted by it's inhabitants. Water Slowly Crosses Slowly the water found it's way across the highway skirtine the
 base of the levee, overran a meadow
 and spread out over the town
 reaching finally to the Caernavaa
 taal. wrecked in the 1922 flood
 which crashed through the old
 teNee near the Poydras settlement. 1 All night the streams tunhled
 down the side of the emhankment
 to push forward tho waters in ,hs . loWlands. but so gradual was the
 flow that few of the houses in the canning town had been damaged. 1 Grim evidence Of the damage in- 1 land from huge crevasse in the 1 entertainments is given near .he i Poydras settlement, whore thare
 now is an artificial lake. 60 feet l deep, about l0h yards wide and T
 half q mile long, This was created | by the wild rush of water chare ing down the levee through ina | break five years ago. Besides this lak" stands g once handsome man
 sion, now scared and decayins wreck.
 Hope Nature Will Aid
 Tho water now passing rhroueh 1 the Crevasse a mile down the river , rom this place is slowing draining | the small channel between the new and old levees and the engineers are hopeful that when the level in
 the canal has been lowered the i full force Of the raging current be- yoni vii tear tout the old dykes
 and thus set free with full forcs
 will rip is way for thousand yards or moro along the spots
 made weak by successive dynamite i explosions
 If their hopes are realized it 's estimated that the break WiN take 1 oft more than one million cubi, ! feet Of water minute. lowering the river stage at New Orleans bv ! 30 inches and thus relieving the pressure the swift moving curren, i now eNevts on the levees protecting
 the city along the crescent bend, With q great wall Of water nov ! ing down the river. from Nicks- i burg, where the river is rising steadily it is not quite clear to
 what extent the Caernavan break i will reduce the flood to the north I ward. Lcv2es opposite and below Nlckshurg are now threatened and should they go ont the great force | sipated across the plains of central | Louisiana before the flood crest reached New Orleans.