New Britain herald., 1927-04-29
LEVEE BELOW. ID BE BLASTED
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lU DL UL1U
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 were dedicated today to the racing
 waters Of the Mississippi.
 By this sacrifice it was hoped that
 New Orleans. quaintest Of American
 cities, and the metropolis Of the
 south. might be saved from the fate Of more than q score Of towns 10 the
 northward now buried under waters
 let loose in the greatest flood in the
 history Of the nation.
 War-Like Scenes.
 War-like scenes were presented as l plans went forward for ,he first de-
 liberate cutting of the leyees since
 the control of the father of waters
 was undertaken by this system of dykes nearly half a century ago. Long before the zero hour Of noon. armed soldiers of the state oi
 Louisiana were patrolins the breast works built against mighty rivers 1 assault, armed craft moved here and there on the river and seaplancs l droned overhead, none of them equipped, however. with anything more dangerous than a camera. Troops On the Scene. With the crack of dawn a detach- ment Of the National Guard march, ! cd 10 the scene selected for the break at Poydras. 10 miles south of New Orleans. and spread out fan wise 10 give a last warning to the few hundred residents Of the terri tory who had failed to teed early | admonitions to abandon their homes for safe ground i'll or near New Or leans. Other soldiers guarded the | roads from this city and crders were given that three hours before noon the highways be cleared and the area within two miles of the location |, of the break closed to traffic. Only those bearing military passes were 1 admitted within the cordoa Of troops | and such passes were extremely diff | ticult to obtain. Careful plans for creating the crevasse should be pre- pared by state engineers in consulta- l ton with officers of the United States army engineers corps, but they were jealously guarded for req sons which were not disclosed.
 1000 Foot Break.
 Word did go out in advance. how | ever, that the break would be on>i thousand feet long. between the par ishes Of St. Bernard and Plaque mines and extending northward from d point within q few hundred yards of the plant Of the Grunge Grove Refinery company. a large industrial alcohol works.
 The purpose was to loosen the massive levee along that stretch by the usc Of dynamite in many small charges, thus leaving to the force of the flood waters the completion of the breach which is expected to re- duce the level of the water here ap- proximatcly three feet in from three to six days.
 safety Precautions.
 Extraordinary precautions were taken to prevent accident and ln- sure the safety of all those who might be within the restricted area Orders issued from the first state military district provided that after the engineers tug had sisnalled that preparations for the blasting were completed an interval of l5 minutes would be allowed for the removal ol troops from the danger zone and for a seapIane to ascertain if the area was clear of civilians.
 The planes signal Of "all's clear was three white sheets of paper to be released at short intervals. That. too, was the signal for the firing Of the blasts by means of an electric gun operated on state engineers tug, thus releasing the waters whcih eventually were expected to inundate about 500 square miles before drain- ing off into the gulf.
 Few Vessels Allowed
 Besides the engineers tug. more than half dozen other craft were permitted within the restricted area the Alexander. carrying Governor Simpson and his party; the Com- carrying newspaper corres- pondents: the Magnolia. carrying an official party. including Major Gen. eral Jadwin. chief of army engineers: T scout boat and several coast guard cutters for patrol duty.
 The animation and hustle at Poy- dras was in marked contrast to the scenes enacted at the concentration camp at the army base here where hundreds Of the several thousand persons forced from their homes in the two southeastern parishes were gathered. Silently from early morn they counted the hours until the Hood waters would be released to rush across country inundating the homes where their life interest lay, where they long had lived and worked and where they ultimately will return when the waters have receded and the state has repaired he breach made in the levee.
 Compensation Pledged
 state and city have guaranteed Ill of the residents compensation or the damage the waters may do heir property but even in the face of this they temporarily gave up heir homes with reluctance If not with stronger feelings. Some Of the uha bitants of the two parishes re- used to leave. preferring to remain md take their chainces with the