The Ely miner., 1930-08-22

"SAO dSludliy iOWeT III Those udyS.
They were lower, to consider one inn
portant fact, for the very good reason
that then less water was fed into the
Mississippfs 100000 tributaries in a
given space of time. Forests and
woodlands that do not now exist held
a large part of the rainfall and fed it
slowly into brooks and creeks and
rivers. Irregularities in the lie of the
land formed puddles that later evap-
GRATED, or sent rills in tOrtuous paths
that slowed up the runoff.
In late years a constantly increasing
population has been busy changing
these conditions. Every tree cut, ev-
cry roof built, every street paved, ev-
cry drainage ditch dug, and every cul-
vert constructed in the vast area
drained by the Mississippi river sys-
TEN has done it's bit toward pouring
rainfall more quickly into the great
river.
Not only has man helped to put
more water into the Mississippi; his
works have helped to confine it there.
When De Soto and his followers first
knew the Mississippi 1t spread out at
each flood season over a wide area
Sometimes in its lower reaches it was
20, 80, and even 40 miles wide. 1t was
truly the Father of Waters"
The. fact that the flood waters
spilled away at numerous places into
swanlps and lowlands kept the flood
crest down in the lower river. In
1717 three-foot levees protected New
Orleans. Now they rise % feet or
more above the city. Even as late as
1882 the highest flood stage at New
Orleans was 16 feet. In 1922 1t was
above % feet. One reason, at least,
for this, is that more efficient levee
maintenance for many hundreds of
miles along the river has herded the
flood waters past New Orleans as well
as other lower river points in the reg
ular channel.
Levees Protect Vast Areas.
More intensive development of the
lowlands has made this levee system
necessary. Now some 10000 square
miles are dependent on the levees for
protection. Breaks still occur, and
when they do they drain off some Of
the flood waters and so relieve in some
measure the strain on the banks far
ther down stream. But it is not the
innOcuOus affair that ii was in the
days of De Soto. Now towns and plan
tations, railways and industrial plants
lie in the lowlands, and any 'reiief'
that a levee break may occasion to
down-river points is at cost of many
lives and much valuable property.
On the whole a considerable quail
tity of water finds its way from the
lower Mississippi through levee breaks
and bayous. The most important nat
ural safety valve is the Atchafalaya
river or bayou which flows away from
the Mississippi at the mouth of the
Red river, and finds its way directly
to the Gulf of Mexico some 30 miles
west of New Orleans. In flood times
this out-fowing stream takes from the
swollen Mississippi as much as $4,000
cubic feet of water each second-an
amount equal to more than half the
average flow of the Mississippi 1t is
because of such losses as this, coupled
with the much greater depth of the
channel in the lower river, that the
flood stage can be between 80 and 60
feet at Memphis and Vicksburg, and
only little more than 20 at New Or
leans.
The Mississippi river system is truly
continental feature, draining a mil
lion and a quarter of the three million
odd square miles of the United States.
Thirty of the 4S states send a greater
or less contribution of water to this
great stream.
The main Mississippi river is more
than $500 miles long, while the Mis-
sissippi- Missouri is 4,200 miles in
length-the longest river system in
the world. The great scale on which
the Mississippi is built becomes evil
dent when one considers the time re-
uuired for floods to pass down its
course. About thirty days are re-
quired for the surging flood crest to
pass from the mouth of the Ohio to
New Orleans, and from ten days to
two weeks from Greenville, Miss, to
New Orleans.
Its Banks Can't Be Utilized.
Most travellers in travelling the low
er Mississippi river, are astounded at
the deserted aspect of long stretches
of the banks. 1t is almost as though
one were on a stream running through
an uninhabited land. In the case Of
such a river, flowing through exten-
sive lowlands. this must be true, save
in lands Of a teeming population.
The Mississippi is so treacherous,
it's definite course is so tentative, that
In the lower regions next to the river
little development has yet been pos
sible. Tangled forests, willow-cOvered,
deserted islands, and stretches of sand
follow in weary succession as the
river makes it's way in great bends
and loops. The deserted aspect is par
ticularly marked on the right bank,
which is lowest. On the left bank
rocky bluffs appear at intervals, and
almost without exception have been
selected for permanent settlements.
Columbus. Ky; Randolph and Men,
phis, Tenn; Vicksburg, Grand Gulf
and Natchez. Miss, and Baton Rouge.
La, all lie on these infrequent left
bank bluffs which. geologistssSay. rep
resent the remains of coastal promon.
tories about an ancient sea-