The Coolidge examiner., 1932-07-08

tracing jetties similar TO those now
in use on the Mississippi river. The
board finally reported that the use
of jetties would be too costly for
the improvement Of the mouths Of
the Mississippi and recommended
the construction of a ship canal
from Fort st. Philip Opposite Fort
Jackson) to the Gulf.
At this juncture there appeared
before congress an engineering ge-
MUS who persuaded that body to de-
fer for the time being the digging
of the ship canal and permit him,
on basis of mo cure, no pay" to
attempt to provide and maintain
deep-water channel in his own way.
But when congress finally accept
ed this cant lose" proposition Of
James B. Eads, who had just COM
pleted the world-famous steel-arch
bridge over the Mississippi at st.
Louis, the engineer was not permit
ted to use the Southwest Pass for
his experiment, as he had specified.
This was the best of the three main
passes, and the government was TAX
ing no chances with Mr.: Eads and
his chimerical propositionl II he
wanted to lose his own money, he
could sink II in South Pass with
out endangering the then best chan
mel.
The Eads contract called not only
for a channel 20 feet deep and
200 feet wide at the bottom, but for
maintaining that depth for 20 years.
With tremendous energy and rare
organizing ability the engineer set
TO work, and In less than FIVE years
this jetties and his dredges had
done the work. And, furthermore.
he maintained the depth for 20
years, that period expiring in 1901.
The main responsibility Of the en-
gineers today, so far as the mouths
Of the Mississippi are concerned, Is
to prevent the river from creating
new passes.
Furs From the Marshlands
II Is not only the Mississippi
which makes Louisiana "water-mind-
ed" The state is threaded and
meshed with bayous, lakes and
streams, giving II more than 4,700
miles Of navigable waters-a total
which exceeds by two for one its
nearest competitor In the Union, Ar
kansas.
Naturally, much of the bordering
land In the vast delta region is
marsh area but let no casual OBJ
server be deceived into imagining
that marsh" in Louisiana means
waste or unproductive land. 1t is
these tens of thousands of grass
covered acres which have given the
state the unique distinction OF be-
ing the largest fur-producing COM
monmealth in the Union. AS mat
ter of fact, not only does Louisiana
lead all other states both in the
value Of its fur crop and in the num-
Der of its pelts marketed, but last
year, and for several years past, II
has produced more pelts than the
entire Dominion Of Canada, gen.
orally recognized as one Of the
worlds most important fur-produc-
ing countries.
The muskrat is the fur citizen
mainstay of the states pelt wealth.
More than 100000 of him were
taken during the open season from
November 20 to February 5, 192S-29.
What with muskrats, opossums, rae
coons, minks, skunks, otter, wild
cats and foxes, the trappers' sales
last year aggregated $500, 900
exceeding by third the total value
/ Of Alaska's production of gold and
silver for the same period.
The EvanaeIine Country.
Journeying by a series Of auto
bus stages from New Orleans to
Lake Charles, in the southwest cor
ner of the state, one passes through
section of Louisiana which is redo
lent of romance. Here lies the Evan.
geline country, with its many
pleasing. if seldom substantiated,
stories identifying particular spots
withs various episodes in the Long.
fellow epic. st. Martinville, one of
the oldest towns in Louisiana, Is
the center of the Evangeline cult,
with its Evangeline oak and its
grave of the woman from whom
the poet is supposed to have drawn
his picture of the Acadian heroine
At New Iberia are Louisiana's
famous salt mines. On an open-plat-
form elevator one descends for $40
feet in Stygian darkness to the pres.
ent floor of this salt mine. Its vast
galleries are sixty feet in height,
half again as wide in some places,
and their winding length exceeds
two miles. With electric drills,
miners bore into the salt rock, and
set off their charges Of dynamite,
and blow out great blocks cf pure
crystal salt.