White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1932-06-30

for the Improvement of the mouths
Of the Mississippi and recommended
the construction Of ship canal from
Fort st. Philip Opposite Fort jack
sony to the Gulf.
At this juncture there appeared be-
fore congress an engineering genius
who persuaded that body to defer
for the time being the digging of the
ship canal and permit him, on ba-
sis of mo cure, no pay" to attempt
to provide and maintain deep-water
channel in his own way.
But when congress finally accepted
this cant loose" 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 proposition! If he
wanted to lose his own money, he
could sink it in South Pass without
endangering the then best channel.
The Eads contract called not only
for a channel 26 feet deep and 200
feet wide at the bottom, but for main
tanning that depth for 20 years.
With tremendous energy and rare
organizing ability, the engineer set
his jetties and his dredges had done
the work And, furthermore, he main
tanned the depth for 20 years, that
period expiring in 1901. The main
responsibility of the engineers today,
so far as the mouths of the Missis-
sippi are concerned, is to prevent the
river from creating new passes.
Furs From the MarshIands.
1t is not only the Mississippi which
makes Louisiana "water-minded."
The state is threaded and meshed
with bayous, lakes and streams, Civ.
ing it more than 4,790 miles of navi.
gable waters-a total which exceeds
by two for one it's nearest competi.
tor in the Union, Arkansas.
Naturally, much Of the bordering
land in the vast delta region is marsh
area: but let no casual observer be
deceived into imagining that marsh"
in Louisiana means waste or unpro.
ductive land. 1t is these tens OF
thousands of grass-covered acres
which have given the state the unique
distinction of being the largest fur
producing commonwealth in the
Union. AS matter of fact, not only
does Louisiana lead all other states
both in the value of it's fur crop and
in the number Of pelts marketed, but
last year, and for several years past
it has produced more pelts than the
entire Dominion Of Canada, generally
recognized as one Of the worlds most
important fur-producing countries.
The muskrat is the fur citizen main.
stay of the states pelt wealth. More
than 100000 of him were taken dur.
ing the open season from November
20 to February 5, 1928-29. What with
muskrats, opossums, raccoons, minks,
skunks, offers, wild cats and foxes,
the trappers' sales last year aggre.
gated $S,5OO,O00- Exceeding by q
third the total value of Alaska's pro-
duction of gold and silver for the
same period.
The Evangeline Country.
Journeying by series Of autobus
stages from New Orleans to Lake
Charles, in the southwest corner of
the state, one passes through Sec
ton Of Louisiana which is redolent
of romance Here lies the Evangeline
country, with it's many pleasing, It
seldom substantiated, stories identi-
flying particular spots with various
episodes in the Longfe1low epic. st.
Martinville, one of the Oldest towns
in Louisiana, is the center Of the
Evangeline cult, with its Evangeline
oak and it's 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
SAIL ulluCSs vi oil
form elevator one descends for $40
feet in Stygian darkness to the pres
ent floor of this salt mine. It's 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, set of their
charges of dynamite, and blow out
great blocks of pure crystal salt,
which Is scooped up in mechanical
shovels and loaded on cars similar to
those used in coal mines.
With production Of some 10000
600 bushels Of rice year, Louisiana
not only produces more Of the cereal
than any other state in the Union,
but it has one-half of the entire
Jrpifod Ctafoc rico oorooun