TC 425 M6 F79++ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornel! University Library TC 425.M6F79 Mississippi river fiooaprpWem.hpw^ the 3 192" 022 876 233 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022876233 A NATIONAL DUT\' MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOOD PROBLEM HOW THE FLOODS CAN BE PREVENTED 15 Y J () II N A . l() X PREPARED AND PRESENTED BY THE .AIISSISSIPPI RIVER LEVEE ASS()( lATlOX X1\1:TEEN I'llTKFA ,r f^j-^- ■ - '^' ~ % € ' .4 > ' , < / J i r * r .« f "■ *; ■'-i V' - Mv^ '"The boat itt coming: sarc irliat it irill lake — / know what you are learin;/.' Hush, lie stroiu/! KV' cannot tie onr inenione.t up in iiniltn For passing (harili/ to hrinij!" THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER LEVEE ASSOCIATION SCIMITAR J5l ILDIXC, :\IEMJ'HIS, TENNESSEE A. S. C'ALDWET.I., Piiestdfat C P. J. MOOXF.Y, \-i< e-Pdesidknt JOHN A, FOX, Sei'Het^ry-Ma.wceu ICXECL T1\E COMMITTKE WM W1I,MS 1.. K. SAI.SBURY K. M. FORD P. M. HARDINC H. I,. WINCHKM, W. H. RUSSIC (' R.SMITH W. H. FITZ-HUCH H. 1.. HLOCK I'AUI, IHLLARU A, H. STdXF, (HAS. SCOTT r. (). VINTOX C. P. .T. .MOONKV K. M. ALLEN H. ('. LEAKE r. K RIDDICK n, N. KILHUK.II Li;R(IV PERf^ .J. T. McrLELLAN .1. \V. ri I'liEH '^^^:;;^H()USANDS (jf husiuess men representing all sections of Ihe M J alluvial delta affected by the floods of the Lower Mississippi ^^^ River have banded themselves togethei- under the name of the Mississippi River Levee Association, an organization maintained entirely by voluntary subscription, for the purpose of gathering data and statistics regarding the delta and its flood problem, in order that the people of the whole nation may be informed as to the extensive area involved and the enormity of the loss sustained by i-eason of these floods. The Association has conducted a campaign of widespread pub- licity and education concerning the country damaged by the floods in order that the general public may understand that the task of pre- venting them is not a local one, but a national one. It has shown clearly and convincingly that the flood waters of thirty-one states, or of more than 41 per cent, of the total area of the Union, deluge this alluvial region almost annually; that these floods can be speedily and economically prevented by a system of levees as recommended by the Corps of Engineers of the L^nited States Army; and that it is obA'iously the duty of the National Ciovernment to aid in preA'enting these floods. An office is maintained by the Association in the city of Memphis, Tennes.see, midway between the head of the delta and the Gulf of Mexico, and the propaganda conducted under its auspices is upon the highest plane and solely in the interest of safeguarding the lives, the homes and the property of more than a million people from future destructive floods. Its offlcers and directors are men of the highest type and many of them are known throughout the nation. Their motives are unselfish and they have given freely of their time and money in order that the nation may l)e awakened to its full responsibility. In ])resenting this i)ublicatiou to the members of Congress the Mississippi River Levee Association hopes that it may be the means of aiding constructive legislation for the good of the whole nation. THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER LEVEE ASSOCIATION 15 () A R 1) () F D I R E (' T O R S J. B. FOROAN, J. G. SlIKDD, C. H. MARKHA^r, H. U. MtTDOE, H. F. McCoRMICK, W.M. Wilms, G. W. Parsons, F. J. Wade, W. K. 15IXBY, Rolla Wei>ls, Murray Cari.eton, 15. L. WiNCIIELL, F. H. Britton, B. F. Bush, H. L. Block, E. J. ]:)i.;al, H. C. SciIULT, S. L. DODDS, D. 15. Wilson, A. S. Caldwell, T. O. Vinton, N. C. Perkins, T. K. RiDDKK, W. II. RissE, Paul Dillard, c. p. j. mooney, Alfred H. Stone, L. K. Salsbury, W. B. Scott, (). N. KiLLOUClII, H. I). Toimlinson, E. M. F'oRD, M. P. F\lLTON, Walter Sillers, C. R. Smith, LeRoy' Percy, J. W. Cutrer, P. M. Harding, W. II. FITZ-HUGII, GlIAS. SC'OTT, T. R. Henderson, J. W. Johnson, (tias. Godchaux, II. C. Leake, Leigh Carroll, ('. S. Mathews, T. 15. Gilbert, Sr., E. (!. SWARTZ, \'. M. Lefeb\-re, J. T. McClellan, Fairfax Harrison, R. \'. Taylor, 15. F. 'N'oAKlI.M, S. T. HuiSHARD, L. L. Clarke, A. L. SlLVPLEKill, W. R. Co.Ml'TON, K. M. Allen, J. K. Jeffris, F. ]M. RoDcnoRs, Pre.fi(Jei)t First Xatiotial lUuik President Marshall Field Co. President Illinois Central R. R. Co. President Rock I.vland lAncs Treasurer International Ilarre.ster Co. \' ice-President Chicago Mill and Lumber Co. Mai/or President Mercantile Bank and Trnst Co. Director St. Louis Union Tru.st Co. Director State National Bank President Carletem-Fergiison Dry Goods Co. President Union Pacific Railroad Co. President St. Louis Soidlueestern Railuxn/ Co. President Missouri Pacific Railway Co. President Union Sand and Material Co. I'resident South Fast Missouri Trust Co. Merchant President Hickman Wagon Co. Planter Banker President Bank of Commerce and Trust Co. President Central State National Bank Laivi/er President Russe and Rurgess, Inc. President Dillard and Coffin Co. Managing Fdiior Commercial Appeal Planter President Mississippi Delta Planting Co. President Sunset Lines President St. Francis Lerce Board Planter Planter Manager Indiana-Arlainsas LumJ)er ('o. President Hoard M ississi ppi Perec ( 'oiii niissiouers Planter Lairi/er President Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Lcrce Hoard President Delta Trust and llanhiiig Co. Merchant Lawyer President Rank of Coirnnercc Planter President Uliitney-Central National Bank President Pontchartrain Levee Board President Orleans Lerce Board Planter President Tensas Lerce Board Lumber Manufacturer Presifient Atchafalaya Lerce Board Planter President Southern Railwai/ Co. rice-President Mobile A- Ohio R. R. Co. F.v-President New York Cotton F.rchange President ^Imerican F.rchange National Raul: Chairman Board cf Directors Shapleigh Hardware Co. President Compfon Co. Lumber Manufacturer Lawyer Ciiic vGO, III. ( 'nic.vGO, III. Chicagcd, III. Chicago, III. Chicago, III. Chicago, III. Caircj, III. St. Louis, ^Io. St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis, Mc). St. Louis, jNIo. Chicago, III. St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis, Mo. Cape Girardeau, 'Slo. Carutiiersville, ?kIo. Hickman, Ky. Hickman, Ky. Memphis, Tenn. Me.mphis, Tenn. Memphis, Tenn. Memphis, Tenn. Memphis, Tenn. Mi:mpiiis, Tenn. Memphis, Tenn. Dunleith, Miss. Scott, Miss. Houston, ^Fexas Wynne, Ark. Butler, Ark. Deckerville, Ark. Marianna, Ark. RosEDALE, Miss. ('level.\nd. Miss. Greenville, Miss. Clarksdale, Miss. ViCKSBURCi, Miss. \'icksburg. Miss. Rosedale, ;Miss. (Greenwood, Miss. P.vnther Burn, Miss. Xew Orleans, La. New Orleans, L.\. New Orleans, L.\. Mathews, La. Wisner, La. Burton, La. Port Allen, L.\. T.u.lulaii, La. Washingtcjn, 1). C Mobile, Ala. Xew York City New York City New York Citv St. Louis, ^NIo. St. Louis, Mo. Helena, Ark. Jeffris, La. .VuK,\Ns.vs City, .Vkk. "The jMilIn/ ire (uliipi tiiiisl he progre.'n^ue, mil iiet/dtire, iiiereli/. a.s if irc did not kiioiv irliai to do. In tlie ra.vc of the Mis.'iin.sippi Hirer, thai great central artery of our trade, it i.s plain that the Federal Gorernmeni must Ijiiild and maintain tlie levees and keep the great river in harne.is for the general w.sr." T II E D E :\l () (' R A T 1 (' P L A T E R ^l The Dcmocralic Party at ils Baltimore Conveiition in ]9H declared in general terms for a policy ol' conser- vation as to foreslalion, waterway improvements and water st(jrage, hut spoke clearly and specifically regard- ing this one great problem of the Mississippi River: "[I'c }i()hl tliat the control of f lie Mi.^si.s.^iippi Hirer is a tiational problem. The preserration of the deptli of its- irater for the purpose (f iiarif/dtioii, the building of lerees to inaiutain the iidcuritji of its ehaunci, aud the preretdion of the orerflou' of the land, and its eousequeut devastation, result iu(j III the interruption of interstate coininerce, the disorganization of the mail serrire and the enor- mous loss of life and properti/, imjxjse an obliga- tion which alone can be discharged by ilic general gorcrnment." © /.''/ .' F,ihrioitsUiTi ''I favor the expending of the whole fifty million dollur.s that irill he required to put into levees to save that part of the country from floods, ami puttiug it into law." T H K l{ E P V 15 L I (' A N P L A T F OK M Tlie Republican Party was e(|ually as ])r()ii()unc(Ml in its altitude towards tliis great project, and at its convention in Cliicago in \9\'-l declared explicitly as follows: '"The jU/.v.vm /;;/;)' Hirer /.v the Xafio)!'."; dra'ni- (uje (liteh. //.s- flood iralers, ijafhered froin •// sicde.s and the Doniiiiioii of (' Hs moidlt, dcsiijiied to .secure its hiyhesf usefidiiess- for luirH/cdioii, irrigation, doniesiie Hupjyhj, ir(der ])oirer and tlic prereidioii of Jioods. JfV pledge our partjj to the nniucdiide preparation of .sneh a plan, which should l)e }nade and carried o/d in close ami j riendlg cooperation liiiween the Xation , the States and the cities affected. I' inter such a ]'lan the dcstrucf ire floods of the Mississipj>i and other sfrcanis, udiich represent a vast and needless loss to the Xation. would lie enutrolled t)i/ forest conscrvafton and water storage (d the heiulw(dcrs and In/ lerees l>elou\ land sujficieni to support millions of j)coj)le irill he recta iiiied from the deserts and the sivamps, ivater jioivcr cnongli to transform the industrial standings of whole States iroiild lie develojx'd, (nieqnate irate v terminals would lie proridcd, transportation Ijj/ river would rerirc and the railroads mould l>e comj)elled to cooperate as freel// irith the boat tines as with each other." T II I S 18 ( " L K A K L Y A X A JM () X A L 1' H ( ) 15 L K M ^^^'IIE Flood Pnjhk'iii on llic Lower Mississippi River slaiids oiil ^^X (lisli)icl and unicjue anioiin' similar pi'ohlenis elsewhei'e tlirou,L;ii- oul Christendom. First: Because of the extensive area damaged. The floods that affect the Lower Mississippi River cover an area as great as the comhined areas of Vermont, Xew nam])shire, X"e\v Jersey and C'on- neclicut — 29, ()()() s(|uare miles. AVhen the levees gave way in 1!)12 moi'c than ]'-2,000 square miles of this valley were immdated, an area as great as the area of Switzei'land. Second: Because the damage incurred is caused hy the walei's from a lerritoi'y enlii-ely outside of the states whos(> land is invoh'ed. "The process liy which llie country al)o\'e is relicx'cd is the ])rocess hy wliich the connlry helow is ruined."" Of the water that damages the Lower Mississii)j)i A'alle\' I'egion less than one per cenl. comes from the stales damaged hy these (loods. Third: IJccanse of the magnilude of llie j)rohlem it can justly and rightly lay claim lo he a national enler|)i'ise, thei'e being tliii'ly-one stales, or neai'ly half the terriloi'y of llie Lnited Stales, in\'olved. By referring to the map on the opi)osile i)age il will he seen that (he waters wliich damage I his \'alley come from .\ew York as well as from ^L)ntana, from ALunesola as well as from .Vlahama. FoXTRTH : liecause of the tluralion of the floods that affect this ])arl of the connlry. When the flood waters break through Ihe levees in this region they remain ui)ou the land from Ihe first of .\pril until Ihe middle of June. F^iFTii: Because the magnitude of the undei'laking is such lliat Ihe X'alion alone can co])e with il, and hcc'ause so gi-eat a ])arl of ihe X'alion is injured Ihat tin' whole Xation is affected. Sixth: Tlu^ ^Iississi]i])i Ri\'er flood jjrohlem has liecn studied by eminent engineers and investigated by Congress for a jjcriod of more than half a century, all surveys, ])lans and eslimates have been made, and the engineers ai'c ])re])areuihling its own levees, as the lands of the basins on cither sid<' of the river are much higher near the banks than at the edges farthest away All of the drainage from tliese basins is, therefore, away from the main body of the river and into tributary streams which lie parallel and empty into it several hundred miles below, such as the St. Francis, the Yazoo and the Tensas. lender normal conditions the flood waters which gather from north, cast and west and empty into this i)art of the v'wvv at Cairo follow the main channel and are conducted to sea, just as a main sewer receives and carries off the storm walei' of a city. But inidcr fl/c abnonnal condition whicJi has- arisen from the rapid dcrclopnwnf and drainage of the areas in the states above, the water now rises nuich higher than its natural banks, and (he iiccessity has arisen for ai'tificially raising the banks or building lc^■ccs to confine the water to its main channel. On the west bank thes(> levees begin opjjosile the city of Cairo and extend to the mouth of the St. Francis River near Helena. Arkansas; then a gap to admit the St. Francis and they extend to the mouth of the White River. Another gaj) to admit the White and the Arkansas rivers and the line begins below the inouth of the Arkansas and continues to the mouth of Red River. Another gap and the line begins again below the mouth of that river and continues unbroken to Fort Jackson near the mouth of the Mississip])i. On the east l)ank the high hills of Kentucky and Tennessee border the river down as far as Memphis. There is an area of 575 s(|uare miles in these two states with 2(t miles of levee already constructed. Just below Memphis the levee begins again and follows the l)ank of the river until the mouth of the Yazoo is reached. From l>elow the mouth of that river the hills of Mississippi and Louisiana constitute a barrier down as far as Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and there the levee line liegins again and extends unbroken to Fort St. Philli]) near the mouth of the ^Mississippi on the (\ist bank. The total length of these two ])arallel lines of levee is 1.5,')S miles and the land protected from overflow by them amounts to about '-20, 000, 000 acres in the six states affected. Fully l(i,flOO,0()0 acres of this area are cai)able of being reclaimed and placi'd in a high stale of cultivation if protection from floods can be oljtained. fl7l THE I\I I S S I S S I P P I R I \ E R COMMISSION GC)N(iRESS long ago recognized the necessity for a commission of distinguished experts to studA' tlie Mississippi River i)rol)lem and provide a remedy, and by Act of June '28, 1879, created what is known as the Mississippi River Commission and prescril^ed its duties: "Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of R(>prcsentatives of the I'nited States of America assemhlech that a commission is hereby created, to be called 'The ]Mississipi)i River Commission,' to consist of seven members. "Sec. "i. That the President of the United States shall, by and with the consent of the Senate, api)oint seven connnissioners, lhr(>e of whom shall be selected from the engineer corjjs of the Army, one from the Coast and (Jeodetic Survey, and three from civil life, two of whom shall be civil engineers. "Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of said Connnission to direct and complete such surveys of said river + * * .y^d ^^^ niake such additional siu'veys, exaininations and investiga- tions * * * of said river and its tributaries as may be deemed necessary by said Commission to carry out the objects of this Act. "Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of said Commission to take into consideration and mature such plan or plans and estimates as will correct, j)eriiianently locate and deepen the cliannel and protect the banks of the INlississippi River; improve and give safety and ease to the navigation thereof: prcrenf dcsinicfire floods; ])i-om()te and facilitate commerce, trade and the postal service * * * In accordance with this Act the following distinguished nuai were appointcnl members of the Connnission l)y President Hayes and held their first session August '•21, 187!): Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, Cor})s of Engineers, V. S. Army, President. Gen. Benjamin Harrison, afterwards President of the I'nited States. Maj. B. M. Harrod, subsec|uently member of the Panama Canal Commission. Capt. James B. Eads, of St. Louis, distinguished througliont the world as an engineer. Gen. C. B. Comstock, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. ]Maj. C. R. Sutter, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. Prof. Henry Mitchell, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. As vacancies have occurred on the Commission since that time they have been filled by men of equally high character and efficiency and the work l)eguu in 1879 has jjrogressed as rapidly as the meager funds j)rovided would permit. The first work of the Commission was an elaborate and detailed survey of the entire alluvial region from Cairo to the Gulf of INIexico. Every foot of the 10()(> miles of the river was surveyed and platted and every particle of information that could be secured was obtained, and the plans for preventing disastrous floods and for im])roving the channel of the river have been based upon the data thus obtained. The exjx'uditure of such monevs as liave been allotted to the Commission by Congress for carrying its plans into effect has been under the direction of the Corps of Engineers of the I'nited States Armv. The present personnel of the Connnission is as follows: Col. C. McD. Townsend, Corps of Engineers of I^. S. Army, President. Hon. RoV^ert S. Taylor, Eort Wayne, Indiana. J. A. Ockerson, Civil Engineer, St. Louis, Missouri. Homer P. Ritter, Asst. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, 1). (' Chas. H. West, Civil Engineer, Greenville, Mississippi. Col. Lansing II. Beach, Ccjrps of Engineers, U. S. Army, Baltimore, INIaryland. Maj. Clarke S. Smith, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, St. Louis, Missouri, Secretarv. This body of men is as able a body of experts as can l)e found to deal with the Mississippi River problem, and they are prepared with all the necessary plans, data and estimates to proceed at once if Congress will authorize the work to be done. [181 THE FREQUENCY OF DISASTROUS F U O O D S i^=nHERE is a flood in the Lower Mississippi River every spring which rises above the ^ta^ level of the land in the alhivial delta, bnt every few years there is a great flood, and the frecjuency with which these abnormal floods come is illustrated by the data given below. Flood of 1718 — "An extraordinary rise of the Mi.s.sis.sippi thi.s year." — Francois Xavier Martix. Flood of 173f) — Gayarre .states that "in this year the waters were .so high that many levees were l)rc)ken and much damage was done." Flood of 1770 — "A great flood," accorfling to the tradition recorded by Governor Sargent. Flood of 17S:2 — "This year the Mississippi rose to a greater heiglit than was remembered t)y tlie oldest inhabi- tants." — Francois Xavier Martin. Flood of 17S/t — "A great flood at St. Louis in A]jril, said to have been equal to that of 1844." Flood of 17'JI — "Same remarks at New Orleans as for flood of 1785." Flood of 17')i) — "The Teche overflowed its banks for some 60 miles above New Iberia and ))oured into (irand Lake in a smooth sheet of water." Flood of 17!)!) — "Same remarks at New Orleans as for flood of 1785." Flood of 180'.) — "\ disastrous flood, which, according to Governor Sargent's notes, inundated all the planta- tions near Natchez and destroyed the croi>s. It was imagined by the sutt'erers that the northern lakes had found a channel to the river." Flood of 1811 — "There was a great flood this year." — liRECKENHiDttE. Flood of 1813 — "Was (! to 8 inches higher than 1811." — BRECKEXRinciE. Flood of 18 If) — "A very great flood. .Vt the mouth of the Ohio it attained the highest ])oint ever recorded, two feet above the high water of 1858." Flood of 1816 — "Same remarks at New Orleans as for flood of 1785." Flood of 18:2.) — "This was a great flood, whieh was highest at NaiK)leon on .lune 1st and at Natchez on May 2,Srd. A great number of crevasses oc-eurred below Red River on both banks of the river." Flood of 18:24— "This flood was 0.7 of a foot below the high water of 1815, or 1 .'•2 feet below that of 1859, at Natchez," according to the notes of Mr. Sa]nuel Da\-is. Flood of 18:28 — "This flood occurred before the country above Red River landing was nuich settled and is almost universally claimed to have been the greatest flood of the ])resent century." Flood of 1844 — "At St. Louis it exceeded the preceding rise by more than 8 feet and all other floods of which we have records by more than 4 feet." Flood of 1849 — "Its highest stand occurred about the middle of February, when it was 3. .3 feet below the high water of 1858. In the latter part of March it again reached nearly the same level." Flood of 18.50 — "This flood was caused by heavy rains, whieh produced freshets successively in the Arkansas, Red and Black rivers, and thus flooded the whole region below Najjoleon. The water did not subside until the middle of June. The damage occasioned by the flood was immense. The St. Francis and Yazoo bottoms were not protected by levees, and both were deeply flooded." Flood of 18.51 — "Excepting the floods of 1844 and of 1858, this was the greatest flood at St. Louis of which we have record.s. The flood of 1858 was 0.4 of a foot above that of 1851. At Cape Girardeau the flood of 1851 exceeded the flood of 1858." Flood of 1858 — "For .seven days it amounted to 1,475,000 cubic feet per .second. It inundated the city of Cairo. It wa.shed away miles of the insignificant levees along the St. P'rancis front, and poured rapidly into the bottom lands of that river, which were alreadj' deeply overflowed from heavy rains and from the crevasses of the April rise." Flood of 1859 — "The highest point attained at Memphis in 1859 was 0.1 of a foot below the high water of 1858. At ^'icksb^^•g it was 1.3 feet above the high water of 1858." The above records were taken from the report of Humjjhreys and Abbot, published in 1861, and the following record of great floods, as measured by the gauge at Cairo, is from the report of the Chief of the Weather Bureau, the record of the floods of 1858 and 1859 being repeated for the purpose of comparison. Yoa r 1858 . . . . (a in. Gaugo 49 5 Yoa V 1881 188-2 1883 1884 1886 1893 < airo (iaugo 45 . 8 51.8 52.3 51.8 .... .51.0 49.3 Year 1897 1898. 1903 1907 , < airo Gaugo 51.7 1859 1862. 1867 ... .46.5 50.7 50.9 47.4 46 4 49.8 50.6 50 3 1874 1876 1912 1913 53 . 54.7 1191 ^' A R I O U S I\I E T II () D S PROPOSED VARIOUS metliods for ])rolec'tinf;' llie LowtT Mis.si.ssii)pi Dcllu from iiuindatiou have been .suggested, and each one of them lias heeii fully discussed during the past hundred years. A brief review of Ihe various ])lans propo.sed will be given here with the eonclu.sions arrived at in each case under the heads: Reforestation, Reservoirs. Cut-Otfs, Outlets, and Levees. R ]<: F R ]i STATION ^^=nIIEHE has Ix'en much discussion both in Europe and in this country regarding the V^ relationship between cutting off the forests and excessive floods, and reforestation lias been advanced as a j)ossible method n these is worthless. This ])ro])osition need scarcely be urged upcm the exjjerienced engineer. Eor himself he would never place any real reliance u])on forestry. * * * In like manner no engineer could honestly ath'ise lowering in height by a single inch the le\'ecs of the ■\Iississip])i because of any possible a])plication of forestry to the water-shed of that stream. And again, he could not ath'ise that forestry development would lessen in any degree the cost of improving the rivers ior low-water navigation. * * * Hence the complete divorcement of forestiy from any connection with river regulation — so far, at least, as its effects ui)on the cost of such regulation is con- cerned — will l)e a distinct and positi^'e gain to the latter.'" Col. Chittenden's analysis of the wIkjIc suf)ject is ^•ery clear and very con^■incing, and I recf)mmend it to the careful consideration of those who are ach'oeafing forestry reservation as a means of flood prevention. In an address by Col. C McI). Townsend, President of the ^lississippi River Conmiission, delivered at INIemphi.s in Se])tcml)er, \9\'2, he covers the subject fully and concludes as follows: "In other words, to reduce the height of a flood at ^Memphis by reforestation at the headwaters of the river from that of 19]'-2 to the next highest on record would recjuire a forest reservation of about rAid.OOO s(|uare miles, an area exceeding thai of the portions of Montana aTid Wyoming drained by the ^Missouri River and Ihe States of North and South Dakota, the ])ortion of Minnesota drain(>d l)y the upjx'r Mississi])])i River, and the States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. Hut even such a forest reservation would afford onlv partial protection, and large expcMiditures foi' knx'cs would still lie r(X|uired. Under the abf)V(> assimii)tions, to pre\'ent any overflow b\' reforestation would necessitate a practical abandonment of the valley for agricultural |)ur))oses and the development of an extensive irrigation system to ])r()duce tree growth in arid regions of the West. "It is therefore api)ar(Mit that vxvn under the most extravagant claims of foresti'v ach'oeates reforestation as a means of reducing flood heights on the INIississijjpi River requires the conversion of too nuicli farming land into wilderness lo be practicable. The waste land that can profitably be converted into forest reservations is too limited in area to produce an apj)reciable eli'ecl on the floods." m R E S i: R V O I R S ^^^jHIS plan is to hold back, in the flood season, by systems of artificial lakes upon the ^*/ tributaries of the Mississi])]^, such a volume of water as may be recfuisite to reduce within banks the floods of the river. The volume thus held back is to be retained for im- proving low-water navigation. The discharge of each tributary is thus to be more neai'iy ec|ualized throughout the year, and a double advanlage secured. Conmienting upon such a method of reducing the flood plane in the Lower .Mississi])pi River, Humphreys and Abbot in their rei)ort remark as follows: "The floods of great rivers are torrents, caused by rapidly melting snows and by widely extended and heavy rains. The greater jiart of tliis water does not drain from the remote mountain sides, and issue from the distant mountain gorges. It falls in the valley itself; and the nearer to the main river, the more sudden and disastrous will be its ert'ects; partly from the more rapid accumulation in the main stream of the contributions of the tributaries, and ])artly from the absence of the natural reservoir furnished l)y the various channels, which must be filled before a fresliet originating near the sources can I'each the lower ])ai-t of a river. To control such floods with certainty and economy by artificial resei'voirs it is, therefore, essential that certain im])ortant tributaries which drain relati\'ely large portions of the basin shall debouch near their mouths from narrower gorges, where dams can be constructed at reasonable cost, and where ai'tificial lakes can be formed without injury to othei" interests. "But these essential conditions are the very reverse <>f those existing u])on the Lowei- Mississippi. It is empahatically a river which drains a i)lain. The area of the nari'ow border of mountains around it is insignificant, when compared with the great extent of its basin. Moreover, the downfall of rain u])on these mountains is Ijut little more than half of that which falls upon the same area near the great artery itself; for, as already seen, it derives by far the greattn' part of its annual and of its flood discharge^ from the central ami nearly flat portion of its valley. If we add to these ])eculiarities the fact that its main tribu- taries are all navigable rivers, which are loo valuable, as route's of communication, to be interfered with by dams, even if the system were otherwise ])raeticable, it is evident thai reservoirs can l)e located only in the nai'row belt of mouiilains upon the borders of the basin, where, as already seen, they can have Init little efl'ect up(jn the floods." After proving conclnsi^'ely that it would be a physical impossibility to remedy the floods on the Lower Mississippi River by a system of reservoirs, these able engineers declare: "// would be a irork of .supcrerot/nfini/ to dixcit.s.s qiu'stioit.s- of cost, now tinif llic pliysicul iinpos- fiibilitij of protecting the (tlliieial reijioii from overflow b// this system has l)ccii made so eride)d." Col. H. I\r. Chittenden, I'. S. A., Member of the American Society of Civil P>ngineers, in his very exhaustive treatment of this subject before that body, Xovenfl)er 4, 19()S, says: "TJie more closely this reserroir proposition is serntinizcd, as a scheme for flood prereidion. the more impraetieal)le it appears. It is only a trade-ott' at best. It is giving up to perpetual overflow valuable lands to save others from occasional and even rai'c overflinv for short periods. Now if, at less cost, these lowlands can be better protected by other means, thus leaving both the valley lands and reservoir sites open to productive use, how much l)ettcr it will I)e!" Colonel Townsend says: "To have retained the ^Mississippi flood of 191'-2 within its banks W(.)uld have recpiired a reservoir in the vicinity of Cairo, Illinois, having an area of 7, ()()() square miles, slightly less than that of the State of New Jersey, and a depth of about 1.5 feet, assuming that it would be empty when the river attained a bank-full stage. (' i: T F F S EROM the report of Humphreys and Abljot, made in 18(il, I quote the ftjUowiuK : "The system of diminishing the natural resistances opposed to the flow of the water, hy cutting off tlie })ends of a river and thus lowering the surface, has often been advocated for restraining the floods of the INIississippi River, and has even been partially apphed under the authority of the General Government and of state legislation. It should therefore be fully discussed." "It is an essential part of the system of cut-ott's, as proposed by writers on hydraulics, that the cuts shall be made continuously from the mouth of the river to that portion where it is proposed to reduce the height of the floods. This is urged upon the ground that the greater velocity of the water in the part where the slope has been increased by a cut, wdl bring a larger volume in floods to the j^ortion below the cut, where the slope has not been increased, and where, consequently, the water will rise higher than before. A second cut must therefore be made below the first, and so on to the mouth. This reasoning may be sound when applied to the small streams had in view by the writers, where a few hours make a material change in the flood, but evidently it is not applicable to the Mississippi, where the water often remains for weeks at flood height. Moreover, such extended operations are manifestly impracticable, and, therefore, need not be considered." The practical effect of cutting off' a single bend of the ^Mississippi is then determined with much certainty from the measurements made at Red River cut-off' made in 1831; Raccourci cut-oft" made in 1848; False River in 17''2''2; American Bend cut-oft' in 1858; and by specific instances on the River Po in Europe, and the following conclusion drawn: "It has i)een shown by the preceding discussion that a cut-off raises the surface of the river at the foot of the cut nearly as much as it dejjresses it at the head. The country above the cut is therefore relieved from the ftoods only at the expense of the country below. ^lore- over, if a series of cut-oft's were to be made extending to the mouth of the river, the principles educed show that the heights of the floods would be regularly decreased from a point near midway of the series to the upper end, and regularly increased from the same point to the lower end. The s-ysiern, ihercjore, in entirely inapplicable to the Missisftippi Hirer, in irJioIe or in part." In addition to the foregoing argument against cut-oft's as a means of flood prevention, I quote the following from Gol. ('. yicD. Townsend, President of the Mississip])i River Gonimission: "The Mississippi River Gommission in numerous reports has called attention to the injury which would result from cut-oft's, the increased caving which is caused thereby, and the damage to navigation during low water. I desire to invite attenticm to the fact that cut-oft's have been repeatedl}' tried in Europe as a means of reducing floods, but always with disastrous results. The most noted example is the River Theiss in Hungary. "This river originally had a very gentle slope, about ecjual to that of the Ilhnois River below LaSalle. It was leveed with the same results which always obtain when rivers are confined — the heights of its flood increased. It was then proposed to shorten the river by cutting off' the bends and thus giving it a deeper sloi)e. The project was carried out, but the first great flood that occurred after the work was completed rushed through the improved section much faster than the lower jjart of the nvev could carry it off'. Flood heights were lowered, to be sure, at the upper end, but correspondingly increased at the lower, and in 1879 the town of Szegedin was destroyed by the flood." () I) T L E T S /t\ANY have advanced the theory that floods in the Lower Mississippi River might he ^-*< prevented by the construction of outlets, or waste-weirs, by which surplus water would be conducted to the (iulf by channels other than that of the main river. Such a plan was investigated by Maj. J. (i. Bernard, Cori)s of Engineers, U. S. Army, as early as 18'-2'2 and commented upon as follows: "Paradoxical as it may appear, then, it is a certain result of the foregoing principles that the more water we throw off by waste-weirs, after we have passed that limit at which the velocity is just sufficient to keep the bed clear, the higher will the surface ultimately Ix'come." Humphreys and Abbot investigated this proposed remedy in their thorough study of the river, l)etween 1850 and ISGl, and found that two great difficulties were encountered. The first was that outlets would cause the bed of the river to silt up, upon which they commented as follows: "The conseciuent reduction of volume in the main river would lessen the depths upon the bars at its mouths, besides impairing the navigability. Constant examination would therefore be required to ascertain whether such changes were taking place, which, if detected, could be arrested only by closing the outlet. * * * "If actual measurements establish that crevasses — which, so far as they affect the river, arc outlets under another name — do produce deposits in the channel below them, the injurious effects of the system are i)roved. That measurements do establish this fact has been repeatedly asserted, and api)ears to Ijc generally believed." The second was that these outlets, providing short-cuts, would become the main channel of the river and therel)y j^rove very disastrous, u])on which they comment thus: "These views are not speculative. There are wi'U-authcnticated instances of the Po and the Rhine, under circumstances somewhat similar to those attending the existence of the supposed outlet, having opened new channels to the sea, which are now either the main stream or principal branches of the rivers. * * * "With reference to the extent and cost of the works, it is apjjarent that a channel must be prepared for the outlet entirely through the swamp to the lake, so as to give a free discharge to its waters; for, if they were merely C(Miducted to the swamp, the thick growth would so impede their flow that enormous le^'ees would be required for many miles above and below the outlet, in order to protect the rear of the plantations from overflow." The report concludes ''Eiiouyh lias bcoi -said to dcmon.-iiratc, irifh all fhe ccrtaittfy of which the subject is capalAe, the disastrous consequences that must follow the resort to this means of protection." The Mississi])pi River Commission has given this subject a great deal of study, and in the first report of the Connuission, dated February 17, 1880, in which a plan of improvement was reconunended, we find this reference to the outlet system: "The Outlet system, by which a portion of the flood waters of the river would be drawn off and conveyed through shorter routes to the Cnilf, being one of diffusion and waste, and having very little in the way of either theory, experience or observation to recommend it, was imanimously rejected by the Commission for reasons set forth in the report." Connnenling upon the Outlet system in a recent address. President Townsend of the jNIississippi River Commission said: "Another serious objection to an outlet is the difficulty in regulating the velocity with which the water will flow through it at varying heights of the main stream. If it is so con- structed that it will discharge at a greater velocity than the river itself, there is danger of its enlargement to such an extent as to divert the greater part of the flow down it and transfer the main stream itself into an outlet; and if, on the other hand, it discharges at a lower velocity, it will tend to fill with sediment." L J: \ K i; S A R E T U E N L Y S L U T I O N \l^_/nE first official action laken l)y tlie General Government regarding floods and their 1 J i)revention on the lower river was made in IH'i'i when Bernard and Totten of the ^^^ Gorps of Toj)ogra]>liical Engineers were sent to investigate. Their report was made on Decemher '•2'-2, ]i^22, and declares "The only means which appear practicable to us is the conslrnction of dykes." The next official re])ort hy Humphreys and Abhot, in 1S()1, embraces perhaps the most exhaustive study that has ever been made of the subject. In its final analysis of plans for protection the report says: "The preceding discussion of the different plans of protection has been so elaborate, and the conclusions adopted have been so well established, that little remains to l>e said under the head of recommendations. // //a.s- been demoii.s-trafed that no advantage can he derived either from diverting tril)ntarie.s or eon.sirneting reservoirs, and that the plans ejf cnt-offs, and of )ieiv or enlarged indlefs to the dnlf, are too eostlji and too datigcrous to he attempted. The plan oj lerees, to the eordrari/, ivhieh lias (du'((i/s recommended itself hij its simplicity and its direct re- jiai/ment of investments, mat/ be relied upon for protecting all the alluvial bottom lands li(d)le to inundation l)eloiv Cape (lirardean.'' The following excer])ts from the re])orts of the ^Mississippi River Gommission as far back as ISSO are conclusi\'e regarding the levee system as the only means of ])rotection. //( tlie report of JSSl we find the following: "The utility of levees as a means to 'prevent destructive floods,' which is one of the ends enumerated in the Act creating the Gommission, is too obvious to rc(|uire comment.'" In the report of 188Jf the president of the Commission, Lieut. -Gol. G. B. Gomstock, reports to the Secretary of \Yar, Robert T. Lincoln, as follows: "The Act creating the Gommission makes it the duty of the Gommission to consider the subject of the pixn'ention of destructive floods, and, as }>earing upon that matter, there is submitted f(^r information the following summai'y of the ])robable extent and cost of such a system of le\'ees as \'\ould be necessary for that ])ur])ose. It is obvious that for the secure pro- tection of the Vallep from overfloiv there is necessarij a spstem of levees high and strong enough to irithstand the greatest flood. Xo other means of protection is practicable or eren possiljle." In J8S-J Colonel Gomslock reiterates: "A majority of the Commission states: 'We therefore conclude the levees, such as have been described herein, are, in connection with an equalizaticm of width and the pre- vention of caving, an important ])art of any general and systematic plan for the improve- ment of the na^'igatiolI and ju'evention of destructive floods.' I fully concur with the majority as to the necessity of such le\'ecs to restrain destructive floods, and believe it to l)e the only method by which the great value of the bottom lands of the Mississippi can be fully de- veloped. " /// /, !'.>]■!, Col. C. McD. Townsend, President of the ^Nlississi])])! Ri^-er Commission, writes as follows: "Jjcvees afl'ord (he only ])raclicable means of preventing the damages which might be caused by floods in the Lower Mississippi \'alley. They have l)een successfully employed on Eni-opean rivers, and are the only means of flood protection of large rivers that have been tested, or, if tested, have not failed. To restrain floods like those of idVl and 1913 will reciuire in the existing levee line about twice the yardage now in place." T 11 E B K D F T II K K I \' K R IS X () T R I S I X (• A n a utho r it at i v c .s t at e m cut I) ij t h c M i -v s i .v s i p p i R i r e r C i> m in i *■ .y / o n CHE Commission has long since established the fact that there has been no progressi\'e elevation of the bed of the river, l)ut it may be well to repeat here in part what has appeared from time to time in onr annnal reports. In the Commission's report of 1S90 will Ijc found a memorandum on the question as to whether building levees along a river causes its bed to rise and the following extracts give the gist of this discussion: The Po. "The River Po has long been leveed, and it is often stated that its bed has risen largely in consequence of levees. * * * ']^]^e gauge readings, which lune only been kept since 1807, show that there has been no important rise of the bed of the river at Ponte Lagoscuro in the sixty-eight years covered, and, in connection with Zendrini's observations, show that there has been no probal)le rise of any importance since 17'-20, although the raising of levees has been going on during this period." The Rhine. "The Rhine is also a river which, below Dusseldorf, has long been leveed, and if levees raise the l)cd of a river here they should have produced their full effect, as they are rarely broken. * * * Hagen carefully examined the gauge readings at Cologne from 1840 to 1879 and at Dusseldorf from 1800 to 1879 to detect changes in high and low- water heights. * * * At Dusseldorf he found that with greal i)robal)ilily there was an annual sinking of the maxiuunn high water in each year amounting to 0.;3 inches; that the mean stage did not change, and that the annual lowest waters showed with some probabilily an annual increase of one-twelfth of an inch. For Cologne he found that with great probability the high waters had siuik and the lowest waters had risen by about the same amounts as at Dusseldorf. A rise of one-twelfth of an inch in a year, or eight inches in a hundred years, is so small as not to be an important matter in a system of levees, and if the hvmdred years of table above arc taken the rise disappears." Tlie Yellow River. "It has often been asserted that the bed of the Hwang-Ho, or Yellow River, of China, has risen above the surrounding country, where it is leveed. The error, originally due to Abbe Hue, has been repeated by P^nglish writers on China. The following extract from a letter to me by Cen. J. H. Wilson (a very competeut authority) gives reliable information on the subject: 'In conclusion, I do not hesitate to say that I cannot but Ijelieve that Abbe Hue was entirely mistaken in regard to the silting up of the channel, and that an exhaustive sur^'ey would prove beyond a doubt that no such silting as to raise any part of the bed above the adjacent territory lias ever taken place." * * * "Erom the examination of the Po and Rhine it may be concluded that if their beds rise in the leveed j)ortions (which is not entirely certain from the data), it is at so slow a rate as not to be an important factor in the maintenance of a levee sj'stem. * * * ()jj the Mississippi the records, while not extending over a period long enough to give final results, do not, so far as they go, indicate that the l)ed has risen. * * * "In the general survey of the river made by the Commission in 1880-188,'3 all soundings and elevations between the high-water l)anks of the river were referred to an established datum plane, and this gave a large number of definite elevations with which later surveys could be compared." "The results of the com])arisons of so large a numlierof elcN'ations justify the conclusion heretofore staled, that there has been )iu inea.'^urable progre.^tsire elerafion uf the Ijed e)f flie ri/'er eluring the perioel eejvered by the iiirestigeitions cited." [25] B K I E V II 1 S T () 1{ Y F T II E L E \' E E S Y S T E M CHE first le^'^■t' system on the iNIississippi River of wliicli we liave any reeord was he.nun in 1717, wlien De la Tour, tlie engineer wiio laid out the city of New Orleans, directed that "a dyke, or levee, he raised in front, the more effectually to preserve (he city from overfiow."" This was not com])leted until 18'27. In 17,5'-2 the settlement along the river extended for 50 miles, "was in a high state of cultivation and securely ])rotected from floods." In ISiH there were but few settlements along the river: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Point Coupee, and Concordia, Louisiana; Napoleon. Arkansas, and New Madrid, Missouri. "In 1828 the levees were continuous from New Orleans to Red River Landing, except on the left bank, where the bluffs rendered them unnecessary Above Red River they were in a very disconnected and unfinished state on the right bank as far as the mouth of the Arkansas." Such k-vees as existed in 18,50 had been built by the plantation owners themselves, aided by I he county and parish governments. They were small and of insufhcient section and gave way before the larger floods. In 1850 a great impetus was given t(j the work of reclaiming the alluvial region below the mouth of the Ohio by the Federal Government, which, by an act approved September '-28. 1850. granted to the several states all swamp and overflowed lands within their limits remaining unsold, in order to ])rovide a fund to reclaim the districts liable to inundation. When Humphreys and Abbot made their investigation in 1857 they found that con- siderable levee work had been done and that levees from three to four feet in height existed along the St. Francis Basin and along the Y'azoo fronts, and while they reported that there were a numl^er of openings or gaps in this levee line, yet it showed that the nucleus of a system had been liegun. They concluded, however, with the statement that these levees were much too low and too narrow, as the flood of 1858 proved. In 1858 and 1859 occ-iu'retl the greatest floods that had been known on the lower river and such levees as had been built up to that time were to a great extent destroyed. The Civil ^^'ar then came on and the stricken country was able to do Init little in restoring its IcA'ees and comi)leting them to grade. In 1879 the State of Louisiana created a Board of State Engineers and began in a systematic and eft'ective manner to repair and reconstruct its levee system. Beginning in 1886, special acts were passed by the legislatures of that and succeeding years enabling taxing districts to be formed. Under these several acts all of the alluvial jiortion of the state is now organized for levee protection. The alluvial ])ortion of the State of Mississippi was enabled by law to form such taxing (hstricts about 1880, and active work towards perfecting a levee .system has since continued under two such districts, and while the levee line is continuous along the front of this region, 98.5 miles of the line at the up])er end are maintained by one district and the remaining 18().5 miles at the lower end by the other. The St. Francis Basin in Arkansas and Missouri was the last section of the aUuvial delta to be organized for flood protection. In 189;3 acts were passed by the legislatures of these two states creating special taxing districts and the work of reconstructing the levees swept away by the flood of 1859 was begun. A continuous line of levees two hundred and twelve miles in length, which reaches from Point Pleasant, Missouri, to the mouth of the St. Francis River in Arkansas, is now more than sixty per cent, completed, and the work of bringing the entire system up to the full grade and section is being carried forward as rapidly as finances w'll permit. [26] LEVEE BUILDING THE LEVEES A R E NOT CO AI P L E T E D >^^HE levees that have been built to restrain floods along the Lower Mississipjji River ^m,/ have increased in height and section as money for their construction became available, and at the present time contain approximately '243, 000, 000 cubic yards of earth. Their height varies as the ground upon which they are located is high or low compared to the high-water plane, although at present the average height is al)out 1.5 feet. The top or crown is from 8 to 10 feet wide and the base is usually six times as great as the height, the slope on either side being 3 feet horizontal to 1 foot vertical. They are constructed entirely of earth, the material for their construction being taken from the riverside or inside. The lines upon whicli they are located follow the general tlirection of the river bank, a wide margin whicli varies from 1000 to .5000 feet being left between the levee and the bank of the river. In the earlier days of levee building the earth was moved liy wheelbarrow, later wheel scraper and teams were used, and now much is done by traction engines and graders. The cost of the work has become greater as the height of the levees has increased and averages now about '2,5 cents per cubic yard. About '230,000,000 cubic yards will be required to complete the existing system and if the entire work can be undertaken as a whole much of the cost can be saved by the utiliza- tion of modern methods and machinery. It is estimated by the Mississippi River Commission that the entire system of levees along the Mississippi River can be completed during the next five years at a cost not to exceed $60,000,000. (' L E A R 1 X G L A X D ^^■ E ASK F O RPR T E C T 1 O X , NOT R E C L A M A T I O X ixiE ARP] not asking tlie X'ational (iovcrnnient to reclaim onr lands. This statement VJy is made emphatically becanse many of those who are nnacqnainted with the sitnation seem to be nnder that impression. We are simply asking protection from the floods of other states that bring destrnction to the lands which we have already reclaimed. The bnilding of the levees is like gnaranteeing to the land immnnity from foreign invasion; or like the establishment of a national (jnarantine. The work of reclamation can begin only after protection has been assured. Of the 1(), 000, 000 acres in the entire delta which can be reclaimed and utihzed onlv alxjut 3,500,000 acres have thus far been reclaimed and developed. Such protection as these lamls now have in the way of levees has been secured at a cost of about $70,000,000 to the owners, or about $4.00 per acre. The stupentlous task of reclamati to $10 for a svsteni of drainage canals. The clearing and reclamation of land has progressed most rapidly during recent vears in the St. Francis Basin in Arkansas and in the Yazoo Basin in Mississijjpi, and as illustra- tive of the transformation from forest land to field land it may be stated that the assessed valuation in the St. Francis Basin alone has increased from $4,000,000 in 1893, when the levees W(jre begun, to $44,000,000 at the present time. [^28] R E C L A M A T I O N R E C L A M A T I O X F L L O W S P 1{ T E C T I X Y^ECLA^IATIOX ill tlie delta will follow protection just as civilization followed niili- ,I^L tary occupation in developini^- the viryin ^Yest. After being assured that the flood waters of the Mississipj)i will be kept ofl' of the land, stei)s must be taken to remove the storm and surface water; and extensive systems of drainage canals must be planned and carried out in each of the great alluvial basins. This work has progressed rapidly in all sections of the delta as the levees have neared comj)letion, and during the last ten years many thousands of acres have been drained and reclaimed. This work has been ])articularly noticeable in the St. Francis Basin in Missouri and Arkansas. The picture shown above illustrates the method of cutting the main arteries. Over 1000 miles of such canals have been constructed in the alluvial delta since 1901. The break- ing of the levee which i)rotects this region from Mississippi River floods will cause these improvements to l)e greatly damaged if not entirely destroyefl. As soon as assurance shall have been given that positive protection from overflow may be expected many thousand additional miles of these drainage canals will be undertaken. A great system has already been planned for the St. Francis Basin in ^Missouri, which will cost about $.5,000,000; another one in the St. Francis portion of Arkansas will cost about $(i,000,000; and still another one in the upper portion of the Yazoo district that will cost e(|ually as nuich. Thus it will be seen that the people of this section are ready and wilhng to l)ear their ])art of tlie burden. They are not asking for reclamation — they are asking for protection. [^29] H O M E O F (' C) T T () X ^^ R L 1) ' S F I N E S T COTTON PL A N T A T I O X S ^^=nIIE assurance of ade()iiate levee protection to the alluvial delta will bring into culti- \m0y vation the greatest cotton-proflucing area in the world. Peculiar conditions of soil, climate and humidity render the bottom lands of the Mississippi delta especially fitted for the growth and production of cotton, and it is on these lands that the finest grades and the longest staple is now grown. It is conservatively estimated that twelve and one half million additional acres of this cotton-pi-oducing land will l)e put in cultivation during the next few years if adequate ])rotection from overflow can l)e secured. The land is exceedingly fertile, and with but ordinary care and cultivation will produce a bale of cotton to the acre. The total production of cotton in the United States last year amounted to 1.5,000,000 bales. If this additional cotton acreage is opened up to cultivation through levee protection the output of cotton in the United States can easily be increased to ':i.5,000,000 bales. This will mean an annual increase of $750,000,000 to the wealth of the nation at the most con- servative estimate. In -view of the fact that foreign nations are now making every effort to compete with this country in the matter of cotton production, it seems highly important that serious consideration should be given to the levee ciuestion by Congress if for no other reason than to maintain that supremacy which we now enjoy in the cotton production of the world. The flood of 1912 inundated over 12,000 scjuare miles of the delta land and much of the three and one-half million acres already developed stood under water for sixty davs. It is to protect the lands already developed that we are asking the nation's cooperation. [30] I. A XI) OF r O K M A C K E S () F C () R N V I E L 1) S E \' E R ^ W H E |{ E XN FORMER years nearly all of the corn needed by the large cotton and sngar planta- tions in the Mississippi delta was brought down the river from Illinois and from the Missouri River states by barges and Hat boats, very little corn being raised on these lands. Now, however, most of the corn needed is produced in the delta country. In the delta lands of Arkansas and Missouri corn is usually the first crop that is jjlanted after the land has been drained and cleared, this crop l)eing followed later by crops of cotton or alfalfa, which yield greater returns, l)ut which cannot be grown successfully until the lands are entirely free from stumps. The illustration given abo^'e shows the extensive scale upon which corn is grown and cultivated in the Yazxw bottoms of ^Mississippi. In 1910 the total corn production of the State of jNIississippi amounted to '28,4'-28,(567 l)ushels, and of this amount .5, 448, .5^27 bushels were contributed l)y the fifteen delta counties, although only a small portion of the land is as yet reclaimed. Ivouisiana has made great strides in the last few years as a corn-producing state, and although liardly more than .SO, 000, 000 bushels were produced in 191 '•2, it is expected that this amount will be doul)led during the coming year. There are nearly 14,000 square miles of alluvial delta land located in the state, and these lands are proving as valuable as the lands of Illinois for growing corn. Many thousand acres of the marsh lands of Louisiana are now being reclaimed, and if protection from floods can be definitely secured, it will be but a short time before the present corn production of Louisiana will be trebled. m] ALFA L F A FIELDS Cr R E A T PAS T U R E S OF G R C) W I N G A L F ALFA y TLFALFA lias ))ecoiiie one of the stai)le cro]).s of the delta region during recent years 5 I. and is being grown with remarkable success in the reclaimed portions of the St. P^-ancis Basin. [Many thousand acres of this croj) are to be found today in the alluvial valley of the Mississippi which ec(ua], if tliey do not exceed, the famous alfalfa lands of Colorado and California. As those familiar with this crop know, it can be harvested year after ycvir without replanting, the new plants coming up in the spring from well-embeded roots, which some- times jjenetrate ,'30 feet into the earth. The crop is a valuable one and yields from five to eight tons per acre, but it is a crop that is easily destroyed by standing water, and when the inadequate levees lireak enormous damage is done by the destruction of the alfalfa fields in the already developed portions of the delta. It is safe to predict that if a guarantee can be secured against these destructive floods there will be more alfalfa produced by the alluvial delta than by any other section of the United States, tlie irrigated regions of the West not excei)ted. The illustration shown above depicts one of these beautiful alfalfa fields in southeast Missouri, and because of the great value of this crop as a stock feed, it is believed by manv that stock raising will become one of the most important industries of the delta region in the near future. While its cultivation is being carried on much more extensively in south- east Missouri at the present time than it is elsewhere, still its cultivation is extending rapidly into alKportions of the delta below. [32] S V (i A R I X D U S T K Y E X T P: N S I \ E S U G A R F L A X T A T I O X S EXIST (U(iAR-CAXE is grown more extensively in tlie alluvial ))ottoiiis of Louisiana than anywhere else in the United States. All of that portion of the delta below the mouth of Red River is peculiarh^ adapted to its growth l)eeause of the riehness of the soil, the semi-tropical warmth of the region and its great humidity. Great sugar plantations with their expensive plants for making and refining sugar have existed in that section of the delta since its first settlement and development. Sugar-cane is an expensive crop to produce and harvest, and must he raised on a large scale to be profitable, so that many houses for the hands, many barns for the mules and many miles of railroad must be provided and maintained. I^ach of these large plantations is like a little city in itself, and they border in continuous succession the Mississippi River, Rayou Lafourche, Bayou Teche and other streams that traverse the delta. Frost and flood are the most destructive elements to this crop. It springs up each season from the stubble of the year previous, much as the banana-tree does in the tropics, and the cost of replanting is thus obviated, the stand lieing renewed about every three years. This is the reason that the floods of the Mississippi River cause such great losses in the sugar belt when the levees break. Xot only is the growing crop destroyed but the stubble is killed and the entire area must be replanted the following year. In addition to this loss is the enormous loss caused by water standing for weeks arcjund the expensive machinery of the great refineries and the damage done by the floating off of tlie hundreds of miles of tramroad needed to bring the cane to mill. m 11(1 ( I I I I |{ I RICHEST FIELDS O F RICE ABOUND c#~^ICE is one of the staple crops of Arkansas and Louisiana and is produced in large X-^ quantities in the delta region of the latter state. ^lany thousand acres of this crop are grown on the lower reaches of Bayou Lafourche and the INIississippi River, water being pumped over the levees during the loAV-water period for irrigating the fields. Until within recent years most of the rice produced in Louisiana was raised on these delta lands, but it is now grown more successfully^ on the prairies in the southwestern part of the state, where there is little danger from floods. There are several million acres of marsh land throughout the Gulf portion of the delta, however, that will undoubtedly be reclaimed and utilized as rice land when the le^'ee system shall have been completed. The work of reclamation has already begun and large sums are being expended by private owners in digging canals and installing pumping plants, but all of this will be rendered futile unless some definite assurance can be had that the levees along the Mississippi will hold within bounds the floods that come down the river from the North. The total production of rice in the L^nited States in 1911 amounted to S'^, 934 000 bushels, and of this amount 11,693,000 bushels was produced by the State of Louisiana. So it will be seen that this delta state now produces more than half the rice raised in the United States, and would undoubtedly produce more if protection were afforded by a good svstem of levees. \%\\ O I? A N C, E a \i O \V I \ (! \' A R I E D 1 X 1) L' S T K I E S A RE r K () T E (' T E 1) ORANCiE culture has come to he syuonynious with Eh)richi and soutliern Cahfornia, hut the delta lauds of soutliern Louisiana ])ro(hice the finest c|uality of citrus fruit that can he ohtained. In the early history of this section of Louisiana, when floods were less frequent and less destructive, s])lendid orange iiroves were to he found on l)oth hanks of the river helow New Orleans, hut as the trees are easily daniao'ed by standing' water many valnal)le orchards have been killed hy the recent floods. () ^' S 'r E R I N D U S T R Y Another valuable industry that is badly crippled when the levees break is the ovster industry. Some of the finest oyster bedding grounds of this country are located along the bays and inlets of the delta coast where the fresh water discharged through the mouth of the ri^-er does not reach them, l)ut when the levees break and these beds are covered with fresh-water floods, millions of oysters are destroyed, so every Inirrel of oysters now pavs its tax to the levee fund. T n E X A T I O X ' S A" E Ci E T A B L E GARDE X The delta portion of Louisiana nearest the Gulf Coast is the vegetable garden of the northern cities, and it is here that tons of fresh vegetables are raised during January and Eebruary to supply the markets of Chicago, Boston and X'ew York. These vegetable gardens of Ihe nation are destroyed when the levees lu'eak and the land remains under water for weeks at a time. I- r AI 1! K K I X I) i; S T 1! Y T II E I) E L T A Y I E L 1) S \ A L U A B L i: T I M B E R gS THE levee system Juis increased in efficiency during llie last twenty years, and as ininumity from floods has seemed more and more certain, the vast wooded area of the delta region has come to yield its quota of the world's supply of lumber. Prior to the building of tlie levees permanent improvements could not be made in the delta to any great extent. Init during the last two decades many lines of railway have been extended into this regicjii in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, and have opened up millions of acres of hardwood forests. Extensive saw-mills are now located in every section of this i-ich region and manv millions of dollars are investeil in j)lants of tliis character throughtMit the entire delta country from C'a])e (Jirardeau lo New Orleans. Many of these mills have buill their own lin(\s of railroad, so that in addition to the mileage of standard gauge railroads now traversiu"' the delta there are hundreds of miles of these lumber roads. There are millions of feel of lumber cul and stacked on the yards of tlie various mills when the levees break, and the loss to this industry in the delta region is enormous. Water sometimes stands five ov six feet deej) for weeks at a time, rusting tlie machinery, floatin<'' off the tramroads and so staining the valual)le hardwood lumber already cut as to render it unfit for market. So rajjidly has I he hardwood lumber induslry grown in the delta region durin«- the Inst few years that more than (iOO,()00,(Kl(» feet, valued at $1.),000,000, are taken out'^annuallv through <''<■ fi'ty of ^Memphis alone. I3(i| f ' fcl* 1 -'^ ..,i.-?-,;^?rv-i»^./.. ■'■-■' ^ . . " ^ SKI*' . ^ ^■■" It ^ = /»■ ! ;■■ >.#fe. r K T' r fc £ E ^*^. ...FF.:^^;*/v|■ I/.1 C If () W I N C: (• T T I K S 1' IM) S J' K l{ () U S (' I T I K S \ K K 1) P l{ () T E (' T I N GITIES li;ivo .s|)i-ung up in all paiis oi' Ihc delta as the work of irclaniatiou has ])r()j^re.sse(l, and it is to protect these cities and their inliahilaiits from destruction and ruin that the coo])eralion of the National (iovernnienl is now asked. There is a mistaken idea i)revalent in the minds of many ])eoi)le throughout the United Stales which leads them to believe that the ])e()])le of this section are asking Congress to reclaim their lands. These jieople have already sj)enl .$70,000,(10(1 in levee l)uilding alone, although the real work of reclamation does not begin until after the levees are built. As late as IS.SO thci'c was but a small jjortion of Ihe delta lands of Missouri, Arkansas and l\Iississip]M in culti\'ation, and but few cities of any size existed. To-day, after twenty years of levee building to i)rotect these delta lands, there are scattered throughout this region hundnnls of thriving cities, towns and villages of from 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants. As a furlhei- evidence of the tleveloi)ment of the alluvial delta since the levee system has been brought nearer to completion, it may be stated that altliough in ISSO there was but one banking institution with a ca])ital stock of $'■20,000 situated in the delta, in 1910 there were two hundred and forty-six banking institutions with a combined capital stock of $l(i,000,000. The illustration above shows the tyi)e of public buildings that are now to be found at many of the county seats throughout the delta. The floods of nearly half the nation pour down the riven- and threaten these growing anil prosperous cities every spring, and unless some assurance is given by the National Government that these floods will be con- trolled llieir ruin is inevitable. |:n T II E B K K A K I N G F T H K L E \' E E \' I H G I \ I A F R A Z E R B O Y L E You ask if it will hold? It nuisl! it iiuisl I Come, men! and huild it strong enough lo stand The awful strain, the pressure from above That drives the river From ils rigjilful bed. If that were all! Do you remember that Whieh eanie upon us last year in the spring!' do, leave your plows, bring every negro hand — There is no other help save in ourselves! (dose uj) youi' sehools and let the children come And stand in line, for we nuist save the land. Your fields and mine to-day — ah! (iod how long Shall they be ours.^ — with all their verdant spoil Of mellow acres greening row on row, With promise of a j)lenteous year of ease; The happy flocks that spot the green with white; The sleek young mules that in your pasture graze; The fattening pigs and cows that multiply. And swell the worth of goods that we thought ours. If it should break, what then? It must not break; — There are no loiterers here — our women's hands Are filling up the gumiy sacks with earth So that we spare none from the levee's top. Your hands are horny, hard with toil, and mine — Come, let us make them hornier yet, and wrench Our all in safety from the river's maw; Your wife, your children wait — a little hand Is throwing kisses to you fi'om the porch. Beside your children stands your faithful dog; Ah, God! this thing we build that we call home! And yonder, silent, 'neath the stone you raised. There sleeps the father, who first cleared the land. The water lay upon them just last year. Shall they be lost again within the flood — The home, the land, the grave, the harvest, all? Heap up the sacks, pile on the earth, nor let The daybreak find one sleeping, nor the night A single hand at rest! Oh! how the river howls and boils and rolls. So hungry to be at us, at oiu' hearts — Now let us keep it back, you blacks have all. And we have imicli to lose; Come, keep it hack. And let a year of plenty follow us; Stop every crawfish hole, fill in that crack As zealously as you woidd <^uard your life. There's rest in August under fruiting trees, And fullness, too, when we have saved the land What is it there? A sand hoil down below; Quick, rally forces, double at the spot! One foot of earth drops in, pile on the sacks. Let all else go save here; come! stop the hole! Hear how the water roar; there! at the end The break is ten feet wide! now twenty! God! The game is lost! Men, droj) the sacks and fire! Let those below us know we could not hold ! Look 'round you! like a sea the water spreads! "Tis sweeping towards your house! Quick! take the wife And chiklren to the mounds; lead out your stock And huddle it until the rescue comes! How deep the ])lows are in the furrow now — Both yours and mine — the water everywhere, (irim, yellow, restless, while its lapping tongues Whirl by the timbers of that thing called home With vines still clinging to the lattice l)ars, Or just the heartstring of a plain folk Tossed out and broken, swept out in the wreck. The boat is coming; save what it will take; I know what you are leaving! Hush, l)e strong! W'e cannot tie our memories up in quilts For passing Charity to bring! The wave has reached the churchyard fence by now. Both yours and mine. Oh! may they dreamless sleep. Baptized beneath our waters of despair! So deep our hopes, and yet we were so sure; But courage, men, and look before, before Your faithful dog has seen you wdpe your tears. All day, all night, the ceaseless beat of hoofs. Of mules, of cattle, through the city's mart. As homeless now as we, led out to seek The shelter that the willing stranger lends. Where now we stand was once our market place, We bought and sold our wares as other men; But now, 'tis but the refuge place of those Who, losing all they had, would still keep hope. T ?I E C K E V A S S E \Y A T K R S R r S II T II R () l C II W I T II A R () A R ir^ITH ;i mad rush like the AMiirlpool of Niagara the waters from the swollen river burst viy through the gap and pour over thousands of aeres of lands, destroy the crops, drown the cattle, carry away houses and fences and in a few days convert these fertile valleys into artificial lakes. The lakes fill gradually, so that the loss of human life is not as great as it might be, but the cattle and stock seeking the higher ridges eacli day as the water rises are finally surrounded, and nuist either swim for miles to reach the hills or else perish. Crevasses like the above occurred at a number of points along the levee line during the flood of 19f'2 al)out the time it reached its highest tide. Two such breaks let the water into the St. Francis Basin at (iraves Bayou, just below Memphis, and at Wilson, just above; one break at Beulah let the flood into the great Yazoo Basin; one at Panther Forest let it into the Tensas Basin in the southern part of Arkansas; one at Salem, just below the Louisiana line, inundated all of northeast Louisiana; one just south of the mouth of Red River flooded the Atchafalaya Basin, and one at Hymelia, just above New Orleans on the west bank, filled the Lafourche Basin. The water continues to flow thrcnigh these openings for weeks and does not cease until the river has subsided within its natural bank, nor does the amount of water thus drawn off appear to cause any perceptible reduction of the flood plane in the river itself, although a check in the rise is apparent. The duration of these floods in the Lower Mississippi River delta is what makes them so much more disastrous than floods elsewhere. In 191'-2 the flood relief work conducted bv the National Gojiemment began on April 4 and did not end until after June 18. [40] c A \ \ y. c. n A X K s V A H R 1 K 1) A W A ^ B V ( A V I X (; U A \ K S GHP]VASSES or l)reaks in the levee syslein during lii.yh water are due Lo several eauses: Fir.sf: Faulty eonstruetiou of some parts of the levee line l)uilt many years ago, when fraudulent contraetors allowed stumps or the trunks of trees to remain in the embankment. These have sinee decayed and are discovered only hy the water leaking tlirough the levee during flood season. Second: Weak or insufheient section lo withstand (he pressure of water that nuist he taken care of diu-ing the crest of the flood. Third: Holes hored through or under tlie levee during low watei' l)y crayfish, muskrals t)r fiddlers, and "sand hoils,"" or springs that find their way under the base of the levee through a sub-strata of white sand when the flood in the river reaches a height sufficient to force the water through. Fourth: Caving, through which the foundation of the levee is undermined by the river and the levee itself is taken into the stream. Tlie above illustration shows the national cemetery just below Xew Orleans and gives some idea of how the levees are carried away in this manner. The line is usually located sufficiently far back from the bank of the river to obviate this difficulty, but frequently the channel encroaches upon the line much more rapidly than was estimated. Bank revetment in these caving bends is not only a sure means of preventive in such cases but greatly aids navigation by lidding the river to its channel. Crevasses do not occur often from this source, however .:!.< the j^ressure of the water holds the l>ank, and excessiv<' caving takes place just after Uwiwater has receded within its banks. [411 .Jp-*^**' .^mif^- ^fj SAND BOILS THE BEGINNING OF THE BREAK 'AND BOILS" are frequently the cause of breaks in the levee, especially in the section ^ , ' of the delta above the mouth of Red River, and result from small streams of water being forced through a stratum of sand lying beneath the foundation of the levee. Small particles of sharp sand are carried through at first, and in the course of time the hole becomes larger and larger until the volume of water passing through gets beyond control and the levee is undermined and crumbles in. Crevasses from this source are due to faulty construction; the beds of sharp sand not havino- been previously removed from the foundation when the levee was built. Much care has been given to the supervision and inspection of all levee work during the last twenty years, and the foundation is now preparetl so as to minimize the danger from this source by the removal of all improper material. As the districts liecome more i)rosperous, and as more money becomes availal)le, the entire line is being reinforced with a much wider base and a greater section, and when this work shall have been completed, crevasses from this source will be a thing of the past. The picture above shows how the sand is cut away from beneath the levee by the small stream of water trickling through, and deposited about its orifice on the land side of the levee, forming what appears to be the miniature crater of an extinct volcano. When one of these leaks or "sand boils" is discovered by the guards a force is hurried to the scene and a "chinmey" is built from sacks of mud so as to surround the hole, allowing the water to rise sufficiently high to counteract the pressure from the river side. In this way the discharge is stopped and a break prevented. [4^1 SLOUGHING THE S O F T r: N E D SECTION SLIDES OUT /t\ANY miles of the existing \evce line are not only below the required grade but are pJ^ weak in section, owing to lack of funds with which to complete the work. The levee should have a slope on either side of three feet horizontally to every foot of height, but many miles of the levee have a slope of but two horizontal to one in height. Such le^'ees become thoroughly saturated after the flood has stootl against them foi' months, and not having a sufficiently flat slope, part of the embankment slides or sloughs off, leaving the section too much weakened to stand the pressure. Slides of this character are pre^'ented by the construction of a wider base, built part of the way up on the land side with a crown forty feet in width. This reinforcement is known as the banquette, and many miles of such embankment have already been built and have proven most effective, especially in the I'pper Yazoo District in Mississippi. There are one hundred miles of levee thus reinforced, which have been built to grade and section, protecting this district, and no break has occurred here since they were completed. The picture above illustrates how these slides weaken the section and demonstrates graphically the incomplete condition of many miles of the present levee system. As the country back of the levee improves, greater re^'enues are derived and the levees are brought nearer to completion, but the process is slow. The peojjle have taxed themselves to the last dollar they can stand, and the afflicted country is almost staggering under its burden. They feel that they havedone their share and should not be called upon to bear the entire burden of walling off thititiiter from half the nation. [43] '>%*^-*^ S T J{ K X G T II E X K 1) n Y SACKS F O ]{ .Al I L E S DO CIIAIX" is stronger than its weakest link, and there are many weak links in the ehain of 1538 miles of levee along the ]Mississip])i River. The report of the Mississippi Conuiiission of 191 '•2 shows that 586 miles of the line are still below the required grade. During the flood of lOl'^ luuidreds of miles of this line were raised by piling sacks of earth on top of the levee as the water rose. X'ight and day for weeks during the period of flood tide men fought for their lives and their homes. For miles they lined these levees, filling sacks and piling up dirt to keej) pace with the rising flood, and it was only by such heroic work that greater damage was prevented. There were instances where the levee was raised in many places to as much as four feet by emergency work of this character after the flood had reached the top of the levees, and it was I'cmarkable to note after the flood had subsided that miles and miles of these flimsy sack walls, built on lop of the levee, had held back such a flood. Emergency Avork of this character is very expensive, as may be inferred from the millions of sacks used in making the fight. Earth of itself would be of no avail at such times, so it must be placed in sacks and these securely tied liefore being placed in position. The picture shown above illustrates how hundreds of miles of levee were raised during the flood to i)re\'ent o^'eI•topping, and no soldiers fought harder over their breastworks, nor endured more exj)osure, than did the people along these 1500 miles of levee in 191'-2. From Cairo to Xlew Orleans they fought a common foe in the flood waters sent down upon them from the thirty-one states above. [44] ^^.-^^^Z ^^£J^ 1) V. S I' E TJ A T E S T \\ U C_\ V, I, E S P R O .AI P T A C T I X P R E \' E X T S M A X A H R E A K S XT IS difficull for anyone who lias never seen a liii^li-waler fi,r below lo prepare for a desperate fight against the floods. The approaching enemy, as Ihe crest of the wave may be called, takes about six days to reach Memphis, about twenty-one days to reach the mouth of Red River, and about thirty days to reach X"ew Orleans, so thai some time is afforded for preparation. trillions of sacks are ordered by the levee boards along the river and jjjaced at convenient I>oints so that they may be used in an emergency. Forces are organized, boats are chartererl and guards are stationed so that the levee may be patrolled both night and day. As the flood reaches its highest stage in the river and begins to exert its ])ressure against the levee, the surface standing from ten to twelve feet higher than the land, weak jjlaces are discovered and men and material are rushed to the scene with the utmost dispatch, so tlaat whatever leak may have developed may l)e checked in its incipieucy. Sometimes it is possible to prevent a crevasse by thus being on the alert and by working with the utmost dispatch. If a leak has been discovered through which the water is passing in increased quantities, showing that it is gradually cutting a larger hole, a crib is cjuickly built to exclude the water from the entrance. If it is a case of the water having softened the levee and the embankment sloughing off, additional earth is put on the river side to ])revent the water from fvn-ther seejiage. The above picture illustrates one of these rallies to a weak point. K E F T" (i P: IC U R I \' E X F R () .AI T II E I R H () M E S BFTER the levee has broken and the water from the river begins to pour into the eountry })ack of it, steps are taken to spread tlie news as rapidly as possible to all ])arts that are likely to be inundated. In such sections as are now su])plied with telephone lines the news is quickly conveyed, but in many instances it becomes necessary to put messengers on horseback and dispatch them quickly to isolated points, twenty or thirty miles in the interior, so that the inhabitants may not be taken wholly unaware. The water spreads rapidly as it emerges from the opening in the le^'ee, seeking Lhe lower ground and th(> bayous and i)arallel streams which will eventually conduct it back into the ^rississi])pi River some hundred miles below, and creeps up steadily day by day into the cabins of the poor and the dwellings of the rich alike. A large part of the ])opulation scattered throughout these delta lands consists of negro tenants, who rent the land outright or share the crops with the owner. All that they possess is their household goods, their stock and their farm implements. They are prosperous and make a good living with the capital that they have tluis accunuilated. When crevasses occur these people lose everything. They attempt to remain in their cabins by building the Hoor higher as the flood rises day by day, but finally are driven to the house tops and must be taken out by boats sent by relief parties made up in the adjacent cities. During the flood of 191 "^ thousands of these people were rescued after remaining manv hours without food upon improvised rafts of logs or in the unsubmerged portion of their houses. The above illustration shows these poor people being brought out to the high ground t)y relief parties. m IT O I\r E LESS THOUSANDS S U F F F 1{ B Y X A T I O N ' S N F G L F C r gLL through the delta region are found the remains of prehistorie mounds, wlu'cli are sometimes 30 feet high and more than 1.50 feet in diameter, and as the flood waters from the crevasses cover the adjacent country, the j^eople, fleeing from their submerged cabins, seek these elevations to wait in safety above the line of the flood until boats can be sent to bring them out. ^lost of them escape with scarcely more than the clothes they have on and the household goods which they can take away with them, their family treasures being bundled up in bedquilts as they flee. INIost of these homeless exiles are brought to jXTemphis, Vicksburg and Baton Rouge, located on the hills, and are cared for until the water subsides. They can then either go back to their ruined cabins and start over again with nothing but their hands and their will and such credit as may be extended to them b^^ the merchants who will furnish provisions, or seek homes elsewhere in sections of the country not ravaged by the floods. During the flood of lOl'^ the National Government fed ^27^2, 7.53 of these refugees and issued over seven and one-half millions rations. For more than sixty years the people of this country have been holding up their hands in supplication to the National Government, pleading and begging to be saved from this foreign invasion, and although during that time milhons have been spent on the acquisition of foreign territory, still the people of this ^'alley plead in vain. The above illustration shows a large number of the negro tenants who have taken refuge on one of the prehistoric mounds and are waiting, surrounded by the icy waters of the Mississippi, exposed to the cold and the rain, until relief shall arrive. [47] RELIEF AV O R K RATI N S A N 1) S U P P L I E S A 11 E C O X T R I B I T E D ELOOD season in tlie Lower Mississip])i Valley under present conditions somewhat resembles preparation for war. First there is the organized effort to combat the floods and then the organized relief tliat must follow destruction and defeat. Secretary of War Henry L. Stinison, conDuenting u])on these floods in December, 191'-2, before the Rivers and Harbors Congress, said: "The dc^'astation and the losses which wevv occasioned last year in that great ^"alley were brought home directly to the War Department, because the War De])artment was the great channel of relief through which the alms of the nation were extended to those who sutt'cred in those great floods. The work of distribution of that relief was performed by Army officers. The millioji and a (juarter of national funds which C'ongress distributed was distriljuted through lho.se trusted agents of our (iovernment, the Army officers, who arc always ai)pealed to whenever there is a duty re(|uiring absolute fidelity and discretion. "You may not know that for a long time we were feeding nearly two hundred thousand people along that great waterway with rations furnished by the T'nited States, and we were offering shelter through tents furnished by the Army to over twenty thousand; and we were feeding on an average fifty thousand of their stock and cattle." While the (lOvernment was extending this most }>eneficial aid, relief expeditions were fltted out by the citizens of every city from Cairo southward. The above i)icture shows a bargeload of supi)li(\s from the merchants of Helena, which is being sent down the river to aid the thousands who have been driven from their homes. [ts] STOCK LOST THE LOSS O F L I V E S T (' K IS C; ]{ E A T >^=nIIE floods that result from broken levees are not fraught with the same danger to Km^ human life that aecompanies the breaking of the great reservoirs in ;i mountain gorge. In those eases the flood eomes rapidly and whole ^'illages are swept out in an hour and thousands of human lives may be lost. But in the cases along the Mississippi River when the levees break, the great basins are filled slowly, and as the water creeps up gradually into the houses every chance is given to save human life. It is not so with the dumb beasts, however, and thousands of head of hogs, horses, mules and cattle are drowned by the flood waters of the crevasses. Many head of stock that can be quickly herded and taken to the railroads are able to be shipped out and saved, but in many instances in a country that is forty miles wide and two hundred miles long, much of it thickly wooded, it is difficult to gather the stock together in time to save them. They recede to the higher ridges as the waters approach, until finally surrounded, and then they are either drowned in their attempt to swim the intervening gap of twenty or thirty miles, or are starved to death before being reached by relief boats. In \9\'-2, .54, .500 head of stock were sa^•ed by the Government relief parties. One ])itiful part about the overflow in the delta region is the enormous loss of wild game that follows. It is no uncommon sight to see numbers of rabbits huddled on a log almost exhausted and starA'ing to death as they float about in the overflow, and I have frequently seen many herds of deer so tamed by starvation that they have come out to the settlements like domestic cattle. The above illustration shows how the stock have gathered on one of these high points. m RAILROADS D A M A C; E D R A T L K A D ^^' ASH E D A A\ A Y M I L E S () E XX ]SSO tlicre were l)ut little inoiv than '•200 miles of railroad line in the entire '^rt.OOO sf|nare miles constitutini^ the alluvial delta. So marked has l)een the development of lliat eoimtry during- the last thirty years t)eeanse of the levee system, however, that .'5800 miles of road now traverse it in e\'ery direction. When the levees break and the delta is o^•(•rflowed, four ^real transeonlinental railroad lines and two of the ])rinei])al north and soutli lines of the country are fore(>d lo sus])end oi)erations. Ereight and passenger traffic are iii[errui)led, the mails are held up and millions of dollars are lost hy dama.g'e to the roads. The story of Ihe losses by one of these roads, as told hy its President, Mr. 15. E. Bush, will suffic<' for all : "The Mississijtpi Ri\'er overflow in 1!)1'2 inca])acitated (il7 miles of the St. Eouis, Iron Mouidain & Southern Railway, of which .'55'2 miles was under water, some of it for a period of o^'er five months. The value of the road under water was over $1 '2,000,000 and the physical damage, as revealed hy the repairs sul)se(|uenlly made, was $4L>,000. The loss in traffic has been conservatively estin)aled at $550,000, which would rei)re.sent connnerce to tlie value of $5,500,000, which was destroyed. In addition to this there was a considerable loss occasioned by a great deal of Ihe farming land contiguous to the river not being fit for cultivation the ensuing season. "For the year 19i:5 the jjhysical damage lo the Iron ^Mountain Railway was $400, 000 and the loss in traffic is estimated at $I9(),00(). This would make the loss for the two years $9,081,000. To this should be added the two years' loss of farm products by reason of the overflowc(l land being unfit for cultivation the seasons following the floods." 50] W I R E W R E C K A G E T E L E Cx R A P II L I X E S A R E 1) E S T l{ () Y E 1) DOT only are the transjKjrtation lines inlerrnpled hy lliese disastrons floods, tluis slo])- ping the mails and interfering with Iraffie, hut eonnnunieation hy telegraph and telephone is sometimes entirely cut off. This inconvenience affects not ouW the people cjf the extensive delta over which the water is spread but also seriously han(licai)s those who live on either side of this great inlanil sea of water. The telephone has come to he more than a convenience, it is a necessity; and all tlirough the alluvial l)asin ramil'y the branches of the great telephone companies putting them in direct comnnmication with the larger cities. When the levees break, enormous losses result from the destruction of these lines, eonnnunieation is cut off from the outside world, and it may be days and even months before the water recedes and the lines can be restored. The damage to the telegraph lines is very great when these floods occur, because usually the main hnes follow the principal trunk lines of railroad, and when the latter are washed away the telegraph poles are thrown down and the wires are broken for many miles. During the overflow of 191'-2 many i)arts of the basin were so deeply submerged that the water reached the cross-bars on the poles, as may be seen from the illustration shown above. No definite estimate can be given here of the exact amount of loss sustained by the various telegraph and tele])hone companies whose lines are affected, bnt it is sufhciently great to cause a positive set-back in the work of development which these companies have l)een carrying on in supplying that region with eonnnunieation of this character. The interruption of the telegraph and telephone service of the country by floods of such extent and duration I I I I I I I I I I factor to be considered by the National Govermnent. [.511 T o "w N s I X t: X d a t e d Ji i; S I X E S S IS SIS !• E X I) E D E (J R ^^' E E K S >^xIIE t()\v)i,s lliat lia\'c ,sj)rLUi,L;' uj) ;ill tlirougli tlie delta region, Iniilt by tlie inliahitaiits X^ upon their eonfitinu'S for thirty or forty days this is the only means of conveyance. While it is true that Ihe water does not flood these towns to any great depth, rarely moi-e than fi\'e or six feet, slill it is sutficienl to cause great damage to the property and serious loss to the business (jf the town. The merchant suffers a twofold loss, because not only are his own goods danuiged, but the fariucr ujx)!! whom he is depeiideni for trade being ruined, he lo.ses whatever goods he luay have adxanced for making the cro]). 'Iliis loss is felt in turn by every wholesale merchant in the Xoi-tli and East that does business with these merchants, and they, too, therefore, lla^'e become actively interested in bi'inging the matter to the attention of ( "ongress. The illustration shown above conveys .some idea of the condition that exists in these little towns throughout Ihe delta when the levee breaks. The town shown here was flooded b^' the IIyn)elia C'l-evassc and is foi'ty nu'les west of the levee. T II E A F T E R M A T II w R i: c K A c p: A \ 1) K U I X R E S U L T C rS the river reeedes within ils hanks and the flow through Ihe hreak in tlie levee is J, V. (hseontinued, the haek water hegins to fall ra])idly, and Ihe (inec inundated region presents a desolate and discouraging' view. Bridges have been floated away, drifting logs and tree to])s liave lodged against the fences and broken tlicin down, and flotsam and jelsain of every character is scattered everywhere. The ground is cracked and in many j)laces covered with white sand, ])iled up like great snow drifts, i-endering it unht for cultivation. The waters usually recetle about the middle of ^lay. and the liot sun jxjia'ing down u])on the thoroughly soaked earth, the odors arising from decayed material and the general unsanitary conditions that prevail in such cases make it difficult for those driven from tlieir homes to return and take up their work. They do return, however, with renewed hope and the belief that the Hood just passed will be the last one ever to be endured. The ditches are reopened, fences are i)nt back, houses and barns ai'c reconstructed, bridges rei)aired, and if able to obtain seed a crop is ])lanted. After the flood of f91'-2 many of the peo])le in the Yazoo delta, as well as in the St. P'rancis delta, were able to return and i)lant llieir crops ill lime to deri^'e some revenue from the land, only to liave their ])laiitations entirely ruined by the succeeding (iootl of fOl.'). The j)icture shown above illustrates how the ground cracks open aftei' the water recedes, and frequently entire j)lantations that hai)pen to lie immediately back of the break are so cut to pieces liy the swift rushing water as to be unfit for further cultivation, deep gullies and holes beinii' washed out for a mile back of the break. 'y^-'^-m> -'•' ^- .; v AMPHIBIANS S T O P P I X G T H E :M A I L S I X T E 11 R IT P T I X G C O .AI AI E R C E ^^=^HE interruption of the mail service and the interference with interstate commerce \l^ resulting from the iiuuidation of so large an area from overflows on the Lower Alissis- sippi Jiiver render this ])roblem ])eculiarly national. During the flood of ]91'-2 all railroad lines crossing the river at Carlo, Memphis Vicks- Ijurg, Baton Rouge and Xew Orleans were compelled to cease operations until the water subsided, for when the le^'ees hi-oke these east and west lines were interrupted hy an expanse (jf water twenty to forty miles wide. The principal north and south lines of railroad between St. Louis and Xew Orleans such as the Yazoo & Mississip])i ^'alley, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern the Texas & Pacific, and the St. Louis & San PVancisco, were compelled to discontinue operations for many days at enormous loss to the roads and great inconvenience to the countrv [54] DETAILED STATEMENT OF LOSS IX DESHA COrXTV, ARKANSAS CHERE are sixty-nine counties in the seven states att'ected by these floods, so that by using the loss sustained in this one county as a basis of estimate some idea may be obtained of the enormous loss that follows when the whole delta is inundated. 8000 liales of cotton destroyed, at $00 ijer bale $480,000 4000 tons of seed, at $^20 i)er ton . , 80,000 900 head of cattle lost, average price $8 . T.^OO 160 head of horses and mules destroyed, at $100 . 1,600 1.500 head hogs, at average price $.5 . ... , 7, .500 Fences and houses washed away '25,500 Extra expense incurred in fighting the flood 98,000 Expense of closing the breaks in levees 180,000 Loss to business . . . ... 18,000 Saw-mills, lumber on yards and timber 70,000 Cost to county for repairing bridges and roads 11,000 Plantations i)ractically ruined, caused from break in levee 10,000 Total $988,800 DAMAGE TO RAILROADS IN THE DELTA BY FLOODS OF 1912 AND 1913 Some idea may also be formed of the losses sustained by the several raili'oad lines which traverse the delta from the partial list shown in the taljle below: /Proijerty loss $l,.54:i,014 \Traffic suspension 9.59,070 $^2, .50-2, 084 1 Property loss (repairs) $ '20.'5,4OO 1 Accotnit damage to sugar-cane cro]!, direct. .......... .'37.5,000 Illinois Centk.vl R. R. Sunset Central Lines [Property destroyed $ 108,9.58 St. Louis & South- J Projjerty damaged 59,000 WESTERN Railway VPratfic sus])ension. 648,000 (Aid to flood sufferers 4,000 J Property loss $ 1 1^2,905 Southern Railway ^.p^.^^^. .Suspension 40,000 ^, ^ T AT [Property loss $ 04'2,2.'50 St. Louis, Iron Mountain r^.J^^ 'uspension 445,980 & Southern R.R I Aid to flood sufferers 19,1.55 578,400 819,958 15'2,905 1,107,.365 Mobile & Ohio Railroad . . . Property loss . 50,670 I Propertv loss $ 2-26,475 St. Louis & San I Property loss (N. O. T. & M.) 31,000 Francisco R. R • ■ • | Increase operating expenses . 27,429 I Aid to flood sufferers 5,174 290,078 ^ .r, T ( Property loss $ 96,480 Chicago, Rock Lsland Traffic suspension 185,000 & Pacific R. R Fight waters and detouring trains ... 157,300 Vicksburc;, Shrexepoht I Projjcrty lo.ss $ 44,561 & Pacific R. R \Traffic susi)ension 122,917 n T> I Property loss $ 20,997 Alabama &\iCK.SBU KG R.R.w^,^.^^^.^^,gppj^gi^,^ 103,362 438,780 167,478 124,359 Total $6,252,037 [551 H Ph >J P o PQ CJ W o m rrj G W ^^ -< h-* O' Pi ffi fC 'Jj ^H H « H W Pi H W O rX' o P^ ffi O r/) 2^ ^ y—^ >— 1 H H O O C/2 Tf) O Ph KfJ *-■■«» ^ T?; ^ ^ '-•' "Z 0) -T3 -^ o CTi OJ r 3; ^ O S cu O 3-1 11/ a^ o s-^ ^ f/i o3 ^ rx =« C " y •r 2 'X -T3 .2 i rH 4^ r— I O ''^ '!< C (u 'J-j 'Si Si •-; ^' 5 .2 « ^1 i rt si 9 'si ^ O ^ o ■3 o = o '^ ^ 0^ j2 o c; £ i- =^ ii -T* c ?^ O ^ ^ rl n - 3 !- ^ s o '^'J 2 rt o .2 'i^ , , .„ ^ -i ■^ £ S p a," -C 'I 17^ '' ^ 15 '-« ^ ^ ^ ^1 o o ..^^ ^ ■§ t".3 ^ ,• o s p; o [« ,j;, ■S I 2 ^ ^ S . s '^ 2 '^ o ■:D <^ o o s =« '^ ^ '^ ■^^ f ^ L '^ 'SI '^ — ^ - — a^ ^ ^ o a^ rX ^1 ^ O rsi O 'SI aj dj * ■;: o' be • <^ .3 aj aj 1 ^ S 21^ 2 2 rt'^o's U -tl t3 O o a^ ^ uo 'H o 2" o aj a^ O o rj o O' "f* — ^^ Ji 05 .-H i-- 'O cc- :5 1^1 CO o' o « Ui Ph 2; « -< a « >- H « Jj w X 2F O < :|S « - ^.-^ j;pH S £ ^ X 5^ o p c ? p rX « ^ O -(H — 'V o o :« o a o is H x southward . r Memphis, t St. Phillip CO _c« w -_l cc Xj PJ orj s ! =+-( k-H H r--. 0^ 0" CO a^ O' 4^ ^ s- « Oj ., ^>-H o fl. o 3 3c 000 ■^ u u P^P^Ph o ;4 pq o 50] T H E L E \' E E SYSTEM IS X () T A F A I L V R E HEVEES as a means of solving the flood problem on the Lower ]Mississip])i River have been a prononneed siiecess, and the results thus far obtained demonstrate the feasibility and practicability of such a method beyond all doubt. Col. Robert S. Taylor, member of the Mississippi River Commission, in a recent brief on the subject, wriles as follows: "That problem, as it was undertaken l)y the ]Mississippi River Commission twenty- eight years ago, has been worked out with substantial comj)leteness. The lercc .sy.slein //a.v proved its- praefieabilify and efeeiireness.'' The Mississippi River Commission, commenting on the flood of 1897, one of the greatest on record, during which thirty-eight crevasses occurred, expressed itself as follows: '"The important fact that the flood leateni can he permanent!}/ controlled Ijy a system of levees that can be constructed within a limit of expense irarranted by the advantages to be gained seems to have been fully demonstrated by tin- flood of J897." The levee system is far from complete, as will be seen from the following report of the Commission made after the flood of 191'-2: "The development of the levee system has been carried on l)y both the Governmenl and the several levee boards as rapidly as available funds would ])ermit, but the top of the levee is still below the provisional grade for .58(j miles of its length and the levee is deficient in the cross-section contemplated for a large part of the entire line." Commenting further upon the flood of 19\'2, the report says: "'As the great flood of the present year passes away two conspicuous facts appear. Tlie first is that the present levees ivithstood the flood with surprising success."' Again in 1913 this Commission of distinguished engineers says: "Considering the great duration of high water this year, and the fact that it exceeded in height all previous records for nearly .500 miles of river, the levees have made a very satisfactory showing and i)ispire confidence that the levee sy.^tem, when completed, will success- fully withstaiul any flood that may come in the future. '^ * * The sum of the above means that we must go on with levee construction in the way which has justified itself by so many years of successful control of Mississippi floods, but with increased energy, larger expendi- tures and better work. In that way only can we justify what we have already done and preserve and continue for the people of the whole country the jjrosperity and happiness which have resulted from the beneficent work done in the past." Charles Whiting Baker, editor-in-chief of Engineering News, in a recent article in the Scientific American states the case lu'iefly as follows: "That a few weak places in the levees failed in last year's flood and this year is no fault of the levee system, but is due to the fact that the levees have been built, not to the height and the width and the strength that engineers knew to be advisable, but to such dimensions as the land ow^ners along the river were willing to tax themselves for." The following editorial from the Xew York Commercial is pertinent to the matter: "In Europe levees have existed for centuries and have eft'ectively restrained the flood waters of the Rhine, the Danube, the Po and other rivers which, though not as large as the Mississi])pi and its chief tril)utaries, present similar problems. The one objection to the levee system has been the fear that the river l)ottom will continue to rise, as sediment is deposited, and there is a limit to the height to which levees can be built. This feature has been studied in Europe for a century or more and the verdict of the engineers is that this seldom takes place and is very slight when it does. This seems to dispose of that argument against levees on the Mississippi." [57] C A \' I N (; li E N 1) S :\I U S T 15 E R E ^ E T T E D ONE of the greatest difficulties that enters into the problem of controlling the lower river is found in the caving hanks. Permanent levees cannot be constructed along the banks of the river now, because of the possibility of their being undermined by the current. I mention this fact because many not familiar with existing conditions often ask why we do not build the levees of cc^ncrete, or why we do not i)lace in them a core of sheet piling to strengthen them and ])revent seepage. Such permanent levees would undoubtedly Ix^ of the greatest advantage, but would be too costly to abandon to the encroacliing river. Many miles of levee have had to be abandoned during the past twenty-five years because of these caving banks. Ca])t. C. H. \Yest, now a member of the INIississippi River Commis- sion, but for twelve years Chief P>ngineer of the Lower Yazoo Levee District, testifying before the Rivers and Harbors Connnittee in 1907 titafcd that his levee line was 189 miles long, and that since ISSJf 17:2 miles of it had to be abandoned and neic lines cunstructed because of caring banks. It is this factor in the problem of leveeing the river that nuxkes the burden so onerous to the peoi:)le of the region affectetl. If the money already expended by them could have been devoted to j)erfecting the lines originally built, there would be no need now for asking the aitl of the (lovernment in l)uilding the le\'ees. Bank revetment for the i)reventiou of caving is therefore the most impoi'tant work to be considered in dealing with the Lower ^NFississippi Ri\er })rol)lem, both in the matter of flood prevention and channel improvement. If the river could l)e held to its present chaimel by the judicious ex])enditure of money in a continuous manner, so that systematic work could be ac-complished, a deep channel would soon be assured throughout the entire 1000 miles of the river below Cairo. To secure definite results it would not be necessary to revet the l)anks along this entire stretch, but only those banks in the sharj) bends where exaggerated conditions exist. Various estinuitcs have been made as to the total number of miles of caving bank that will have to be revetted t(^ secure definite results, and the ultimate cost. The ^Mississippi River Commission estimates that it will be necessary to revet about seven hundred miles of such banks and [)laces the cost at a})out $80,000,000. If the work can be undertaken on so large a scale and pushed rapidly to completion, it is i)elieve(l by all engineers who have made any study of the river that a permanent and definite channel of sufficient depth for all practical purjxjses will be secured and maintained. Out of the meager appropriations allotted to it the Commission has been constructing these revetments for more than thirty years and ca\'ing in many of the worst places has been checked. The woi'k progresses slowly, however, and can only be done from year to year in isolated places under the prescmt system of meager appropriation. One of the most important functions of revetting the banks is to prevent the river from cutting off some of the great bends, because it has been found that most disastrous effects result from these cut-offs where they are allowed to occur. There are instances on the river where such cut-offs would have occurred during the last thirty years if revetments had not been placed. Further instances where the imi)erative need of baidv i-evetment has been shown, and where it has been used to great advantage, are found along the fronts of the cities bordering the river, such as at Greenville, Plaquemine and New Orleans, where parts of the cities themselves were threatened by the encroaching river. [58] F£,ET. ">' " 2 -» 6 « lo 12 14 tiooo STATUTE MILE?. II O W C A V I X G BENDS DESTROY T H E L E ^' E E S m -■^<:>»*>K<«»'''~.'w>tmKi.,y,4ameitimi^^^ ,;.fA,,„. .Mi)i^^„;^„i3-^.i,y,M*/M-. W E A A' I X (; T H E M A T BANK P R O T E (' T I () X I S I I\[ P E R A T I \' E ixiHILE l)ank revetment has l)een carried on for many years in Em-opean countries, \\J where stone and rip-rap were used in conjunction, tlie pecuhar mattress work for bank protection used on the ]Missis.sipi)i River is the result of a long period of experimenting by the Mississippi River Commission. It is a combination of brush mattress and stone rip-rap. The mattress is made from willow l)rush woven into a fabric two or three hundred feet wide, a foot and a half tliick, and a thousand feet or more in length, which is laid on the underwater surface of the bank, reacliing from the low-water line lo the toe of the slope. Above the low-water line the bank is graded to a flat pitch and covered with a thick rip-rap of lo(jse, broken stone. The making and placing of these huge brush mats is an art which has reached its highest development on the ]\[ississi])pi River, and has attracted the attention and admiration of engineers all over the world. It has reached its present perfecticju as a result of over thii-ty years of costly effort and experiment. Quite an extensive ])lanl is maintained by the Commission foi' weaving and sinking these huge mats. Willow ])oles ai'c cut from the bars along the river, loaded on barges and brought to the point where the mat is to be laid. The mat is woven on a barge constructed especially for the purpose, which is moored so that it extends from the shore outward the entire width of the mat. The barge drops down stream as the mat is woven and finally leaves it spread upon the surface of the water like a great carpet lying just over the under- water bank that is to be protected. [00] S I N K I N (i THE M A T R E ^■ E T M E N T \N R K IS ESS E N T T A L ir^IIEN the mat lias l^ecu C()nij)lele(l ii'reat liargvloads of rock which have been assemhled vL/ at the j)oint are moored to its outer edge and the slone is evenly sj)read over the whole surface. The mat is securely held in place hy wirt- cables attached to Ihe bank, and sinks gradually into place as the stone is s])read upon it. ^Yhen it has sunk into place it fits the concave bank under water and gives it a rock facing that ])revents furth(>r erosion. Although some of tliese mats have been in place for thirty years the willow ])oles with which they were constructed are still as sound as when placed there. The cost of building this character of revetment varies somewhat, l)ut the avei'age cost is about thirty dollars per linear foot, or al)Out 81.50,000 to revet a caving bend a mile in length; but this cost could be reduced if the work were undertaken on an extensive scale. Work of this character is permanent, however, and every mile of revetment that is laid brings the great undertaking nearer to final completion. Under the present plans of the Mississippi River Connnission it is recommended that about $3,000,000 a year be devoted to this particular phase of the work of imin'oving the Ltnver Mississippi. Such an amount will enable the Connnission to utilize their plant most economically and will provide foi' the protection of such banks as are now caving so rai)idly as to threaten the expensive levees that have been constructed back of them. While it is absolutely necessary to build the levee system to grade during the next five or six years, the revetment work can be carried on gradually and extended over a period of nnich greater length. It is, however, the most important work that can be done on the lower river, not only as a means of insuring the levees to prevent floods but also as the most direct means of securing a definite channel. [61] WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, WASHINGTON. January 31, 1914, Mr. A. S. Caldwell, President, Mississippi River Levee Association, Memphis, Tennessee. Sir: 1. Replying to your request, received through Senator Ransdell, for my views as to the best method of trealjing the flood conditions of the lower Mississippi River, I take pleasure in saying that I con- cur fully in the views of the Mississippi River Commission in such matters. 2. There is only one way to protect the Mississippi Valley from floods, and that is hy an adequate system of well-designed levees. There is only one way to permanently improve the navigability of this river, and that is by a durable and suitable protection of its banks. Fixed banks make it economical and safe to build the levees near to the river where the nround is usually high and firm and thus the vol- ume of the levee is reduced and, at the same time, the maximum area of land is protected from overflow. Finally, if the levees are close to the river banks, and conform to them in direction, they will aid in deepening the channel, and, hence, in improving navigation. 3. Levees and bank protection, therefore, are the instrumental- ities that must be relied upon for the reclamation and control of this waterv/ay system. Very truly yours. fi) (M/v C/Kn^i/'c^ rr/n/ !f of aC^ineers, U. S. Arny. SHALL THESE P E P L E PL E AD IX ^ A I \ ""^^^^IIROUGIIOVT the foregoing pages irc liavc endeavored to present in an attractive form € ^ sueJi brief facts regarding the floods on the Lower Mississippi River as ivill eonrincc ^^^ those ivho mnst consider the (/uestion that it is a matter of national importance. The Democratic party in its 191:2 platform declared specificcdhj and emphatically that the AI ississippi River should be treated as a national project and tliat it was ilw duty of the General (lorcrnment to build the levees and protect tJie land from floods. President Woodroiv IJllsoit in Jiis letter of acceptance referred directly to this great national project as one of t lie important measures to be handled by his Admiiti.'itration. The Corps of Engineers of the United States Army aiid the Mississippi River Connnission have presented definite plans based upon a system of levees and bank rcretmcnts by which the floods can be most economically and mo,'■ TJiat tlie bed of the river is not rising as a result of building levees has been demonstrated by reference to the authorities who have studied the ciuestion for over three hundred years. Outlets, Cut-ofl's, Reservoirs and Reforestation liave been shoiru to be impracticable and of no avail as a means of flood prevention in the Lower M ississrppi Rtver. Recause of much recent comment and specuhdion by uninformed writers and )n'u\'^paper contributors regarding the possibility and feasibility of other methods, we have quoted the c.rpert testimony of the ablest engineers on the subject as far back as IS. 2? to prove conclusivelg that levees are the only means of definitely preventing floods on the Lower River. Tin' .'itcdes that vdll receive the greatest Ijciuflt through the protection afl'orded have contributed two-thirds of the total amount of money idreculy e.vpended and pledge their further contribution and cooper(dion. .1 measure drawrt in accordance with the recommendations of the engineers, ami udth the advice and eoneurrenee of represeidy the floods of nearly half of the nation. [63] DK9ICNED AND PRINTED BY JAMKS ^VTLLI\^[ BRYAN PRESS Washington, D. C.