Show I 1 End Mississippi Flood Menace Mena 1 I IQ Q q By HERBERT MYRICK Editor New England Homestead and Authority on Internal Developments The great floods in th the Mississippi area raised the question of h N to make the Father of Wate Waters s the servant instead of the master of the people In this editorial an authority on Inland waterway water water- way problems gives a compelling picture of how this can be done S i Insure the Mississippi 1 valley alley against any repetition repetition tion of present disaster by providing means whereby the flood waters may flow low harmlessly to the tho gulf gult as has been done for some years In the Sacramento valley where the runo runoff per square mile mlle of area Is Ismore ismore ismore more serious than In the Mississippi basin Transform the Mississippi l river itself Into a series of elongated lakes with a nearly uniform level lever of the wat water r In flood or normal flow Instead of having havinga a difference of more than sixty feet at nt between be be- tween minimum low water and maximum high Water vater Thus create at Vicksburg and Memphis a splendid harbor or bay each capable of floating the entire American navy I Improve navigation via this this succession ion of deep lakes b by cutting canals across the major bends enabling en en- n- n abling abing the straightened river to transport the commerce com com- merce of the Interior of the c continent continent-a a a commerce sl so colossal as eventually to require also double track railways both sides of the river liver Provide grav gravel and land stone for good roads throughout throughout throughout through through- out the alluvial region Reclaim by drainage now lands Irrigate Jn in n times of drouth Minimize vast losses by soil soll erosion l furnish cheap fertilizer malaria m making the lower ower valley vailey valley val val- val vai- ley as healthy as the northern plains From the master master dams and and subsidiary works generate millions of hydro-electric hydro h horsepower from the mighty waters that now drop idly and destructively d destructively feet in their course of nearly 1000 miles from Cairo to to o the gulf Employ this cheap energy throughout the miles width of the Mississippi valley for its whole length from the gulf to the lakes takes Create in this area the densest and happiest of populations with infinite variety in the productions of its waters soils mines forests and manufactures the manufactures the most perfect civilization on the face of the earths earth And from the sale o of power obtain the revenue to pay for all this and much more Thus without adding a dollar to tax burdens burdens- local state or federal federal transform transform the Mississippi river system from a destructive and avd death dealing tyrant into an an obedient and competent servant of l constant practical utility and anti Ineffable beneficence to the valley val yal- ley Icy to the nation and to humanity Such amazing tr transformation is now feasible feasIble It Is no dream It is based up upon n. n new applications applications lions of 01 old principles of engineering Its lis success success success suc suc- cess has been demonstrated conclusively in Inthe the Sacramento project methods required th though ugh on a gigantic scale are simple scientific practical These methods in involve involve in- in volve wisest wiest use of present levees with an unexcavated unexcavated I spillway In two sections each five miles wide for the floods floods together with dams iiams canals and sub sub subsidiary works s Modern l inventions colossal mechanIsms mechanisms mechanisms isms unlimited power guarantee success for the entire undertaking The big dredge to be employed Is so huge it has been named the Martian for far nothIng nothing nothing noth noth- ing smaller would dig the canal anal on Mars In comprehensive magnitude of construction of costs and o ot 01 more than self-paying self benefits the Panama canal the St St. t. t La Lawrence or Colorado river projects pale Into Insignificance compared to Uncle Sams Sam's spillway for the Father rather of Waters Vaters Co Copyright 1927 Cosmos New Newspaper Syndicate Inc |