| Show V t LEVEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI I i Imprisoning tho Father of Waters i Within Earthen Walls AGAINST l FLOOD I I h I JIll II i uric rU i 1501 of 1 PiH i ii Memphis Tenn April late IRle flood which limn lands both I of lit bottom On ted lurle areas ni oc and bolow b lo this city Ill many people from their des I much and routing I II I In 11 the 1 daring darInI att mit t r nun to Imprison the I Fuller I of or the Hie great I then wall MIll Mis Misti the lower F p ti ppl 1 the oi or the tank ta l nor n lr the ot oC hold holdIng holdI I Ing In 11 check a II great stream at flood tI In width from hom half ft a rail railto to a n mill mil and a 1 hilt half SO to feet deep Its Ill volume swollen wollen so 10 Hint tho stages mark 40 tt above bove low Iw Water and amI tho great torrent lorrent moving grandly nt n of live or nix III nn hour twice tIll the velocity of the i That tho efforts to confine the waters of this mighty might river within Its bunks ire ro Hot Is evidenced by V the widespread devastations delI which from the floods ot of this I previous yearn While the 3 9 upon the tho controlling Is only Ml In tho flood Ron when whon tile Mis normal waters are augment fd a n hundred 1 old fold by spring t tot r at ot Its It the it l t most tAio rO l and Ihno t console ele labor nrc required nit fill the to keep klo these barriers In repair against ag the time limp when tile the and let lew waters of o the farther north let louse by hy the tho returning sun Bun and com rushing down toward the nea Ma In Inn n 1 wild willI relentless s and s lorrent lor tor torrent rent rentI From I rom Cairo to the Rulf the Mississippi pi 11 flows through u I lint 1111 land generally nt It U IL level above that of the sur surrounding rounding country countr Along the left lert or cast bank there me re blurts bluffs here there with lowlands between thru hove have to bo protected but Lut on the Iho wont ORt of o the thu river till tho land lies low at lit places really falls no M that you OU have to go up III hilt hill to Bet Iel to the river Originally Orl the Ml l formed Its own blinks banks with mud which it washed Up 1111 and deposited and at nil par where those banks were werl chang changing changIng ing them at nt will to null Us fancy The aboriginal dwellers In the valley mind this much since they could push their the stream nt nl ono in liB well na another and it f y Important anyway whether hethel ho hoor hot t 89 or not no I Nor was It material to the red man whether ono section of the valluy allo or another or ur the whole of uC It wan Wll covered with r when the while man Ian began to Mettle sollie In the Mississippi valley and cultivate III Its 11 deep rich t lj 1 Holt It speedily eMma became apparent that something must b be done to keep the erratic tic and anel change changeful ful CuI river within bounds So u for or a en tury UK building of lel hall gone on until now have been thrown up against the spring Invasion of ot the nil the ny from rom Cairo to the tho dolla a n distance of o about 1500 The levees lel S have been built partly by bythe tilt the federal government partly by the tha abutting states lout but chiefly by the plan plantation tation owners nt to the river who formed levee districts with empowered to 10 levy leV taxes for or the work of ot construction maintenance With Within in the main levees are Aro often private levees JOVItA by plantation own oln owners ors ers or by towns und sometimes one will find places which n 1 for fortress or tress with n a series of ur earthworks earthwork It I Is II difficult till the cost of ot till the Mississippi levees by b reason of oC till the fuel that the work has been done by hy so lIu many different Intervals l paid for forout ur out of or so many different funds Some 10 years eRrs ago aro It estimated by gov government that the lowlands could co be bl protected from the to Cairo nt At a 1 cost oost of o for eon con construction and a n year for maintenance then theM points point there art 1775 7 miles of levees The levees lenell tire are now controlled and policed by br the river Iver commission created by h act aCI of or Congress In t 79 These levees ar art mure murt bonks banks of earth thrown up UI several hundred d feet Ceet from the 1101 at low 1011 water the low water watermark mark being the rero or datum from which the rl rise e of oC the river la marked u u up to 10 tim danger line represents the point beyond which more water 1 would destroy property In building n trenah Is dug three or tour four feet d ep p alII about feet wide on this earth is III heaped h until n II continuous is formed torm 1 feet Ceel wide at the base M 2 feet high 25 2 feet wide wille nt at theo the crown Th earth crushes down Into Inlo n 1 mans and tho surface Is held by L grans in On the top tOil of the levee there then Is t usually n wagon w gon road This walt wall Is III all 1111 protects the plantations and the towns along tho lower Mississippi from the terrific force toree of ot the water nt Hood tide From season to 10 season eason weak spots develop Il In ih the loves lell from various causes raU for or th purpose of at prompt promptly ly I repairing these thelle the United States government keeps u 11 number 1 of o patrol bond bOllt on the river which carry sup supplies plies Ill The bouts ore very er powerful are equipped with pile drivers and large crews of laborers They rhey are un under der the direction cllon of or States State nn m stationed In this city lit A New No Orleans In tho levees of ot two the sudden giving way war of ot a n sod sodden den bank turned turne l to mud by b the grad gradual ual slope loVIl of tho water the elow hut but Insidious In mining milling of If crawfish the greatest rente t the tho levin le has because it Is Ie Impossible to them There Thore Is 19 always a 11 cerium In amount f going on n In tho earthworks If IC the Interior of o the leveo Is 19 open oper It begins to cave e and the shell I s way Tho fhe tremendous pressure ure of the tho rushing tU waters Instantly carries tin the walls away aWI und tho river through Nothing can on withstand th the I Hood If It It gets hl the Initiatory initiator I break lII no force that man car readily apply can close the gap cap untIl unil nn enormous amount of at damage has hA been done Some Sontu of or the erl left large tree stumps In the rth of ut which the levee Is composed gradually rot mid leave n 1 hole begins to l the seepage ili 11 tho work of at destruction de The of tho plant erl the banks of ot the river art are arta a II menace to the Integrity of ot the level levee Naturally every planter would MO a break brenk occur below than above him If It It occurs below his river Is at lit once relieved of oC tin the Pressure of ot the water nod If It his looe to o bl UP weak In any spot II It may Inu be Raved Havell by u I break brenk below not only his plantation but tho i of himself and tho members of ot his family bo preserved This Is tho source of ot temptation III lit times timeR of ot stress thai makes man m n sometimes so fa nr I tonet themselves as ns to CRuse cause n It levee to be bo undermined Another of ot danger comes from the lumbermen In the buck of at till the level levee It Jt Is manifestly cheaper far them to float their timber out to haul It 11 they by n I flood During the season of ot high water the tho I love s I are ur carefully and constantly guarded Hundreds lK of ot policemen armed rifles along the crown crOWl of tho Iho levees leleR watching every foot oot of ot It to prevent Its tt being tampered With No person not authorized or who cannot give 11 a 11 account n u his hh pur Is permitted I to approach If It he Is 18 ought fraught In III the at n t of at damaging the le Ie levees Ien ho Is I promptly shot and tried af A guard patrolling the levee notices n slight lIght leakage on tho Inner side Hide of IC tho embankment The Tho crown of uC the Jew beneath his hlA fuel Pres Presently a II small stream spurts from rom the Inner wall Ho He knows the sign aln Tho Th have undermined the tho len lve e one OM has through making n o small tunnel scarcely nn Inch Illch In di diameter ameter through which the water has followed from the nest in the tho middle ml llIe of ot tile embankment In a I case CA O like this expediency Is tho thing Quick work may save p ve the levee An hours neglect may result In a II crevasse through which the Mississippi will pour In a 1 torrent The rapidity l with which a break brenk In Inthe Inthe the lott becomes a n crevasse Is one of the terrible features of ot n l flood When Whon the guard hits has discovered that a R crawfish has hall bored through the tho levee 1100 lie he first sees eOs a II spurt of or water such lIch ns all comes from rom a II leak In a 1 fire ON hot ho or a II break In a 1 lead pipe pip In He HI knows known the significance of ot this Is not deceived nt It Its email nes 1111 He for ur help hell because he knows that In five Ow minutes the leak wilt will I twice greater In a II half hour will be dm till size Ilze of a n mill race and anel that shortly after U II will be La n with tim th full might of o the Mississippi pour lour through It Should Oils occur the waters he hI turned loose nn on their errand rami of or de lIe dem m i notion among thi plantations th n Is one never to be he With a J t Ir like Niagara the ni hs upon th UI weakened bunk U It UK K 01 with Now ten tell feet of o I ik I i v I hilling In mud nil In n tho t u u doubled In width In Ir If 11 If so PO on until U It j i a 1 foot rf t wide Ide the th tre treni ni nUi lr suri of oC the waters Is II re ro ii hIl n nTh Th 11 III for Cor prompt nn fIn i I If f I u k aa soon po on as HH thO li hII n u n brak are II u I If Ir destruction Is III Islo lo to 1 u |
