Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1875 — Captain Eads’ Great Work. [ARTICLE]

Captain Eads’ Great Work.

The St. Louis Republican describes the details of Capt. Eads’ work at the mouth of the Mississippi as follows: “ The first thing is to cut twigs. They are then bound into bundles called in engineering parlance ‘ fascines.’ These fascines are, say, eight or ten feet in length and as many inches in diameter, though of course their size is varied at the convenience of the workmen and according to the requirements ot the work. Having been cut and properly secured the fascines are put together in the form of a raft like timber logs, towed to the required spot, and then loaded with stones until they sink to the bottom. This process is repeated with successive rafts until a continuous foundation is laid the entire length of the proposed line of jetties. The first or foundation rafts will be from seventy-five to two hundred and sixty feet in width, according to the depth of water where they are sunk, the deepest water requiring the widest rafts. As soon as the foundation is completed in this manner another line of willow rafts is sunk on top of those already down, and so oil until the surface of the water is reached, each line of rafts being narrower than the one below it, until the topmost line will not be more than ten feet across. By this means a channel is created with sloping sides. Tne water gradually fills up the interstices between the twigs with sand and sediment, and in the course of a few years the structure becomes a solid wall, being in fact a submarine levee. It will readily be seen that an almost incalculable quantity of willow twigs will be required to construct these two long lines of jetties the whole length of the South Pass, and the work of cutting and preparing them will furnish employment to a great many men.” —The Irish World says it isn’t right for preachers to accumulate wealth. This may be true enough, but what we want to know is whether it is right for editors to accumulate wealth. If it is, we want to begin to “accumulate;” but we have no desire to do anything that is not right.— Norristown Herald. T- < » . —A lady who asked her lover if he would like to see the lambs feed was surprised to hear him say he would rather see her eye brows(e).