ng more sluggish, and
dividing into several mouths, or "passes," it wanders through tracts of
waste marsh-lands into the gulf, which it colors brown for miles
around. Blocking the end of each shallow mouth there was formerly a
sand-bar; and these obstructions to navigation were the despair of the
river commerce, and no less the despair of the government in its
attempts to remove them.

Every one interested in trade or shipping realized what a very serious
hindrance to the usefulness of the Mississippi these choked-up mouths
were, but no one realized it better than Eads. Understanding that the
great valley is capable of supporting 400,000,000 people, and intent on
doing all in his power for good, even before he had completed the
bridge he was studying the problem of opening the river. Its
improvement and the welfare of its millions of people were cherished
objects of his life. For some men one great undertaking at a time is
enough, but Eads's energies were such that his works overlapped one
another. It is hard to see how one man can have time, even if he has
brains, to do all he did. But apparently he never lived an idle day.
The bridge, with its many extraordinary solutions of new problems, made
its builder's permanent reputation. At the particular request of West
Point he had supplied that institution with writings, diagrams, and
models. And so far afield had his fame spread that on one of his many
trips abroad, he made plans, at the request of the Sultan's grand
vizier, for an iron bridge over the Bosphorus. A change in viziers,
however, prevented its being built.

It seems as if the river-mouth problem had not always been so
difficult. Still, Eads showed that the bars were inevitable; and it is
probably only because, with the growing population and trade of the
central States, the need for an outlet was greater, that the problem
seemed more complicated. Moreover, ocean vessels were increasing in
size and draught, which also made an adequate channel more desirable.
Although the blockade had forced the construction of several expensive
lines of railway, yet it was impossible to carry all the products of
the valley by rail. Millions of dollars' worth of merchandise were
delayed at the bars. As early as 1726 attempts had been made to deepen
the channels through the river's mouths by harrowing. But the first
government effort was in 1837, when an appropriation was made for a
survey and for dredging with buckets. Again i