New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-02-27
FROM CALIFORNIA.
Tn" GREAT FLOOD AND IT'S EFFECTS
&c. Ia, Own Correspondent.


had hoped that shaoid be able to write you by
this steamer that the grea California Hood OF 1867
had passed away and become part a the things that
we're, but am disappointed, for the watsrs s co.,
tnue to be at food hight, and Cafornia nil! suffers
and is unable TO ASCERTAIN her loes.
by previous steamers you faye news OF events
until within The last ten days, but brief recapiuia-
ton may 10 not out Of place. The season has been
wet beyond example since the American conquest.
We divide our year into "rai"y season" and
dry season." but the amount Of rain which usually
falls within twelve months at San Francisco is only
% inches or about onehslf Of the rainfall in New
York. Your Winters and Spdng.are ns wet us ours;
our Summer and Fall are perfectly dry, while YOURS
are nearly ns wet rs the other bali Of the year. ln
ordinary Winters we have several months Of clear
aud beautiful weather. indeed 1t ia the opinion oil
many perous that the Winter is the pleasantert sea'
sou in San Frapcsco, because then We are free from
the fgs strong winds and duet which prevail during
! the Summer.
Thi,, however, has proved to DO a most extraor'
binary season. The rain began on the lOth Novem-
Ter, and continued almost without intermssion until
tho I'D ult., a period Of seventy.threo days, ana
The fury wasstill worse than the continuity The si
fall in this city measured ihiriy-sx perpendicular
inches, a. the rainy is not yet halt over. LII
average seasons more than half the ran comes after
the let February There is telling what Is 10 be-
come of u.s. if the common proportion is TO DO main
tanned lhis year. During November the rains fell
gently and the water did not rise to AN mutual hight,
but on the 9th December, Sacramento Cry was COM
plet,y OVERLOOKED aud siuce then tue wafer Las been
standing from foot to Ten feet deep over more thsn
three foulbs Of the area OF tho CRY. On The lith
January auo her great flood came, and 1t stiI' pre-
wallis The WAFER rose be three or four feet deep
in every street in SncameDto; 10 stood several ieet
deep in every street Of Stockton; it covered nearly
every street in Marysvile; IT flooded aud swept
away q multitude of other smaller towus; and II
covered the basin of the Sacramento to depth vary
ing from two to teu feet area 80 miles long
TO 90 WIDE
/ The basin Of the Sacramento is the heart OF Cali
fo,nia, extending north and south from 81 to Al
80. a distance Of 40 miles, and ea,t aud west 100
miles from the summit Of the coast range TO toat OF
the Sierra Nevada, which two Ranges mite ut each
end Of tie Basin which lies parallel with the coast
aud has shape like fuger, nnd IN area equal TO
thu, of the ate OF Ohio The eastern border OF THE
in few places less tliau 5000 feet above the sea-in
naty places reaching 5000 feet. The slope to the
west is very long, aud wide surface ID presented 10
catch rain and snow, aud 30 ehectus'ly are tho!
caught that scarcely amy moisture Is carried ac'o's
them BY tho winds from the Pacific. In the noHh
and northwest there sre u,o high mountains Inc I'd
ing Mt Shasta at the bead vi the Sacramento RIVER
a peak a. 600 feet high, Of which 1900 Arc covered
with garment Of everlasting white. All th . ill.,
rense BARN, and all tie rivers running down from
,hesc snow. mountains, have but one ouI,t and thai
ia where the Sacramep,o and S,n Joaquin Rven, Al.
t,r uniting in tie MIDDLE Of the basin, Que coming
from the north snd from the SOUTH break through
g coast mountains in latitude ~ md make pas
,aye 10 tie Pacific There are two narrow passages
for ,Le water n its course tho occsp-onc At the
Golden Gate or entrance TO tho Bay Of Sen Francr'
20 "A mi q wide aud another at the Sras OF Carqu-
rez three quarters If mile wide, ut the town OF
, Eenica. thirty miles further inland. AT each place
,Ls xy.,,r has broken through ridge VI the coast
Mountains. bssn containing - NO square mics,
in which rain fal 10 simultaneously AZ every point, and
in VIII ca tho outlet il ut equal distances irom tLe
,xo euds aud the streams mountain torrents that
send their waters down without delay-such basin
has an outlet ouly three-iourths VI mile wide
Such are some OF the elements out vi which to cacu-
sle tho possibilities Of flood in the Sacramento ba.
Ems We Cal forniaus never made tbe calculation
Le'ore this year. attention was not Drawn 10 the
subject we supposed that tho sands dried up during
The Summer, would absorb nearly al the rain that
could H. In addition 10 the ceuenis all oady gwen,
there il al ot er-ths amount OF ram which falls ON
the sides of the Sierra Nevada il vastly greater th~n
-, S.u Frnncisco, or in any low lapd IN the State.
During the time ha, 50 inches Of rain fell in this city
IOl ipcheS-nearly three times as nuch-iell in So
nora Tuolumne County, about $500 iset shove the
sea We may safely say That the amount OF water
ia doubled On The Sierra Nevada for every 1000 feet
Of elevation Ii may fall III the shape OF snow, but
spow melts and never To make ilseif felt Ia tue
river. Nearly one-nslf Of the SACRAMENTO basin
consists Of tue slopes OF mountains, aud probably one-
fourth Of tho basin is 2,OC0 Get or more above tie
level of tho Sea Now, at Sonora the tll OF water
eas light feet 1t is therefore, think, not eAirava'
y,pi TO suppose tie average nmoult oil water WHEN
IA fallen through The basu snoc tsc 'Oth OF No',m'
Ter 10 be five feet. The lIsi foot was absorbed by
BIO soh, which had been exposed da'ins The est
Summer on record to uninterrupted aud pnmliisnied
,uu,li inc for six months. Then came four feet oi
waier falling over an area OF $1,000 square mics to
escape through IN Quiet tLIee-qnaries oil n mile
wide But at that outlet the tide rises Elk fec', so
thai hnli the lime the outlet would be interrupted.
The water rushed down from the mountains into
III. rl,in-in,o tie lowest pun OF The PLAIN which 10
in tie center Of The basin und who're area have es
hmaied at $50 miles long aud 20 wlde-3,OCO square
mlle. This ia jott fifteenth part OF tho BASIN
Multiply by Is, aud wo lean that enough water