The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1871-11-10
THE SCIENTIFIC BEARING OF THE
GREAT WESTERN FIRES.


|
THE SCIENTIFIC BEARING OF THE
GREAT WESTERN FIRES.
Now that the dismay occasioned- by
the burning of Chicago, and by the
great forest fires in Michigan, Wiscon-
sin, and Minnesota, is to some extent
passing away, fanciful scientific theor-
les in regard to those confiagrations are
propounded by various newspaperssand
their correspondents in surprising num-
bers. Stories of electric flames shoot
ing through the. air, of meteor-liKe
balls, and various other mysterious
agencies, have been published and SER
iously commented upon; while the au-
thor of letter to prominent journal
in this city has the assurance to declare
IL quite certain that "there is an influ-
ence in the air, in all great conhagra-
tions, which has yet to be explained
and, if possible, guarded against" We
imagine that mostof the sufferers in
the West, if they had been. guarded
against the effects of the fire, would
have been perfectly willing to let the
influence referred to do its worst.
These stories and theories are for the
most part due to excited imaginations,
intensely affected by stirring events, al
though in some few instances they may
have q more discreditable origin. The
Simultaneous and concurrent action of
the numerous causes necessary to pro-
duce the CONGREGATIONS is in itself very
remarkable, even to US who are far
away from the scene. How much more
wonderful, therefore, must it seem to
those who witnessed its awful displays.
That in many cases both their accuracy
of perception and correctness of iudg
ment should be vastly influenced by the
amaZcment and terror which they eX-
perienccd was only natural.
While every hypothesis, then, which
seeks to account for the outbreak and
extent of so many forest fires by means
of any supernatural or darby myster-
ious agency must at~cnce be rejected, 1t
is apparent that the phenomena connec-
ted with them are of great scientific in
terest. Their importance, indeed, is
much greater than might at first be sup
posed.
Excessive dryness in earth and air,
and tornado-like wind, have been the
conditions present and precedent in the
case of every one of these great fires.
What causes are productive of these
| conditions, and how can their action be
REDUCED to minimum p
The removal of timber in large guam
| titles is generally thought to increase
try, while ii decreases the humidity of
the climate. Consequently, the eXten.
| sive destruction Of forests Is regarded
as lInadvisable and injurious by large
proportion OF scientific meteorologists,
although a qualified dissent from this
view has recently been expressed in
| Germany. The reduced volume of the
river Euphrates, and the lessened fer
| tility of its valley, are attributed to the
i.,I.z - ,s.nl, mn
in that region. The drying up of the
Scamander, which ran'by the walls of
ancient Troy, is due to similar cause !;
and the present comparative aridity OF
portions of France and Spain is ex-
planned in the same way. Buchan, the
| well-known Scottish meteorologist,
mentions a valley in Venezuela so shut
in by mountains that the rivers which
water il have no outlet to the ocean, but
flow into its centre, where they form a
lake. During the last thirty years of
the eighteenth century, this lake, with
out any assiguable cause, gradually
dried up. On the breaking out of, the
war of independence, however, the VAL
ley in which il lay became the scene of
deadly warfare, and so continued for
twenty-five years. The lake rose from
year to year, until at the end of the war
much land formerly cultivated was I'M
der water. The explanation was SIM
pie. Forests in a tropical climate grow
with astonishing rapidity; and the
whole district which before was in
p great part destitute of trees. being I'M
/. occupied by inhabitants during the
war, had become a vast woodland.
1t is plain, however, that the drynes;
of IL country, where no trees existed il
the past cannot be accounted for in this
: manner. There is no evidence that the
great prairies OF the West were eve
| woodland. At the same time, the aret
Il of small rainfall and severe drough
which, according to the observations o
the Signal Service, occur Throughout
i large districts of the West and North
ID west in the fall, are properly to be at
trlbutedto the treeless condition of tn
plains as the principal cause, and DO
. mainly, as has been suggested by som
Journals, to the gradual encroachment
: Tor our timber supply upon the forest
of the Northwest.
!. One of the greatest evils conneete
with the fires is their enormous con
sumption of this tree vegetation. Tn
s extent, of woodlands, which ought t
:. have been increased rather than Other
wise, is thus greatly diminished, an
" the effect upon the climate is precisel
Se as if the quantity of land burned owe
had been added to the area of prairie
There is just so much less rain-compe
ling land there is just so much MOI
MISUNDERSTANDING land.
The high winds by which the fire
~ were SO destructively famed were ais
> Judging from the descriptions givel
- similar to those which are characteri
tic of comparatively treeless region
In some instances the proximity of ii
lakes doubtless contributed to their vi,
:. leEcc. We believe it has been notice
- in several of the Western States TIL
the tornadoes occurring within the
borders have increased in frequenC
and severity in proportion as the flores
have been destroyed.
Il Tree-Planting and trec-preserying a
the obvious precautions needed in II
Wet. So long as the drying aud hea
ing influence OF the prairics exist
ry noS,Pit will extend faraand wide ov
nj neighboring regions, with failure r
icT suits as dcplorable as these we have iU
witnessed. To remedy this, land hoI
ers in every prairie State should be =
CURED and encouraged by law to pla
trees ION the other hand, the rookie
81 destruction of timber being equally d
IA trlmental, laws should be enacted
every State for the purpose of guar
- ing against II. So far as the lands
+ the United States are concerned, Co
gress icould properly interferc.-N'
A white-haired old negro preach
q. 10 New Orleans, thus addressed one
The meetings of dissatisfied brethr
last week "What are yon grumbli
about Yer all better off dan We CIV
to 'spected 10 be-dan yer deserve TO /
N, Did yer tink whom Massa Linkum y
rt- ye yer freedom, he was gwine to B
ri Go1r ato Tn, he