The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-12-22
The Ohio River and Its Wasting
Rnnka.

OF Kentucky, publishee 0 communica alton
in the Frankfort NeOman, upon the wash.
ing ofthe Ohio river banks, from which
we extract the following:
When the river was forest. bordered the
banks were, In q great measure, protected
by the strong binding Of roots; moreover,
TIL the forests were swept away or opened
by roadways, they held back the winter
rains like . sponge, and so allowed the
waters 10 find their way slowly into their
channels. Now, when the showers come,
they are poured OF once into the river and
overcharge It with their burden. Agiance
at the river in flood-time will show the
unhappy results this brings about. While
the river Is Of ordinary etage, the shelving
shores Of pebble guard 1t rum any wear.
Sand.bars work 10 and fro, but the banks
are protected. As soon as o flood comes,
the bank begins TO give way very rap
idly, the waves cut under II Of the waters
edge, and the oyerhang clips quickly into
deep water to dissolve before the stream
subside. This works great harm In
three ways: First, by the loss OF the
land. This Is q serious matter. Cal.
culation based on extensive informa.
ton, the details Of whichrI cannot
gives here, shows that within this century
something like rs, 600 acres, valued OF the
sum oil $4,000 900, has been swept away
In this manner from Kentucky alone. The
next elements in the loss effects the river;
the bed Of the stream Is widened by each
successive flood, and It's depth proportion.
ally reduced; the waste material tumbling
from the banks furnishes about all the
components Of the @bars " which make
summer navigation continued struggle
with shifting sands. The waste Of the
garden lands Of the State, this obstruction
Of the principal channel, is still going on
at q rapid rate; probably never more rapid
than at the present time. Each year sees
something like one hundred thousand dol
lars OF loss from the slipping Of banks,
destroying fences, buildings and land. II
we extend our observation to the whole
borders Of the Ohio, we must conclude
that the loss from this cause along the
Ohio border amounts to something like
seven millions Of dollars Of taxable prop
erty, and to an annual waste at the pres:
emit time Of about four hundred thousand
dollars. The depreciation in the naviga-
bility OF the river cannot be easily reck-
oned, but the indirect loss is certainly
many times that which comes from the
destruction of the land. .-,.
I am satisfied that II Is possible not
only to arrest this waste, but at q very
small cost, to regain from the river bed
large part OF the land that has been
swept away, From point to point along
the river the traveller notices 0 border OF
willows rising from near the low water
mark. II he will observe carefully he
will see that at every such point the
bank is steadily gaining on the river.
Along the banks above and below the
fringe of willows we find 1t steep and
wasting, the bare scars showing where
the last flood robbed 1t Of great masses
Of earth. Among the willows we find
deep beds of new laid earth richly charg-
ed with the elements Of fertility. Inquiry
shows that all the bottom within the
fringe Of trees Is rising at the rate OF one
to, three feet per year. At several points
along the river where accident or more
rarely design, has planted the willow Dor.
der, I have found from, one TO- five acres
OF WOlueIlully ltIlll6 lduu huoduy ictalu-
ed and under cultivation. The material
Of the soil in these patches Is the cream
Of the earth when drained, and often
without this advantage these new
made bits OF earth are real garden
spots. So. little deliberate planting
has been done that ! am somewhat at Q
loss TO determine the cost Of bordering
the river front with these protecting will
lows. Mr.. J. w: Steenberger, who some
years ago planted one mile and half on
the border Of the river opposite Gallipolis,
finds that with labor at one dollar and Q
halt per diem, he can plant one mile Of
frontage for about forty dollars. This
would make the cost Of planting the Ohio
front OF Kentucky about twenty thousand
dollars, and the whole river, from Pitts.
burgh 10 the mouth, could be protected
for less than one hundred thousand dol
lars, or one.quarter the annual direct loss.
Even II we have to double this sum for
contingencies, the cost Is wonderfully
small for the benefits derived thereirem.
Within ten years alter the planting Of
such fringe the river would begin to
narrow and deepen by the sweeping out
Of it's sands; the gain In land each year,
as determined by the growth Of the new
banks where tho willows now are OF work,
would be at least as great as the annual
loss at the present time.