The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-03-30

Their Progressive AggrayatiOn = The
Causes ana the Effects.

IRON tne new lpFK Sun4l
The inundations engcndered by spring
rain are fast becoming. in our more
thickly settled States, an evil OF grave
moment. Such statistics as we possess
respecting the Susquehanna and other
eastern rivers, reveal a notable increase
in the frequency and intensity OF their
destructive overflows since the begin
ming of this century. Now, as the val
leys Of our larger water courses are 7
rapidly gaining population, and thus
the area Of disaster Is widening stimuli
taneously with the aggravation Of the
s3ourge, 1t is plain that the question OF
causes and remedies requires serious
and prompt attention.
tbs true that the damage to property
and loss Of life occasioned by the fresh
cts Of last year In Massachusetts and
Central PENNSYLVANIA dwindle to insig-
nificance when measured with the ca
lamity which prostrated Languedoc
during the same season, or with the
havoc lately wrought in and about
Pesth. The proportions OF the former
catastrophe were at first exaggerated
yet, according to the final official report,
some six hundred persons were killed,
and seven thousand buildings demol-
ished, which, together with the crops de-
stroyed, were valued at fifteen millions
OF dollars. Here. too. it's steadily pro-
gressive violence Is the appalling feature
Of the phenomenon, the maximum
height Of water above the. normal level
during periods OF cataclysm having
risen at Toulouse from eighteen to thirty
feet in fifty years. With such a record
and outlook, the timely adoption OF pre-
ventives was seen to be condition OF
existence It is to be hoped that we
may profit by French precautions and
expedients before the valley OF the Sus.
quchanna has become as populous and
perious as that Of the GarOnne.
To prevent the recurrence OF inunda-
ton in southern France, and arrest atl
the proper moment the surplus watcrsI
Of the Garonne and its affiuents, 1t Isl
proposed to construct In the foot hillsI
of the Pyrenees vast system Of reser-I
vors, equipped with sluices and locks,
| for the double function OF protection
and irrigation. Although it will be posi-
sible to take advantage OF those contig-I
uous ravines and abrupt depressions on
the soil which constitute q sort OF natl
ural csterns, it is not denied that thisf
undertaking will involve tremendousI
outlay. That it Is practicable, how
ever, is demonstrated by the familiarf
precedent OF Lake Mnris, which per-N
| formed the same Office for the Nile, andS
whose circuit exceeded $50 miles, or the6
entire coast length Of Egypt. 1t Isl
reasonable enough that French engi{
neers who have reproduced in this CEN
tury one great achievement OF the
Pharaohs, should engage to emulate
another.
Reservoirs, however, are only pallia-H
tjves. Another projected remedy exacta
time for its effective application, bug
goes directly to the root Of the difficulty
| II is generally conceded that the awful
suddenness and vehemence Of moderrN
inundations, compared with formel
times, are due to the wholesale desfrucN
ton Of forests, and the consequent mul
tiplication Of naked slopes and graz
dfents. Not that the aggregate rain
fall is less in densely wooded country
on the contrary, it is greater; but ~
equally distributed. And, althouB
q forest may operate to dischargU
q cloud, it measurably absorpX
the contents through its sponH
system OF foliage, roots and tur1
while its underground and debris
fallen timber compose natural break
water. To fortify anew the spurs an
sides of the Pyrenees with that rampar
of trees which avarice and lgnoranG
had ievelled, has been made the settle
policy Of the government. A scheme
nlantino on an extended scale ha
lately been inaugurated which, In spin
| Of checks experienced from the habit
, and preiudices Of grazing pcpulatio1
, is thought to promise the most salutaI
results.
The hills and uplands which Grad
t the beadwaters OF our eastern rive
8 have not yet been wholly denuded
e their native wood. The process
stripping, however, goes on apace, reg
I lated only by the temporary lnteTea
4 or caprice, of reckless owners Is u a
high time that public opinion snou
recognize the untoward bearing pd or su
r improvidence on the questhior h nrnntir =,
:. of American forests, whose sequel md
/ one dav duplicate the disasters expe1
q enced In Hungary and France
= The Atlanta man expects to cut q
: tbirtieth quail by next Tuesday and
5 gladiator.