Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-03-01
TORRENT TANNING IN SOUTHERN
FRANCE.

tributary II the kEonr.
Th. cord ton Uf affairs which mail"
n-...' try such Il course. the progress
Of thr struggle. ana Il successful issue.
ar" well worthy our attention here in
America III this TIM.
For NOR. than three hundred v"a<S
the improNidcnt wood cutting has been
gninm on. wh;cl AT lat changed inau}-
ii tn" strains of that rc@i"u into tor
rent. Tn" lower lying and wcucrailv
sleeper slopes of their ia-.l~ had been
robbed bv their >hort--irhtc.l owners Of
their projecting forests. Next. as ti"
income from woodland bccarn" les. the
impoverished peasants wr.s npt,.d
to ovcr,tock the higher and more !rvr!
upland pastures with sheep and - a.
The sharp hnof- OF these animals. and
their close hit" when pressed hy hun-
ger soon weakened tn" turf - iI"t t
could not hp-d itS place. against the
washing action Of thr heavy ram
During hard showers tia" fragments OF
this turf. " til NOR T les ~ tine tam
soil underneath. ~t1!t"t drWn= h!il-
Arrilinwat tn" sleeper -lop"-- tOrm"rly
protected hv trees with their faii'.n
leaves. roots ant und""yE ,wth tn"
WATER found nothing Ia che.b It, Till
part Of il could lind the ,~rc| ...''s leading
t. the -uriuL-. and there Wa nothing
els, 10 sep the RS from rushing
too sad iruiv To- TIE stream b"d; bat
carry ny :, !th il III" ss.auty soil "f Hc~,'
d"nUds'd slopes, every yard ut d''-c mt
would adj - its VOlum'. velocity and
rrndin~ bower BY the tim Ia" steam
wa r,.l..ir,., ~ IA drop would contain
som" IT Ia al the precious II Ito II"
washed q ,Wn Ia the ~"a. a." uu t. way
there. to h,. deposited where it would
spoil river. channels and harb IL. Be
-;d"~ this washing # -p.t. rocks and
hpudcr~ iulLcd he'd in ii would b. lo"~-
cnrd. tumble i ,Nn into the channels.
and in tl,oi-limr ground up int" gravel
and spread over fertile ground III the
vall,y. In one province Atr"chc. 90
uuD acre. one eighth it, rot"! area. were
tlut~ rendered almost worthless ny flood
deposits CNar~h: Earth - Modified hy
Human Action. y. 25'. no,c'- In I'd
di1ipu, e .~tiy roads. briI.t>. aqUc.luctS
and hu. lings were I;id"rinIn"d and
washed u..ay. Lrr.c regions, formerly
rnpIlo.I-. t.. -a,uc S"i,'"d"~. across
which It WIS hard and o.icu unS.tf- TO
travel.
Great sums were spent in such works
a r,triu;n- dams huiIt arr.'~, III"
mouth of m"r@c~; roWS Of stone pillars
lining the !O-dcr~ of : rramS, ahi III
ri~ht angles to these va.lS uf pebbles
and row nl trees. and many other "N-
Icdicnt~. non" nf which cured tIc evil.
=, ,",s..Bo was annually spent on
roads and bridge. ami much q: this
outlay was made necessary ~ tn" -ui-
in. undermining and covering with
debris done Ly torrents
MraniIm. rainfall Wa hccnm n~ ir
re yular: lIopiS and ,irourhtS al mated.
the iarid heating and C'n.jn~ OF the
Ia-r >Iof,t.s ,alI-ci violent winds: and
these. with the sudden changes "i t"m-
lr ~ ne. wr.nch"d. - 10 Srrfk, lhr
mo Sturc from the clouds. causing. local
foods nf terrible fury. e.. r.. in :! ~'n-,!c
,lay oG flood the Ard che. Il T.vs,- too
in~j"uifi amt tn / e kn wu exc pt in III"
local tpvo.ra ishy "f France. cont tibu.'
tu the Ehuur "iIc, and :; half. and tor
three con c,.u'ivr days ono" and on"-
third ~ much rs the average delivery
{. tn, Nil. although the h"S II
of the latter river contain, j."|."ut
square miles. "rm"r" an 90"
times rs much aS the former. Marsh.
I'D. 2.1S-9D The water ii th" Braum'
:, tributary of the Ard"ctr. rn~" III
IS72I tiirtv-!iv" feet above low water.
but the stream was a@aju for,iai'ic ON
ll.'' ~ f'iliItI 'I Ni!'' ~stliiF 'ls' " T.
2JE.D
The most serious results o. drnuin~
the steep >luIeS OF the mountains We're
seen when tn. warm wind called the
Fuchn. coming probably fr m Sahara.
and " hen crossing the Mediterranean
Iusdiny self with mo o.~turr. struck the
snow line ON the hi parts Il tn"
mountains This wind. :,cr..r,l.nw 10
GuSot. sometimes has p swrr II met
siN fc oi snow i'll twenty four h"I"~'
The melted snow. t"g"tH"r with III 3
ruin. Tia he'd tnwH from tn" E.chn.
would nc likely 10 do Srrir:s damage.
even if TN hill~i,icS had their fail pre-
t'ction of turf. bush and ire. fut
W hen no such barr crS checked the rush
the results were frighlful.
At lat. after many costly efforts /"
cure an evil which grew worse an!
worse. Il timid step WAS taken toward
prevention. Many far-~erju@ mon. ard
especially >urrl VIII gave Il !iir-wur!>
to the cause had long been ur.;inr this
As the torrent was the accumulation of
many drops which, when brought IT,
.r,.thrr ut one time, were irresistible, the
point aimed ut was TO prevent their
reachir.. he channel all n once They
must re arrested n lonr as possible
where tn y first fell. ~ many a> posi-
bile MUS, ne enable To find the crcvicc>
Icadiuw t. springs. and all t.r WHY
down tn the stream bed the progress of
the reminder must h. tri:.H eel. Re
sides. 4. in addition Ia trr.acirG and
hor zuutal furrIw<. the steep li.lSid"~
were covered with growing trees.
bushes and fallen leaves. much OF the
descending water would bc taken up
into these plants, to he gradually given
back into the air IN d:icr weather, tiilS
ciuaH inc temperature.
At first the Corps Icri~lalif could only
he ind;lccd t. vote 2,Gto,COp frs, 10 Ur
expended 1t tie T1tA Of 2An.Ho frS- Il
velr. Il WAS clear that the Stat. must
take the lea |. since it alone was rich
enough II advance the capital nccas arH
and wait twcn'y years for Il return. and
which could control the whole rcw;on
from VIII ch Il torrent drew it~ water:
and nothing could bc done unless III"
who's. Of a torrrnt-baSin were taken IN
hand n the same time and under the
same direct on.
The works were closed a rsh0 's"n''7fs
{rcfort,StinwSl "a ri.t riifS. and r-bo'S
7rt.t af!igYtO re-. In the former the
State merely assisted by loans nf ii. oncv,
seeds and cuttings. ana by ti.e adNicG
and oversight OF its trained oiiicia = In
the latter the Sta:e fo- the time bclnt
a sumcd ownership of the i:ssld, and
when lis work was done gave tn Indi-
yi-luals or communes who mad held II
the choice either to repay the cost OF
the work aui take the land back tine
State. however, retaining such over
sfrht IS would prevent torrents 20 min5 :
Il aim or to take back one-hiLf 4 the land
and nv nothing. In the ease Of rrturf-
iu.r t5-cg4-onRentcHt) the State retained
ONLY one-fourth the land to cover the
cost of the work.