Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-02-12

Lfttle less than q year ago tue eyes q
he nation we're tnrp-d sDon the ONO
Valley, whoss psopls vsrs snrer'ns
rom a food such ~ mad never ben 1
,een iu America since ts.e ~ae s-'i"n
the White s-.,i@r Ia! po.i5 Il tes tf's1s
further apd iottber . ~ s1fa si'o 1
h,msetf 81 ;.;s, r~t-.r ro1u- I
try. which sta. .eaes IN lVzg7 Inessfs fef-- /
kility fro,e the base of tie Aiisgtassfsst
wes,w ard 70 the mississippi. A h~fcs
= inter had besn followed Wy . wafm
sud open spring, and tne water. oil Tue
unchaiaes from fneif 'es
fssters, had eus..ed down a. N a. q fa.j
oou tbs fair fisIds below. The rna
seemed to disappear. hisuie's "e'a'oe
torronfs torrents became mighty nv
ers, ami tie rivers became vast Inland
ssas. The wretched people were driven
back bsfors tas on coming waters.
Thousands wsss homeless and tens OF
Thousands we're suffering for food and
oIothing. Il vas one Of those sinies
vhioh appsal most strongly TO the
charity Of ths nation and shich test
tina, feeling Of brotherhood Which
should unise III sessions Of the country
A. sns. A. usual, relief was not want
ING. That 0ssathsart, the People. ever
ready 70 sxtsnd hsip 10 the Distressed,
came 70 the reissue and CARED help AM
renewed couyaes TO tbs suiiesera FroL.
all sparts Of che world contributions
vsured in. The starving were fed, the
homeless found homes, the rivers
slowly recedsd until they were once
more O .n6nod between thsir banks
IT, s-s.t foods Of 1883 became merely
a u4~r.ors. There had never before
b.rn sush mighty uprising OF the
waters. What reason had men 70 sup
pos. tl.., there sver would be kn
10 the farmer vent back to his % Oh
the river bank, the merchant restocked
his warehouse. and slowly they forgot
the sufIerines which were past. They
worked and played ~ bsfces, and
thought m little Of danger. The river
giant slept, and they thouaht him
bound. so tbs workers worked on and
the players PLAYED.
But now agsin, with scarcely a year
gone by, the story Ut the floods 10 70
peated, il even surpassed. From a hun
dred cities. stretching in an unbrokrn
line Of desolstion from Pittsburg TO
Cairo, comes tbs cry of suffering and
homeless people, while the valley Of the
Mis-. issippi far below 10 Whiting anx-
iously for the rush of waters that il
bearing down upon II. ~ il with an IN
rsieuting vsneeance. The gan. IS
awake again, and now men know that
be never was bound. They ask one an
other il their homes arc to be always
thus desolat~d; If with each recurring
sprtngtime shall oume a rush Of waters
that shall sweep over the land and cover
IL with desolation What they had
thGnaht The event 81 century they see
to lie tho occurrence of a season; aud
tbey ssk what are the changed oondi-
tisuN Shat entail all this suffering.
Tho answer is plain. It can be seen
nov ~ meyer before that ne uro In her
own Nay n tskins her revunge. One
hsndred years aeo th. western slope OF
the Alleghanies WAS covered with snsg-
nihoent forest growth; the sgos at WIN
ter fell upan the mountain sides and val
leys; ana when the sprIne case, tho
foress tsses~spread tier ,ranches over
the iss and snow AMI protected thon
from the rays Of the sun. Ii nsited
less rapidly and through many waeks
ran slowly off thnuQh the rivers To the
ssa, 10 qaietly ti,st asn scarcely knew
il wac gang. *A T.
Now. however, the SHOWS fall upon
vast txpanses Of treeless country.
With every period Of warmth in the
nidst Of the winter. or With the ad-
vance Of spring, the sun beats its rays
dswn msedl1nnly upon the earth's
snowy oovsalE2. which no longer has
The protectioa Of The forests. Almost
In . day the saow disRppsass, and tho
ies-losksd strssms burst forth free.
The vast quantities Of melted snow aud
lee rush q once into the rivers, and Q
mighty velons Of water il sent than
dsgina dUNA toward the Calf. The
prooss whiah formerly took weeks and
months, see takes piass in hours and
days. The water which formerly kept
The river At certain hight for long
DertoGs nov PUSHES down In one euor-
nous volume. Floods are the conss-
Quencs. For two or three weeks the
waters spread over al the low landa,
and for the remainder Of the Ssar She
rivers are almost dry. 4.
Thee loods must recur whenever the
csd tbs, are such n to produce them.
- tH spAAo& VIII uU0vtS8uy OIIu0
Hood and destruction. There IL NO
escape; these periods Ut aufisrins will
ooiae. and will in ali probability come
often, The fear nj lesson conveyed
thus to the people Of the Ohio Valley In
conveyed iust ~ forcibly 70 the resi-
dents Of all wooded countries. We
must hap feresss or 6sods. and when
the forest growth il destroyed the river
giant Is unfsttered. The voics Of ex-
psrisn@ and cxsmpls muss be hseded !;
II speAks IN language unnaissakable.
and u says. " Preserve your forests and
prots Of your oountr, from Hood"
4 AIssrAIkAKNg CoRRECTEo.
The item fullosing is going .hs roands
Of tn opsa psfess:s ~
AlttE landings on the water from,
at Seattle IRE being demolished 10 MAKE
space for the Puget S.una sh.,ss Lane
railway.
All the buildings OF. the winter fr.nt