The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-02-18
war THE o CAME.
Tho Like VIII not DO seeu Again for y
Thousand YCury. r-.zg

Tho Like VIII NOT be heeu Again for .
Thousand Ycar1.
Cincinnati Commercial Gaseite.
We do not believe because we have great
floodsin two successive years, that there 10
reason to look for them regularly every
winter. II Is not a fixed condition Of fu-
tusa lifo In Cincinnati that the river shall
be ut q stage OF from sixty to seventy feet
on the 10Th OF February regularly.
1t Is said, witha degree Of truth, that the
trece have been cut away, and, therefore,
the floods come. The fac! Is that the loss
Of forests tends to the reduction Of the rain.
fall OF q country, and reduces fertile lands
to deserta by long aud excessive drougits.
Our troubles are not Of that nature. We
have reached the point where tho smaller
streams are dry IN summer, a~ndthousands
Of springs are no more. When tho rain
comes 1t ruBhes OF more quickly than for.
merly, and on the hillsides 80 cruelty
ploughed aud careless'y exposed, the pre-
cious soil In which Is the bread OF the gen.
erations to come, Is swept away; but such
monatrous oves1owa as those OF the Febru.
ary's OF 'S3 and 81 can not b. intelligently
ascribed to any such cause. A sudden
and heavy dash OF rain on the mountains
raises the rivers more than when they were
covered with forests, but does not account
for such %stupendous floods as that just
passing away.
It Is underatood that a combination OF
three conditions would inundate ST. Peters
burg to such an extent that the calamity
would be world.iamous. The conditions
are:
l. Extreme high tide.
2. A steady gale from the west.
3. A flood in the Neya.
That combination has not happened 10
tho Capital-oERussia in more than q cen.
tury, and 1t Is regarded as q very vague
menace. s
We have had in the year 1883 and 1884 a
combination Of circumstances and coinci
deuceo much more remarkable than those
conjectured for the destruction of st. Peters
burg; and yet we are not destroyed.
Let US BEE what they are. The Ohio
Valley is subjec. to greater vicissitudes OF
| climate than any other part OF the world Of
like proportions. The variations recorded
BY the barometer and thermometer in this
valley are wonderful. we have the cold
Of Canada and the heat Of the Gull. With.
in forty days OF this winter we have had q
temperature twenty degrees below and
~sixty.ive degrees above zero. First VIC had
a series OF seven snow storms following
each other with astonishing regularity; and
by thaws alternating with snowfalls the
whole wsH massed in ice, and then came a
spell that filled all the streams from their
head waters to their mouths bank full, and
soaked the ground everywhere to fits ut
most capacity for absorption, leaving an
immense reserve Of snow in the noun
tains.
The moment arrived when we thought
all fears Of q flood, which had been gener-
ally entertained, had passed away for the
winter. The Ohio aud its tributaries were
carrying off the surplus waters in apparent
safety. Then came suddenly a change, and
five transforms descended upon tho valley,
succeeding the seven snow.storms as if by
some mighty magic; and the mischief was
done.
Such q combination had not taken place
before in the history Of civilization in this
valley, covering nearly 6 century, and there
are many chances to one that the like will
not be seen again for q thousand years, no
matter how much We may %impoverish the
soil by false teachings, resulting in bad for.
estry and agriculture.