Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1889-09-19


tsssming popu.Aaion % the Roman
provinces between the Cauoas1a and
the Archipelago. On an AREA ~ thirty
thousand square miles. about the slKe
81 the state u south Carolina. NTH.
ridatea RAISED armies that resisted the
powcr ~ Rome for twenty-five years
] hc sis west provinces wcre studded
With towns that could emulate
the iuxury of Alexandria While
their own country vas ret Ia
its prime, syria vas 30 the citl.
sens 81 Rome What modern Italy 10 to
the rcst of Europe the elysinms ~
pos'ts and pleasure secksrs Ahout .
ceutury after the death ~ Alexander
the Great. some mercoaarios ~ Gaul
found their say 10 Asia Mlntr. and
their return 30 their native country
ereui.d = bonanza sensation Watch in-
aas'-si sisty -thous and ~ their cuantry-
men to abandon their homes and aght
their way across southern Europe, IN Or.
der ~ reach The lubborlAnd "a the East.
here the survivors actually ralaea =
inothold and founded the province ~
''alatia. Cyrus the Great used b. pas.
seven months ~ the year In Babylon.
IN a ''rrgtoR ~ perPctuAl spring.n a.
Ncnophou calis u. aud HAarian. Septl.
mus >averus and Seleucus Nicator
had their iavortte country seais N the
valley ~ Daphne. wherc even q Creek
could forget his country.
Aud the axe alone has blighted All
but tew mountain naoks ~ that sea
Eirt kden. the ooas, regions from Gaza
&" lrebirond resemble the shores ~
tHs head Sea Nothing short ~ a
miracle would induce The Jews ~ re-
eu.ouito the promised land ~ their a.
thrrs u Syria. In toe land oi foaiss
sHhrssi aud nsanderiuE meadow
bruHas water l. now a. acaFco as on
the StsHrd Plains
Judgiug from tho descriptions n an
cleut guoVraphers the climate ~ the
North African provinces must have ru-
sgmblcd that ~ our Gulf states. and
even ai the end ~ the third century
the tyrenAica (the modern Tunisl.
had eighty Christian bishops. and a
Population ~ ten or twelve millions
'wo hundred years later famine and
droughs had reduced that number %
siK millions, bat the rerk lcs. destruc-
tiou Uf forests continued until ninety-
hys per cruL - the los land araa had
havn reduced 70 absolute stcrility.
Southern kurupe i rolng the same
Nag The researches of Herirourt
and Heinrich Barth have leit ~ doubt
that thr valley ~ the Guadaiquivir
once contained thr twelve-fold multi
pie Of its present population Grcscs
has become barren rock, Sicily. the
pcarl ~ the Mediterranean. . hospital
q t~sniaa. tFphus and 0phthalmiA a.
he course " the last two hundrra
years alone tae winter foods ~ south.
sra fFance have caused aa amount u
ammmgw tia gaR - estimated only b
tlaoumamas - millions Witness the
iollowing memoranda from charles
Rthba's "i4os Torrents u les InonaA.
lions Dc 10 PrUyence .Dlgna. I7ea,
The River hieons has destroyed the
arabic part ~ the territory ''Guey-
daH. l5un. The best parts of the helds
and meadows have besn swept away.
aud rayin,a nos occupy their places "
Monaus, isxg. Deserted ~ iis peas-
ant population. cultivation having
ceased % rrpay the lators ~ the hus-
haHdman 'Gummune de harles, i7u7
Two bills have become connected rs
land slides and have formed a lake
which now covers the bcst part ~ the
soil "MalmAison. I76s The inhablt-
ants have cmigrated al their nelds
have been lost ''IIautos -Cev ennes.
ls'ls The raYAgcs ~ the torrents can
be compared only "a the effects 81 an
earthquake half the soll IN many
communities seeming to have been
swallowed ~
The ArdoChe, q mountain river con
siderably less than hundred miles In
lougth. has repeatedly caused al
amount ~ havoc resembling the devas-
tations ~ ~ invading army some
twruty miles above IL Junction with
the khoue ils bod i spanasd by a nat
urni bridge known a. the Pont dArk.
a roek vault sixty feet vide and two
hundred feet high, bu, on more than
one occasion that enormous tunHel has
proved too small Cor the descending
nood In istb some women who were
washing a. the brink ~ the lover
stream had barely time 10 Zee 10 the
hills b'sfnru the valley had bocn turned
into a raging soA- The river 20 inun.
dates u hanks about twioe In three
years, and according to Castellaal's
estimate the amount ~ solid matter
which those foods sweep In the shores
Of The Adriatic eKceeds yearly aver
age oi iorty-two million cubic meters.
or hearly atty Eve million cutie yards
The AdlEs the Ehro. the GmndAlaul.
VIZ and the Martha have almost depop-
ulated evFtal districts oi their lover
valleys
Bot the most ruinous hood river on
earth l. the fang-tse- X lang. the
''-oourEe oi China. rs II may Justly be
called In the course u the last two
hundred years lts torrents have four
teen times forced the massive dams Of
the centrai provinces. and each time
eovered IL hanks with thousands of
human corpscs. In lsss IL inundA-
tioa ravaged the provinces of Ha-Pas
to an extent which can he retrieved
ouly by the labors ~ many successive
geaeraiioaa Another terrible food
occurred but year ago spreading its
havoc over an area of three hundred
and hfty thousand square miles. in-
ciaaiag some u the most densely pop
ulais'i districts of Eastern China The
lons Of life 90 thai occasion has been
computed 10 reach the appalling az
Ercgais of seven hunared and afty
Thousand. even after aeductlng the
hundreds of thousands thai suoeambed
10 tie subsequent famine and the many
hundreds slain By marandsrs and hun-
aer-crmRed oAnnihmla