The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-06-13
ABOUT FLOODS.
Could Not The CITY construct Grauiie
bridge;
TO the Times :

TO me iWts
There is law Of nature which in
timately connects destruction with re
sistance-it appears 10 lie universal
The Armstrong gun Is case IN point.
As soon as .sbip-bIildeTs Oyercame ITS
force by doubling their plates, he ana
others set TO work TO Oyermatch the
ships hy increasing the destructive
mower OF guns. The contest OF de
.,ruction on one side. and resistance on
the other. will 20 on TO the end.
Let the late food symbolic des'
tructive force Shall We not aud ought
we not to overcome its fury by all the
resisting means in our reach : Floods
i'm all our rivers occur annually-gr
floods rarely. but surely. The greatest
flood ever recorded IN the annals of
VIRGINIA occurred in May. l17l. There
j, an obelIsk sliIl standing. / think, at
Chris Neck. the inscription Of which
reads. The foundation ot this pillar
WAS laid in the calamit0us year l'n.
when all the great rivers OF this c0un-
Inv were swept by inunuatiOns never
before experienced. which changed the
face If nature ami lrtt traces OF thelt
violence that will remain Tor ages
Stroug but true.
An eye-withess. who saw tins Hood As
il swept all the low grounds OF Rich
mOnd aud Manchester. .c1rroborates TINS
record. At the time he wrote the let
ter 10 the Williamsburg Gd,ef g, Rich-
mond was a village of three or more
thousand Inhabitants. lie tells Us tnat
all the tobacco warehouses were swept
D., the food and much tobacco II attd
away. That the river was full OF va.
rious debris. floating houses. dead
bodies Of people ami cattle. All the
lower portion of Richmond lwest oil
Eighteenth street was outside the cor
parate limits them, from Nneteehth
street To Thirteenth. was covered win
water. The flood swept ihe iase oi
the hill. then known as ShOcko but
it's de.truction was greater below the
creek. for there the chief bUsines oil Inc
town was done.
The following year the Legislature
apuoiuted a commission % select sites
/ for the tobacco warehouses. when
should be located upon elevations be
voud the reach of similar ana suDse-
uuent Il eshets. Hence it Is that ShOckOe
warehouse aud Warwick S and Byrd g
and possibly SeabrOok r and the Pubic.
were built upon ground suiiicienliy
elevated 10 defy even 20 great nood
as Deucalion The great Hood oc-
Cured before our forests were wei
cleared. before obstructing dams ard
ieities were built IN the James. ard be.
fore the narrowing Of the cbaunel. II
the same atmospheric condition were to
obtain in some other and future way
might we not reasonably expect 10 DC
visited with higher rise and a greater
calamity than that which beieii oul
people 10 M
What should we now dO-imitate the
Arkansaw Traveller and fiddle, whether
il rain or shine? No. Our city legs
lature should appoint commission ol
Ieneineers to survey the premises and
devise a system Of ievees that woolC
project from overflow the lairest por
lions OF lower Richmond. There IS s.
good mud here as there Is IN New Of
leans. Let this commission be empo~
cred 10 survey ShockOe creek an'
Mayo's bridge, and report whether
he feasible to cover the former, and Il
convert the other into solid structur
Of good Virginia granite. Severa
years ago we gave the Ohesa
peake and Ohio Railroad C0mpan.
$3.50 GOO TO build their tunnel unds
3 Church Hill. Was that gift WIS
one Yves II not procured by inter
es.ed parties Suppose quarter oi
million Of dollars had been voted by tn
Council to complete a covered sever q
Shockoe creek. or TO build mud wa
on the right bank Of the James, or |
: make Hayo's what 1t ought long ago
have been, strong way. or broad way
and free way to all persons-should "
. rot now rejoice that our money va
: not throw n away upon proiitless IL
vcstrlent
= CHAs. NJ. WALLACE.