Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-03-30
An Interview With the Head of THO Sig
nal Service.

An Interview With the Head of tke Sig
nal Service.
WASHINGTON, March -2eth.-General A.
w. Greely, Chief Signal Officer, furnishes
tonight fcr the California Associated Press
the following extended account of the
floods of the lower Mississippi. He says
that. whi9e Dunn's statement was not eX-
aggerated, he had no right to make it. The
present dangerous. foods in the lever Ohio
and lower Mississippi rivers result from
the enormous and extended rainfalls IN
the entire ,catchment basin OF the Ohio
valley during the lest seven deys of Feb
ruary.
In that week about IL cubic miles OF
rainfall occurred in the whole Ohio valley,
which amount conYeys no definite idea ex-
cett with reference to the fact that for the
same region there fell in thewhole month
of February, 1889, cubic Hiles of rain
fall which produced most extraordinary
and damaging feods both dong the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers.
Under ordiDsry conditions the food
would have subeided in the Lower Missis
sipi valley from the Goth of March onward
puttthe heavy rains fell frem the Sth to the
10Th 'of Mare6, amounting to four and 6
half cubic miles of rainfall in the whole
drainage basin of the Ohio river.
WAS dSSTdVdlcu OL
theNth of March, when the violent storm
which has done so much damage in the
States of kentucky, Indiana, Illinois aDG
Ohio occurred. The Signal Office put forth
the forecast that the coming storm woulG
cause rainfall of half an inch or more
over the greater part of the catchment o.
the Ohiosvalley and portion of the Upper
Mississippi river, and that in consequence
the food in the Lower Mississippi valley
would continue undiminished for ten day,
or more.
That the forecast of the river condition,
were notat all sensational is shown by tn,
fact that fifteen separate and extensiv,
.crevasses have been officially reported t.
the Signal Office by its observers, ant
doubtless number of other serious break
have occurred which are unknown to tn,
'chiefSignal Officer.
Six or seven of these breaks are of {
most serious character, as they have oc
Cured in localities densely populated. en-
dengeripg human life, and doubtless hav,
already caused extensive losses of stool
and other movable property.
As regards the loss of human life the tel
.egraphic reports already indicate that tel
or dozen people have lost their lives b.
inundation, and that many hundreds ar
in pecarious' condition and in great dan
ger of losing their lives by starvation O
drowning.
The NEST serious features from com
mercial standpoint is the fact that tt,
parishes of.Madison, Tensas, Concordia
Avoyelles and Point Coupee, which ar
partly inundated now, and which car
scarcely hope to avoid a general overflow
are among the largest producers of tn
country. If the food should terminate b,
the middle or last of April it is probabl
that ootton-crop planting could be made
but if it should be prolonged into May it i
doubtfal If crop of any considerable
amount could be grown in the mandates
districts.
1t is not probable that any very large
number of human lives will be lost, sine
the Chief of. Engineers reported to Con
sgress that seven steamers and many barge
could be supplied to give aid to those il
peril
The extended experience which the peo
pie in the overfiowed region have had By
the inundations in 1882 and 1884 hav,
been such as to render them familiar will
the perils to be encountered, and it is prob
able that the local authorities and promi
nent citizens have taken such steps as will
secure safety as regards the life of tn,
population, which is largely colored il
these districts. With reference to movabl
property, undoubtedly there will b.
enormous losses.
There is no immediate prospect that tn,
flood conditions will be ameliorated t.
such an extent as to allow agricultural pur
suits to be followed before the 18th or 20tt
OF April, and this contingency depends OF
the absence of storms and the extended
rainfall.
In the meantime, of course, it is probabl,
that under the present conditions the cres
of the extreme flood will pass Vicksbure
within ten or twelve days. This does no
necessarily indicate that the river will rist
atVieksburg, owing to the fact that tht
fifteen or twenty crevasses now existing art
simply injuripg one portion of the country
for the benefit of other portions.