The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-11-05
WATER III THE LAKES FALLING.
Some. hing VIII Have to be Done
Soon to Protect Navigation.

Some hing VIII Have to be Done
Soon to Protect Navigation.
Serious complaints are being made by
Montreal shippers that their boats are
being delayed in transit through the ca
nails owing to the lowness of water, and
that this lowness is owing to the falling
of the level Of the lakes. 1t is said the
water level in the lakes has sunk grad
ually for many years, and that it has
now reached q level when Government
must do something to remedy it or un-
dertake such works as shall secure
constant and steady supply of water in
the canals The changes in the lower
lakes were first noticed in 1888. Since
then great change has been observed,
She draught of water steadily, though
| slowly, decreasing. Professor Seiwyn,
being interviewed in Ottawa, said:
"There is no doubt that the lakes are
filling up, very gradually perhaps, and
! it lny be millions of years before any
serious change may take place in the
| larger lakes but III the shailowest, Lake
| Erie, which is only 1870 feet average
depth, the effect might be much more
serious at ~ earlier date. The reason
of the lake Iiiling up is quite obvious.
| When first | went up into the West, in
| 1878, found that the process Of filling
up had commenced, and in my report |
drew the attention of the Government
/ to the fact In my interviews with the
! Indians ! found that their legendary
! lore contained traces of their knowledge
Of the fact that the lakes were filing
up, and not only SO, but | found, going
/ back into legends to time ilumemorial,
that some time or other, perhaps many
generations ago, some of our great val
] leys were lakes, which have been filed
up. In this legendary story | have ey-
cry reason to believe, as my geological
researches tend to confirm it, and in my
own personal experience ] have known
many large water holes completely filed
up.
ION my sons farm in the West there
/ was a pond, with a stream running
through it, of several acres, which. in
1891, was some feet deep, and off which
this year he took Il magnificent crop of
! hay This filing in is increasing rapid
", and while much more rapid now than
in former years, will continue to increase
more rapidly yet You ask the reason
of this 1t is self-evident that while the
mass OF the territory drained by the my
Rad streams eff the West, all running III
to these ponds and lakes, was thicIlly
wooded, the trees served not only to
hold the water, but to prevent the wash
ing away of the soil by means OF their
| numerous roots. AS the country be
comes cleared, SO these safeguards are
removed, and after heavy rains the wa
ters pour down unchecked Off these
lands and, percolating through them as
we'll as running over them, carry with
the stream immense and ever decreasing
volumes of silt or soil. AS long as this is
is borne. along by the velocity of the
streams it has no chance to settle, but
when the rivers fall into the deep still
lakes the law OF gravitation makes the
silt sink to the bottom and gather there.
The same thing has been seen in many
parts of Europe, where rapid and impe-
tuous streams run into the sea, and thus
come the curious natural phenomena
which are now affecting our lakes.
When you take the thousands Of miles
of watersheds drained by countless
streams, all coming into the great lakes,
you can form some small idea Of what
the proportion Of silt, increasing yearly
with increased cultivation, being depos>
tied iii these lakes must be-"
Issac TerkowsISy, a Russian Jewish
immigrant on Saturday surprised the
inspectors in New York, who thought
he was a pauper, by taking off his belt
and showing them $aG, 800 concealed
] ia it.
Rain wizard Melboure has agreed for
large consideration to reveal his secret
of producing showers by artificial means
|. To A. cOmpany with n cauital of S1G0 COO