New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1896-04-22
FREAKISH SIlRE.AM MS.

Ill1AAlD1 Dl-h1lAIl0.
REMARKABLE CHARACTERISTICS or.
SOME LARGE RIVERS.
The Mississippi No Longer Holds First
Place In North America-A River Of
Writing F1uid-Wonderful Channel of
.China's Sorrow. &
It is a recognized fact in science that
!; very few great rivers have been thor
oughly explored by going up stream.
For nearly 1000 years travellers and ex-
plorers endeayored to discover the
sources Of the Nile by ascending that
wonderful river. But by the time they
had reached the difficult part Of the
stream their supplies and energy were
exhausted, and they could go no farther.
It is only by seeking the sources Of
rivers by overland routes that explorers
meet with success. TWAS in this man.
ner that Henry M. Stanley traced the
route Of the Kongo in Africa. In this
way of procedure Frederick Schwatka
and Spoke found the secret of the river
Nile -
One OF the most curious rivers that
has come to the knowledge Of men is
the Webbe Shebeyli, of eastern Africa,
deep and rapid stream, Astounding in
strange fish and ferocious crocodiles.
Although it flows for hundreds of miles
tI,vo 1eph Ic tI,o
ume Of water never reaches the sea. A
short distance north Of the equator the
river is lost in a desert region few
miles from the Indian ocean.
Some Of the more recent explorers Of
Alaska and British America claim that
the Mississippi can no longer be regard
ed as the largest river on the North
American continent. This distinction
is claimed for the great Yukon river.
According to Ivan Petroff, who spent
over two years in Alaska, collecting
materials for the last census, the Yukon
empties into Norton sound about one
third more water than the Mississippi
pours into the gulf Of Mexico. The Yu-
kon basin comprises the larger part Of
northern Alaska, and 600 miles from
its mouth the river is a mile in width.
Many centuries before it was discovered
by white men it very likely served as
the water highway into the interior,
for tribes that we believe to have crossed
from Asia to the American continent
The Yukon river is over 1900 miles in
length.
Travellers report that in Algeria there
exists small stream which the chem
istry Of nature has turned into ink It
is formed by the union Of two rivulets,
one Of which is very strongly impreg-
mated with iron, while the other,
meanderipg through a peat marsh, i'm
bibes large quantities Of gallo acid
Letters have been written with the nat
ural compound Of iron and gallo acid
which forms this small, yet wonderful,
stream.
The Rio de Vinagre, in Colombia, is
a stream the waters Of which, by adj
mixture with sui phuric acid, become so
sour that the river has been appropri-
ately named the Rio de Vinagre, or
Vinegar river
The Orange Or Garieh river, in south
ern Africa, rises in the mountains which
separate Natal from the Orange River
Free State. The length of this stream is
1000 miles Its banks abound in vari-
GUS valuable woods, and around it are
found rich copper ores. In this stream
are many varieties of fish, which are
found until the river passes through a
rocky region containing copper, below
which the water is said to be poisonous,
almost instantly killing the fish that
venture near it,
"China's Sorrow" a curious name
for river, is the title bestowed upon
the great Hoang Ho, which rises in the
mountains Of Tibet and follows a won
derfully circuitous channel for 2, 500
miles to the Yellow sea. The wayward-
ness of this mighty volume of water
makes the river constant source of anx-
iety and danger to the 10000, 900 of
people inhabiting the central plain
Asia. It is known to have suddenly
changed its course nine times It has
moved it's mouth four degrees Of lati-
tude each time, emptying it's vast floods
in different directions, and finding a
new channel for itself where scores of
towns and villages have stood The
river has greatly changed the physical
character Of wide area, converting fer
tile regions into sandy desert or max
ing shadows of them Whether it is
within the power Of modern science to
save this great plain from disastrous
overflow and changes Of the rivers bed
is a question which during late years
has been widely discussed, especially in
the scientific circles Of Paris and Lon
don.
Another remarkable river is the In
dus, a great stream in Hindustan. 1t
rises in Tibet, and it's course is won
derful one. On reaching Sussi, it's most
northern point, it turns southwark, loses
itself in the hills and reappears at Takot
in Kohistan. The Indus is ZOO miles
in length. After receiving the waters Of
many tributaries it's channel grows mar
row, and here it is divided into many
channels, some Of which never return to
the parent stream. It abounds in fish
and crocodiles '5
That classical river, the Ganges, is
n1.ratin IL, ito oo,rco lilo %ho Homo III