The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-06-02

natl. o.. 1T feet, February IL 1881; Csiro
H.. SD feet, February 81. 1883; Memphis.
Tenn, 81 feet, March 1921. 1887; Vicks-
burg, Miss, 52.3 feet, April Is, 1897; New
Orleans, La, 1915 feet. May g. 1887.
There IS a tradition that stage OF 81
feet was reached at Kansas City on June
20, 1914. cannot conceive of such an i'm
mense volume Of water at this place; but
as there is a tradition Of similar stages
at the same time along that portion OF the
Missouri river east Of Kansas City, it Is
probably not far from being correct.
The food question may be resolved into
two general divisions, cause and remedy,
both admitting Of subdivision into vari-
Gus parts each contributing TO a greater
or less extent toward the effectiveness OF
the whole.
The cause of foods Is Of course the pre-
cipitation which falls over the basins of
the rivers affected. Of the total amount
Of water which falls a portion flows of
into rivulets, drains and small tributaries,
finally reaching the main river. The re-
mainder sinks into the soil. is absorbed
by vegetation or else is evaporated. The
proportion of rainfall which reaches The
the sJl and the steepaess OF the slopes.
Were the soil is very dry and absorptive
as in the upper Missouri valley, nearly all
of the vate- will be absorbed, COMPARE
lively Little reaching the main river. n
the bottoms Of the lower Mississippi.
however, where the soil is almost ccm-
pletely saturated with moisture, and
where the rainfall is excessive. a very
large proportion of the water will be dis
charged into the river.
The steepness of the slope. Of the river
basins sIso exercises an important bearing
uron he amount OF water which reaches
the main streams. Where the fall 3 COM
paratively steep a much greater quantity
Of the water will run down TO the river
than Inf estlo Acknowledgements
than if the slope were gentle.
By far the most important source OF
these lower Mississippi floods is the i'm
mense volume of water which flows out
of the Ohio river with its numerous and
extensive and swift flowing mountain
tributaries on the south, and the slower
running and less important ones on the
north. ur:ng the flood of 1897, when the
water at Cairo reached its crest stage OF
SIG feet, on March IS. the discharge OF
water was about 1,650,0O0 cubic feet per
second, while at Helena, Ark, with
maximum stage Of 51.3 feet on April 4,
It was about 10000 cubic feet per sec
ond. This is about 1900 or 100000 more
cubic feet than finally passed Vicksburg
and New Orleans, and the difference may
be taken to fairly represent the amount
Of overflow, after deducting a slight Ior-
ton due to loss by evaporation and other
less important causes. This overflow IS
either distributed among the open swamps
or bayous or runs into the YaZoo and
Red rivers as back water, or lastly but
unfortunately not leastIy, breaks through
the levees or rushes over banks, causing
the widespread ruin and disaster with
which many Of you are familiar. I quote
in this connection from Prof Park Nor
rills exhaustive work on Floods Of the
Mississippi River" which was issued by
the weather bureau after the great food
of 1897. He says: "It is not. of course,
conceivable that a flood should occur in
the lower Mississippi from ehavy precipi-
tation over any of the great contributary
basins lin these foods Of the past quar-
ter century. we do not, however. find the
western tributaries playing an important
part. The great source of foods is the
Ohio basin, with its steep slopes from the
crest Of the Alleghenies, upon which falls
the heaviest rains OF spring at a time
When the normal rise Of the lower Mis-
siss;ppi brings the river almost 10 the
danger line from Cairo to the gulf. In
the greatest floods we also find that heavy
rainfall over the great swamp region
that extends along the Mississippi from
the mouth of the Ohio 70 the Gulf Of
Mexico, is an important factor. Third IN
Importance as factor in producing foods
is the upper Mississippi. which. while
never dlscnargtng volume sufficient TO
produce OF itself food, yet. rising later
than the Ohio, serves to proloug the high
water and thus to produce the overflow