The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-02-19
PHOTOGRAPHY OF SOUTHERN
APPALACHIAN REGION
Abstract From Water Supply and
Irrigation Series, U. S. Geolog-
ical Survey.

Washington. D. c., Feb. lo.-In the
series of Water Supply and Irrigation
Papers, the United States Geological
Suryey, Mr.. F. Il. Newell, Hydro
grapher in Charge, has now in press
Nos. 81 and 63. being Parts | and II
OF the photography of the Southern
Appalachian Mountain Region. by
Mr. H. A. Pressey. This great moun-
tain system stretches from Maine
southwesterly for nearly L300 miles,
terminating in northern Alabama.
From the Potomac south the ranges
are higher and broader than IN
Pennsylvania. They spread ont into
the Blue Ridge, the Shenandoah, the
Alleghany, and the Greenbriar noun
tains, extending with broad, and fertile
valleys between. in nearly parallel
lines through Virginia and West Yir-
ginia into North Carolina and Ten
nessee, and eliminating in the Iron
and the Great Smoky ranges, the great
mountain region Of the southeastern
states. In this mountain mass 63
peaks equal or exceed a height of 5000
feet; 25 peaks are higher than Mount
Washington; and 2S8 peaks are over
5000 feet. From North Carolina and
Tennessee the ranges, leaving spurs
in South Carolina, turn more west
ward through Georgia and Alabama.
and sink into the hills OF the Gulf
Watershed. This great mountain
system form the backbone and water
shed of the eastern part Of the United
States. The greatest masses and the
highest peaks are IN western North
Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, which
region may be- considered high
plateau. bounded west by the Smoky
Mountains and east by the Blue
Ridge. These ranges, almost touching
on the north, part company, and then
almost come together again in the
south, thus enclosing this upland
plateau which has maximum width
of 55 miles and an area of about 1000
square miles.
= The region is we'll watered. The
main digide of the river systems IS the
Blue Ridge. The states Of Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina. .GeoF-
gia, Alabama, Tennessee, and West
Virginia are partially Watered by
rivers rising in mountains near the
North Carolina and Tennessee state
line. One Of the principal tributaries
Of the Ohio and one of the largest
feeders of the Mississippi head in the
same mountains, and the region may
Justly be termed one of she chief wa
tershed of the United States. Grandfa-
sher Mountain, at the junction of
Wstauga, Mitchell, and Caldwell
counties in North Carolina, probably
the most massive OF the Southern Ap-
palachians, mag beAtaken as the cen
tar of this watershed. Thence the wa
ters pour north, east, sogth, and west.
From the many springs ON the south
ern slope Of Grandfather Mountain
aow soma Of the headwaters Of the
Gatawba, which, rising IN the Black
Mountains and descending in leaps Of
from 5 to 100 feet TO the Piedmont
Plain, crosses into SouGh Carolina
and, as the Waseree, passes on TO the
Atlantic. Flowing from this region.
besides the Catawba, into the Atlantic
are the Yadkin, Broad, Saluda,
Chatooga, Tugaloo, and Ocenee,. into
the Gulf are the Chattahoochee and
the Coosa into the Mississippi are
New River and the Tennessee. From
the western slopes of the Blue Ridge
how the heaawaters Of the great Ten
nessee River system, as do its larger
tributaries, the Holston. the Nola-
chucky, and the French Broad.
The scenery of the southern Appala-
chan region is the grandest in the
eastern states. The mean annual tenn
perature varies from nearly 60 degrees
F. at Salisbury (760 feet), east of
the mountains, % degrees F. at
Linnville 1880 feet, the latter being
the mean annual temperature of Boston
or Chicago Tue annual rainfall is
copious, especially on the eastern
slopes of the mountains. At High
lands, in Macon County, the annual
normal preci cipitation is about Y
inches: at Asheville it is about ~
inches.
Notwithstanding the inroads that
have been made on the forest that
once covered nearly the whole of these
mountains, nowhere in the United
States is there an equal area of land
covered with so great variety of
valuable timber. The walnuts,
tulips {poplars), and oaks grow to
almost incredible sizes. White pine
occurs in large tracts. laundering on
a large scale has been carried on for
only a few years, but is very destruc
tive. Some of the companies saw any
thing that will make plank. In the
case of the bark gatherers, the waste
fitness is even more deplorable and
ruipous. This section is comparative
" free from forest fires. a number
Of railroads run into this region; but
the transportation facilities and the
HIGHWAYS are very poor. Slash dams
are much used in sending timber
downstream. The soil is generally
deep and fairly fertile even to the
mountain tops; but it washes easily
- ernosad. The entire region is