The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-13

low pressure storms which pass in
from the North Pacific or find a birth
place in the Northwest, travel east
ward over the Northern states and out
the st. Lawrence valley. They are
preceded and attended by unseason-
ably high temperatures and excessive.
rainfall The ground still Being frozen,
little or none of this heavy rainfall per-
colates the soil, but flows off the hard
surface over the drainage system into
the tributaries. The result of these
early heavy rains is most noticeable in
mountainous sections, and is evidenced
by the February rises in the Allegheny.
Monongahela, Ohio, Tennessee and
Cumberland rivers. The crest of the
early flood wave does not usually pass
Cairo into the Mississippi until some
time in April. at which time the high
water from the Arkansas and Red riv-
ers empties into the lower Mississippi,
and the latter river usually reaches it's
highest point.
AS soon as the ground softens suf-
ficient for the heavy spring rains to
percolate to any depth the floods in the
mountainous districts begin to dimin-
ish. In advanced seasons the floods
come earlier and in delayed seasons
later.
Heavy spring rains are probably not
diminishing in frequency and it is be-
yond the power of man to control the
clements or curtail the water supply
from this cause, but it comes within
his province to modify materially the
disastrous effect of floods by keeping
the over abundance of water within it's
channels. This is what we have done
by our system of levees along the Mis-
sissippi.
Andrew Elliott, surveyor general of
the United States in 1903, in his report
for that year, speaks of the recurring
floods in the Mississippi river. From
this, it is evident. floods were more
or less pronounced throughout the val
leys of the great river systems from
the earliest periods.
The building of the first levee was
commenced with the founding of New
Orleans in 171S. This levee was 5.400
feet long when completed. In 1928
levees extended twelve miles above
and thirty-five miles below New Or
leans. Even these were found INSULT
cient to restrain the flood waves pass
ing down the lower Mississippi, and'i in
1884 orders were issued to property
holders along the river to build levees
under penalty of confiscation.
The extension of the levee system
continued by private and state appro-
priations until the national govern
ment found it imperative to give aid
to control the father of waters" and
placed the solving of this great prob
lem in the hands of commission. This
was done in 1879.
The Mississippi to-day is confined to
it's channel by massive embankments.
which, in some places, are reinforced
by a second or emergency embank-
ment. The latter forms an excellent
protection in case of a break or small
crevice. The water is then held in
check and seldom finds it's way through
the second ernbankment. These levees
extend from the mouth of the Missis-
sippi to Cairo: the rivers above the
latter point seldom overflow their
banks. The upper Missouri and Mis-
sissippi occasionally have ice gorges.
which impound the water. and when
the break comes, freshets over a lin
tied section of country occur. The
greatest inconvenience in the Northern
region of the great rivers is drought
instead of flood.
Great uneasiness has recently been
felt throughout the headwaters of the
Mississippi because it was thought the
tributaries to that river were running
dry. There need be no serious appre-
hension. however, for there has been
no change in the geographical condi-
tions of that countrys to bring about
a diminution of the water supply.
The cutting away of trees and
shrubbery in a mountainous country
renders the valleys more liable to flood.
This does not. however. apply to the
open watersheds. where there is an
abundance of earth and channels and