The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1904-02-05
H DREAMS OF MAN.
some Wonderful PLANS for Changing
the Face Of the Earth,

the Face Of the Earth.
New York Press: There are many git
santic schemes in the world today which
are worthy and lineal successors of the
plan for building the Tower of Babel. Yet
IN an age when SO many wonders have
been accomplished it would be unsafe to
assert that any of the vast products which
haunt the imaginations of the advocates
are impossible of accomplishment or to
prophesy for them the fate which overlook
the tower-building experiment on the
plains of Shinar.
French engineers nave declared that it
Is perfectly feasible to convert the Desert
of Sahara into a vast lake, thus opening
to great regions of the interior
of Africa which can now only be reached
by long, tedious and dangerous caravan
journeys. They say that a large proper
ton of the desert lies below the level of
the Atlantic. and that by digging a canal
to let in the waters of the ocean the great
change could be effected easily and at a
cost which would be small compared to
the benefits which would accrue. II the
whole desert lay below the level of the
Atlantic the flooding of it would create a
sea more than four times as big as the
Mediterranean; but as the Sahara is. COM
posed of levated plateaus, mountain
ranges and depressions, only a part would
be covered with water when the waves of
the ocean were let in, and the new sea
thus formed would be an irregular body
Of water probably Of about the same size
as the Mediterranean. Great comercial
cities would at once spring up on Its
shores and trade and civilization strike at
once to the heart Of Africa. The Sea of
Sahara may never become a reality, but
In any event it is a gigantic and pleasing
dream.
The Russians propose, not to make a new
sea, but to improve an old one. The Sea
OF Azov, which lies back of the Crimea. is
a body of water 220 miles long and eighty
miles wide 1t opens into the Baltic sea,
and would be an important center Of trade
were it not for the fact that 1t is so ex-
tremely shallow that no o~cean-going
steamers can enter 1t. Even small boats
have difficulty in navigating Its waters.
Now the Russian government proposes to
bring wealth and business to the shores OF
the Sea of Azov by building a dam across
the strait by which it communicates with
the Black Sea of Azov, letting the rivers
which empty into the shallow body of wa
ter fill it up to a depth which shall make
1t practicable for large steamers. 1t is
thought that a heavy dam about two miles
long, with a great lock capable Of taking
In ocean steamers, would accomplish the
desired result. Where the shores of the
sea are high naturally they would be all
right when the waters rose, but where
they are low artificial shores would have
to be constructed, otherwise the Azov
might only be increased In area instead
of being deepened. 1t is a big undertake
ing, but the Russian government is seri-
ously considering the work. and detailed
plans have been prepared.
Among great schemes may be included
the proposition Of the Hon. Rollo Russell,
a member of the British parliament, who
advocated the building of immense walls
to increase the rainfall in sterile districts.
The walls We're to be SO high that their
tops would arrest the clouds and cause
a %downpour OF rain, thereby rendering fit
for cultivation lands which are now good
only for pasture or entirely Improbable.
Another member of the same family,
Lord John Russell, when premier of Eng
land, had urged upon his attention the
scheme Of digging an immense hole three
miles in circumference in the center OF
England. 1t was to give work to the un-
employed and was to go down SO deep
that the subterranean heat released would
be sufficient to furnish motive power for
all the factories in the and.
It has been proposed seriously several
times to put out the fires of Vesuvius by
letting in on them the waters Of the Med
lterranean. The experiment has been pre-
vented by fear that a gigantic explosion
would result, which would blow up Italy.