Bisbee daily review., 1904-06-21
Moore Than It's
 Share of Floods
1903 HAD MORE THAN ITS FAIR QUOTA OF FLOOD, FIRE AND
 FAMINE.
Geological Survey of the United States Contains Discussion of the Various Phenomena Connected with These Floods and Suggests Means Mimi nizing Destructiveness of Future Deluges.

The year 1903 had perhaps more than its fair share of natural calami- ty-of floods, and fire. and famine. In the United States. during May and June there were three notable floods winch caused serious loss of life and great destruction of property-One in Oregon, one in South Carolina. and one in Kansas. A recent publication of the United States Geological Snr- vey, scheduled as Water Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 96. contains a discussloa of the vario $ phenomena connected with these floods and sug- gests means for minimizing the de- structiveness of future deluges The author of the paper is MT. E. C. Murphy.
 The flood of shortest duration oc- cured on Willow Creek, Morrow county, Oreon, Sunday evening. June If, 1903. It was the result CT what is popularly called a cloud burst, heavy lain storm Of short duration covering very small area and pecu. liar to arid regions The ficoi that rose as the result of the heavy down pour of rain lasted less than an hour, but in that short space of time one sec. ton of HePpner, a town with a popu- lation of about 1400. was swept en- tnely away, a quarter-million dollars worth of property was destroyed, and more than 200 people were drowned. The great loss of life was partly due to the peculiar construction of the houses in Heppner. Nearly all these houses were built on posts ct wH.. or stone, from which the flood lifted them and carried them away to be dashed to pieces against trees and other Instructions
 The South Carolina flood occurred on June 6, 1903, and continued for nearly 24 hours. In that time there was a rainfall of from 3h to5 iIch- es over an area of obout 2500 square miles on the southern slope of the Blue Ridge Saluda Mountains, includ- ing parts of Cherokee, Spartanburg. and Pickens counties in South Caro- 1ina and Rutherford Polk and Hender- son counties in North Carolina. This area is drained by three small tribu- Iaries of Broad River, known as the Pacolet, Tiger and Enoree. The prin- cipal damage wrought by the flood was on the Pacolet. where numerous cot ton mills were ruined and much rail- way property was destroyed.
 The Kansas flood occurred during the last week of May and the first week of June. It affected a much larger area than either the Heppner or south Carolina flood and was due to a storm that lasted nearly week.
 The United States Ge,.ogical Sur vey has fortunately six gauging stations in the watershed of the Kansas river and has, therefore, a comprehensive record Of the surface fluctuations Of the river and its principal tributaries during the food. The records at Law ence anu Lecompton, on the Kan sas river. cover period of zz years. The es..1Aa.ed How of the Kansas riy- CT on May 31 was 225. 400 cubic feet per secoud. In other words. If there had Deea g sto. age reservoir one acre ia area and z 1-2 feet in depth or. each seoti,4 Oi sne whole drainage area of the Kansas r.ver, the water flowing in the river on May 3l was sufficient to have more than filled all of them
 The whole river bottom was flooded, crops were destroyed, stock was drowned, wooden buildings were lifted from thelr foundations and brick houses erumbled and fell, railroads were undermined, and bridges were swept anay. Traffic in eastern Kan sas was almost entirelysuspended for two weeks. The property loss in Kan sas City, Missouri, is estimated to have been no less than $2z ,00O. 900.
 Anon he subjects considered in this paper are the effects of ground storage at cultivation, and of forests in reducing the magnitude of floods. The eileCt on streams of dams. of bridge piers. and abutments is dis cdssea; al.o the dangc. Of building out inTo dreams, thus narrowing the waterway md increasing the magni-