Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1907-07-17

HOW WATER IN the RIVER 10
REGULATED FOR HARVEsrs.
And Now Another T~enty.Three Feet
10 to BE Added 20 the Great Dam
at Assouan-Burlss Ale,
torle Ruins.

Every morning from . little room
OF great white house on the eastern
shore OF the Nile. At AssouAn. is
clicked by telegraph to Cairo the oues.
ton: How much water?" The an.
swer comes, 80 many thousand gal.
Ions less. A button Is pressed. the
water which flows under the iron
bridge al Cairo is increased or di-
minished some ten days later In ac-
cordance with the telegrHphic answer
and the intervening valley between
Assouan and Cairo has a little more
or q little less water on its surface
The man at the button may bring
Joy or sorrow TO thousands OF little
farms-it Is all according TO the mes
sage he receives
From the great white house there
extends across the river granite
wall or dam l6o feet high. Half way
up this wall. and stretching it's en-.
tire length. a line OF shutters opens or
closes by = pressure Of the button
In the winter months a huge lake eK-
pands to the southwark, which has
every appearance OF being a flood. for
In certain places. the tops OF palm
trees are discernible above its sur
face. and the SUBMITS OF inundated
ruins apparently mark the sites OF
sunken cities. AS the days 90 by
and Cairo demands more and more
water, the palm trees and the ruins
seem TO rise from their watery beds
until. IN June and early July. the river
flows freely with all its historic indo-
lsnce.
Still the cry for water is Unsuitable.
and now the $50 feet OF granite wall
will be heightened by % feet which
will double the power OF the man at
the button. and after that no more
palms or ruins will unfold them
selves. as the hot months come. from
the surface OF the lake The palm
trees will not be missed but what OF
the ruins: That is the tribute OF the
past which modern agricultural Egypt
Is called upon 10 pay
Just south OF the granite wall Is the
island which holds the amphibious
ruins Twenty-three feet of granite
now stand between II and oblivion. II
is named Philae. and IL is the burial
place OF Osiris A temple OF IA col
umns rises on its eastern bank. and
on It's western IL the great temple OF
Isis. begun by Ptolemy F%Siladelphus
and added TO by the Roman emperors
Its front is in the form of a propylon,
before which is an expansive court
bounded by two galleries. the column
sides OF which skirt the shore for $50
feet Behind the propylon are many
halls and chambers OF curious and fan
taAuc design. The whelming waters
of the winter months have already be
gun their work Floors have sunken,
columns fallen and walls crumbled
The twenty-three additional feet OF
granite will complete the work OF
devastation. Philae and it's ruins will
never again feel the sun OF Egypt
II was thought that the granite wall
across the Nile at Assouan. $50 feet
high. would provide perpetual irriga.
ton for the desert TO the north That
was a mistake But will the % addi.
tional feet 10 the summit OF the wall.
which will forever bury Philae. com
plete the work? VIII the man at the
button in the great white house ever
have the power that Joseph had To d.
rect. increase or diminish the flow OF
the river? Joseph had no Assouan
dam and no shutters 90 manipulate by
the pressure OF a button In what.
therefore did his power TO make Egypt
perennially fertile cOnsist2-N Y.
Times