Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1912-04-12
Official Paper of Ramsey County.
FLOODS AND BILLIARDS..

FLOODS AND BILLIARDS..
Whenever a blizzard strikes the
northwest, especially North Dakota, it
is displayed under scare heads in the
eastern press. North Dakota does have
som severe winter storms. The term
blizzard, however, does not create the
same impression in the public mind in
this state that it does in other states.
Here it is merely the designation Of a
snow sorm accompanied by a wind.
There it means a stor mthat carries to
destruction everything in it's course.
These sensational newspaper stories
are in nine instances out of ten the
products of cheap correspondents who
make a few pennies by knocking the
state. But that is neither here nor
there at this time.
Suppose we admit that we have biz
yards in North Dakota. What are they
in comparison with the awful calamity
that is sweeping the Mississippi valley
in the nature of hoods9 4 million times
more damage has been done by those
floods in the last ten days than has
been done by all the billiards that
have ever swept over Dakota since
the foot of white man first trod its
primitive sod. The suffering and dam
age from BLIZZARD is only temporary.
From the flood it is permanent. Dur
ing q blizzard in North Dakota the
farmer is compelled to stay beside his
cozy fire in a comfortable home; he
may have to con6ne his visits with his
neighbors to talks over the telephone;
ne may not be able to reach town; and
he may have to wear fur coat and a
cap pulled we'll over his face when he
goes to the barn to care for his stock;
he may have to give a little extra
care to the stock to keep it comfort
able, and all this may last three days.
Now look at the condition of the
farmer along the Mississippi river dur
ing the last ten days. His lands lie
lower than the natural banks of the
river. The floods soon get above the
natural banks and the only protection
against having the land overfown are
the levees. These earthworks are not
infallible and the Lateral pressure of
water, together with its seeping into
the soft parts of the embankment gives
the river demon powerful advantage.
Instead of the farmer sitting by the
coy fire and reading or playing check
ers while the demon RACES as he does
during North Dakota blizzard, he
must join his fellows and work just as
long a she has strength to stand to
strengthen the levees. His stock will
not only suffer, but if the levees break,
will be drowned, his houses and barns
washed away and lands ruined and
family endangered.
When the levee protecting what is
known as the Reelfoot region, covering
about ten counties, broke the people
fled to higher points of land and later
reached places of safety. But practic-
ally all the stock in the region was
drowned, and the farms are now un.
der from six to twenty feet of water.
Homes have been submerged and ruin
ed. The water is still flowing through
the break in the levee and will con-
tinue to do so until the river falls be-
low the bottom Of the break. This will
be three weeks or month at least. A
North Dakota three-day blizzard is a
day in June compared to that calamity.
It is said that the present food is
the worst in the historyof the river.
But memory is bad chronologer. In
1882 the flood was just as disastrous.
There have been others nearly as bad
since. The removal Of the, forests
about the headwaters of the tributaries
increases the flood danger every year
when the combined spring rains and
melting SHOWS produce the spring food.
We prefer North Dakota Billiards to
mississippi valley foods.-Grand Forks
Times.