The Brinkley argus., 1912-03-01

7
 Dera Ghaz Khan. place of 1l,O00 inhabitants in the Western < Punjaub Founded 400 years ago by d great Baluch chief, Ghazi Khan. 1t has seen dynasty after dynasty Of rulers pass away-Baluchis, Kalhoras, Duranis and Sikhs-until the district. mainly in the possession of five Baluch tribes, settled down to peace under the British flag Dera Ghazl Khan became the headquarters of the civil administration, and under the shadow of strong cantonment the hourishing trade mart for river-borne traffic prospered exceedingly, and in it's buildings and places of religious worship showed the existence of con- siderable wealth
 But, at last, the Indus, which knows no fixed bounds between the gorge 1t Kalabaeh and the low rocks of Suk- kur in far-off Sind, and .wanders about at it's own sweet will, made up it's mind that Ghazi khan's capital had stood in its memory too long. Slowly. but persistently. it approached, some, times cutting to the north and some times to the 9south of the doomed town, but always eating its way pear CT and nearer. At last. a violent scoop, bitten out of the valuable culti vAted lands above the enrichment reused all to a sense of danger The troops were removed. and the garri- sons In further Haluchistan were strengthened. Then several protec- tive works of, different types were de vised, and bit1by bit a very large sum of money was spent Some years passed. during which the Indus made various and gradually successful at tempts to counteract the. power of man, for it wassnot to be. denied the path that itshad chosen.
 X. The last phase c6mmenced in the summer of 1908. year of very high flood. It's power. increased by the pace of the extra volume of waters. outfanked and cut through the. stone embankment. which, constructed in 1899. was the sole surviving relic of all the protective works. Once this de- fense was gone, the river moved in- land with great rapidity. The whole embankment. mile long. was swal. lowed up in 55 days. and the Indus, advancing still further after destroy ing the rich groves and garden lands on the outskirts of the town, fore shadowed it's real intentions by nib bling or one angle and sending flood round the low-lying. poorer quarters 1, at an abnormally late period of the season. This much effected, 1t sank quickly down into it's more sluggish winter channel. and did but little harm until sthe next food season of 1909. The Indus, however. does not work its wicked will by advancing in straight lines. but both in its larger and in its smaller movements it travels first by cutting bay inwards. and then by looping off. the projection that has been thrown out Thus in 1909. hav- ing brought It's channel directly against the illfated town. 1t remained practically quiescent there, while de- vouring voraciously all the gardens and hamets to the south.
 When 1t had quite finished this h. ward journey below the town. In the course of which It travelled a full tvo { miles al one place. 1t again turned its i attention to Dera Ghazi Khan. The houses 1t destroyed there were among the oldest and most costly, but the \ greatest width eroded was only 150 yards. Then September came. and with it the winter respite. The south end. which had suffered the most in the previous year. hardly lost house in 1910. but the destruction ranked from a short piece there to q lAreA area in the north. The Indus. however. spent most of It's time stralghtsning its course high above the town. and thus the catastrophe was not com pleted that year. Nevertheless, the Dit eroded was congested with humanity. as only varvS Oid. ynASan tn~us x~~