The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-01-04
YEAR ago there was given .
description Of the extraordi-
nary attack made by the River
. Indus on the hapless town of

.
21.O0O Inhabitants In the Western
Punjaub Founded 400 years ago by
p 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 Ave
Baluch tribes. settled DOWN to peace
under the British flag. Dera Ghazi
Khan became the headquarters of the
civil administration. and under the
shadow of strong cantonment the
aourishing trade mart for river-borne
trafiic prospered exceedingly. and in
its 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
at Kalabagh and the low rocks Of Suk-
kur in far-ofY Sind. and wanders about
at its own sweet will. made up its
mind that Ghazi Khan's capital had
stood In its memory too long. Slowly.
but persistently, 1t approached. some
times cutting to the north and some
town. but always eating its way near
er and nearer At last, a violent
scoop. bitten out Of the valuable culti-
waited lands above the cantonment,
reused all to sense OF danger The
troops were removed. and the garri-
sons In further Baluchistan were
strengthened. Then several protec-
tiyo rf A.
vised, and bit by bit 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 was not to be denied the
path that it had chosen.
The last phase commenced in the
summer of 1908. year of very high
food. Its power. increased by the
pace of the extra volume of waters,
outflanked 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
.,
lowed up In IS days. and the Indus,
advancing still further after destroy
ing the rich groves and garden lands
on the outskirts Of the town. fore
shadowed Its real intentions by nib
bling of one angle and sending a flood
round the low-lying, poorer quarters
at an abnormally late period of the
season. This much effected. 1t sank
quickly down into its more sluggish
winter channel. and did but little harm
until the next flood 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 1t travels first by
cutting bay inwards. and then by
looping of the projection that has
been thrown out Thus in 1909. hav-
ing brought its channel directly
against the ill-fated town. 1t remained
practically Quiescent there. while de-
vouring voraciously all the gardens
and hamIets to the south.
When 1t had quite finished this in
ward journey below the town. In the
course of which 1t travelled full two
miles at one place. 1t again turned its
attention to Dera Ghazi Khan, The
houses it destroyed there were among
the oldest and most costly, but the
greatest width eroded was only $50
yards. Then September came. and
with it the winter respite. The south
end, which had suffered the most in
tho previous year. hardly lost house
in 1910, but the destruction ranged
from a short piece there to large
area in the north. The Indus, however,
spent most of its time Strengthening
its course high above the town, and
thus the catastrophe was not com
pleted that year. Nevertheless, the bit
eroded was congested with humanity,
as only very old Indian towns can