The Washington times., 1912-03-11

by the heat, for one thing; and then,
owing to the early melting Of the win
ter's deposit of snow, the Alps pre-
sented themselves in a new aspect.
Mountain climbers found II easy to
make accents upon peaks which had al
ways hitherto presented great Difficult |
ties on account of the vast snowtields,
scanned with dangerous crevasses, which
hung upon their TANKS These were now |
so far removed that II was practicable |
fora for amateur nat climbers to 60 where AL
Companied by the most experienced |
guides, dared to venture.
But as the autumn days ran on and
on new SHOWS fell, the deep-seated gla-
ciers began to dissolve, and masses of
Ice that had lain for untold centuries In
the mighty laps of the mountains, pro-
leys, came tumbllng down, partly in the
form of torrents of water and partly in
roaring aValanChes.
The great Aletsch glacier was turned
valley of the Rhone, carrying every
thing before It.. The glaciers at the
head head OF the r Rho1e added their con-
trlbution. The whole OF the Bernese
0berland seemed to have suddenly been
J. 'diSsolved like a huge mass of sugar
candy, and on the north the valley of
IInterlaken was inundated, while the
lakes of Thun and Brientz were lost in
inland sea which rapidly spread over all
the lower lands between the Alps and
the Swiss Jura.
the continual descent of the glacier
water burst its banks and broadened
out until Strasburg lay under water
with the finger of it's ancient capital
helplessly pointing skyward out Of the
midst of the food. Ali the ancient cities
or the great valley from Basic to May
ence saw their streets inundated and the
foundations Of their most precious ar
chtectural monuments undermined by
the searching water
Ihe swollen river reared back at the
| TrI n up Il,
and formed huge eddy that swirled
over the city of Bingen. Then It tore
! down between the castle crowned
| heights sweeping away the villages IN
blentz, lashing the projecting rocks of
| the l1orelei and carrying off houses,
churches, and old abbeys in a rush of
ruin.
1t widened out as it approached Bonn
J and Cologne, but the water was still
deep enough to inundate those cities.
| and finally 1t spread over the plain of
| Holland, finding score CT new mouths
through which to pour into the German
ocean, while the reclaimed area of the
Huyder Zee once more joined the ocean,
| and Amsterdam and the other cities of
! the Netherlands, were buried, in many
instances 10 the tops of the house
doors
West and south the situation was the
same. The Mer de GaCe at ChamoniX
and all the other glaciers of the Mont
loldhS idISt disappeared, SenulnB 1OOuS
down TO Geneva and over the DauphinY
and down into the plains OF Piedmont
and LCmbardy. The ruin was tremen-
dous and the loss of life incalcuIable
Geneva, Turin, Milan, and hundred
other cities were swept by torrents.
The rapidity of this melting of the
vast snow beds and glaciers of the Alps
was inconceivable, and the effect of the
sudden denudation upon the mountains
themselves was ghastly. Their scanned
and Cavernous sides stood forth gaunt
and naked-a revelation of nature in
her most fearful aspects such as men
had never looked upon. MontS Blanc,
without its blanket of snow and ice,
lowered like the blackened ruin of a
fallen world, sight that made the
beholders shudder
But this flood ended as suddenly as
, it had begun When the age-long ac-
, cumulations of snow had all melted the
torrents ceased to pour down from the
mountains, and Immediately the Coura-
geOus and industrious inhabitants of
the Netherlands began to repair their
broken dikes, while in northern Italy
and the plains of southeastern France
4 every effort was made to restore the
or course, similar scenes had been en-
, acted, and on even a more fearful scale,
; in the plains of Inuia. flooded by the
: melting of the enormous icy burden
: that covered the Himalayas, the "abode
of snow" And all over the world,
= wherever icy mountains reared them
selves above inhabited lands, the same
2 story of destruction and death was
> told
l Then. after an interval, came the yet
{ more awful invasion of the sea.
l But few details can be given from
lack of records. The Thames roared
: backward in it's course. and London
2 and all central England were inundat-
= ed. A great bore of sea water swept
7 along the shores of the English Chan
mel, and bursting through the Skager
= ! Rack covered lower n
= and rushed up the Gulf of Finland
l hurying st. Petersburg and turning ali
western Russia and the plains of Pom
erania into a sea. The Netherlands
= disappeared The Atlantic poured
= through the narrow pass of the Strait
9 of Gibraltar, leaving only the Lion rock
= visible above the waters.
At length the sea found its way into
l the Desert of Sahara, large areas OF
which had been reclaimed and were in
habited by a considerable population OF
prosperous farmers: Nowhere did the
sudden coming of the flood cause great
, er CONSERVATION than hcre-strange as
that statement may seem. The people
: had an Undefnable idea that they were
protected by sort of barrier from any
' possible inUndation.
IT had taken so many years and such
> endless labor to introduce into the Sa.
hara sufficient water to transform its
potentially rich soil into arabic land
that the thought of any sudden super.
abundance of that element was fal
from the minds OF the Industrious ag,
: rCultuiists. They had heard of the
inundations caused by the melting o.
the mountain SHOWS elsewhere, but there
g. were no snOw-cIad mountains near then
: to be feared.
:, Accordingly, when a great wave o!
{ water came rushing upon them, SUI.
o | mCdnted tWhere ii swept over yet unr =
>, deemed areas Of tho desert hy imClenst
. clouds Of whirling dust that darkeneC
\ | the air and recalled the old days of tbs
r simeon. they were taken completely b.
surprise But as the water rose hiGhe
= they tried valiantly to escape The.
. were progressive people, and many D
o them had aerOs. Besides, two or three
lircs of aero expresses crossed thei
country. All who could do so immedi
c atcly embarked in airshipS, some fleeing
toward Europe and others hoVCrinl
u about, gazing in despair at the spread
r ing waters beneath them.
II AS the invasion OF the sea grew NOR
n and more serious tljs flight by airshil
r became a common spectacle over all tn
n lOWer-lyinG parts Of Europe and in thu
British Isles. But in the midst OF it tn
r heavens opened their hoodSatcS, as the,
y had done in the New World, and thei
r. the aeroS, flooded with rain and huTleC
ir about by COntendng blasts of wind
-. dropped hutterod and fell by hundred
r, into the fast-mOunting waves The neh
70 ula was upon them!
In the meantime those who had pro
I,,l r,rIyC nfp L ind tpi,