Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-08-09

The Nile. without question. h the !,
most wonderful river IN all the world. l
Tho Nile. IN ~ importance 10 the |
very life of Egypt Were rs waters |
stopped there would be no Egypt. |
A. u la. this great river brings JOY or
suffering 10 the people In proportion
70 It's overflow. should tho river rise
only twcHsy-one feet, the entire val
ley can not be inundated and suffer
ing from drought results In part Of
the valley. Should the rise be TWEEN
ty-eight feet Il means ruin and misery
10 many from overlooking. But
rise OF 26M feet safely waters the en-
tire country and insures good crops.
Il may be interesting at this point
10 note why the water a. so many
fountains In different countries comes
out through the mouth OF lion. for
the use ~ the lions mead IN thus or
namentinE fountains began with the
ancient Egyptians 'rney regarded
the overflow Of the Nile as the most
important Of ali events, a. u meant
% them. life and prosperity. The
river always rose when the sun was
IN the constellation % leo or the
Lion. and the people believing IN as
trology. adopted the lions head as
the symbol % the iife-giying waters
81 the Nile" and had n carved In
their fountains This symbol was
copied by the Greeks and the Ro-
mans and from them Go as IL has
come down.
The width az the Nile valley In
Egypt n from fifteen 20 thirty miles.
The cultivated land ranges from a few
l.uu aIarhN UW
nine miles. except al the delta whore
It's greatest width Is 90 miles.
The Nile. including the tributaries
90 Lake Victoria, h over 1000 miles
long. The cause Of the annual mum
dalton. IL the tremendous rainfall
about Lake Victoria and the Abys-
slnlan Mountains. The extreme rainy
season at Victoria Is from February
10 November and In the mountains
from April a. September. Tho height
or the flood throughout Egypt Is IN
June and September. and October
when the water begins 10 subside. and
continues until June.
A peculiar feature OF the Nile
economy ~ that the Blue Nile. this
sohat and tho Atbara rivers supply
the water for the great inundatior
OF Egypt. while the White Nile fur
nishos the limited amount FOR the rest
81 the year. but not enough 60 throw
the river out Of It's banks through
Egypt
During the months from Decemhe,
20 May when the river IL low. the wat
or Is conserved by the great barrage
M Cairo. Assault Esna and Assuan an,
VI doled ou for irrigation as needed
The government spends some $40.
eco. 600 annually on the upkoep @
these big dams and dykes.
The Assouan dam (our most dis
tant point up the riVer) h. the creates
piece of completed engineering wor
% the kind IN the world. and was de
signed by sir william Willcock'
Work on this immense project wa
begun February ~. 1893, and dnlshc
December 10. 1909. The strong ma
sonry that holds hack the Nile rs on
and a quarter miles long, with on
hundred eighty steel sluice gates 10
controlling the passing of the waiel
n must needs be strong to hold up. a
Il does. more than hundred miles
the accumulated water OF the Nile 4
the Hood season.
Soon after the completion OF Ga
dam ~ MNh uihINNfltu AuHA ANf VIZ
was not adequate In height IL the
being about 90 feet in It's perpendicu
lar measurement. The with at IN
base is So feet and the top about 3
feet u was decided TO raise the wa
seventeen feet higher, a great under
taking. since the width must he prn
portionatcly increased 90 give IN
strength necessary to support the IRE
mendous volume OF weight added b
the greater height OF the masonry.
AZ explained to as by an englnoc
ON the ground the new concrete va
was built six inches from the old, AN
allowed % set FOR two years. With
the six inch space perforated iro
pipes were placed every lew inche
and the space In between was hlle
with gravel At the end OF the ~
years the perforated pipes we're nile
with liquid cement Which spread ou
into the gravel and when set, secured
united the new with the old and th
whole wall WIS then extended ~ fes
higher. The work was nearing con
pietion then We we're there year as
last March, and We walked far ot
upon the wall ana observed u. an
the machinery In detail.
Thus tho engineer sends out h
challenge 10 nature, for he expect
that strong masonry 60 be- uncon
promising In lis EFFORT 10 hold hac
the Niles mighty storage ofewater "a
hundred miles and more. spread