The Washington times., 1913-03-27

The tremendous disaster to human life
and property in Ohio and Indiana could
not have been prevented by any human
agency, according to NJ. o. Leighton,
chief photographer of the United States
Geological Survey. and one of the most
eminent authorities of the country on
everything appertaining to the nations
water resources.
Appalling as has been the catastrophe
in the Ohio Indiana region, II is not less
appalling to contemplate that there Is
no adequate remedy against the recur-
renee of such catastrophes in the future.
Yet it is the Judgment of Mr.. Leighton.
who is amply qualified to speak, that
this is the case.
NO work that could have been built
by :he hand OF man could have prevent
ed it, said MIR. Leighton this morning.
"It Is one OF those things tina, no human
agency could withstand. Old Noah him.
self could not have dealt with a situa-
ton like this. 1t could not have been
overcome any more than the San Fran
cisco earthquake. II was simply de-
luge of water of unprecedented propor-
tons, and no reservoir system tnat mas
ever been contemplated in that region
could have afforded protection against
il. II was as if some vast power had
moved over the States OF Ohio and In
diana and turned loose great sprink-
inlg pot The water falls exceeded all
known records.
Can Only Repair Damage.
Such deluges as this, Mr.. Leighton
saws. come once in 100 or 200 years.
Several years ago, lie wOrke:? out
comprehensive plan for system Of
storage. reservoirs at the headwaters
of the rivers in the Ohio basin. These
We're designed 10 control floods The
hay. received much attention from en-
,;lneers, and tho Pittsburgh author
ties engaged in devlsing some inethous
Tor preventing the disastrous recurring
floods in that district nave approved
Mr. Leighton's plans.
.'But the plans with respect to stor-
age reservoirs which ! worked out,
said Mr. Leighton, were not design
I'd TO deal with a situation Ike this.
The We're intcnded TO deal with ora
mary foods not with such deluSe
as ;h:S.
SO far as | can see, there is nothing
for us to 90 with respect TO sltua-
tion like this. but to repair the damage
as best we can and then stand by anu
take our medicine. g1Uwing that sooa-
er or later we may expect the sam"
thing again, but hoping that IL VIII
not come within our generation. AS
a cold-blooded proposition, II would
not pay--I do not speak now OF the loss
OF life, but from the property side OF II
to undertake to construct a system Of
reservoirs and ievees such as would
cope with such a deluge and then TO
undertake TO subject ourselves to the
Inconvenience and cost of maintaining
il for the next hundred years or so
while waiting for this thing to happen
again"
Compares With Potomac Basin.
At the same time. Mr.. Leighton be-
lieves much good could be accomplished
by such a storage reservoir system as
wourd tend TO protect the Ohio valley
reeion. as well as other districts.
against floods of ordinary sorts. which
may be expected at frequent intervals.
Mr.. Leighton figures on a property less
In the present floods that NAV reach a
uuerter billion or more.
'.I see II estimated that the railroad
loss in the floods is s25.000 oO0.' said he.
i do not know that this figure is
correct. But II II is. that means the
whole property loss is about ten times
that sum. Our data on flood losses
shows that the railroad loss is, as a
rule. about 10 per cent OF the total
property loss"
a. showing the effect Of the dslugs