Evening star., 1915-05-16

1
brought the people Of the United States
| face to facs with their
The Flood annual flood problems
| this time principally
| 1IoDleM. in the southwest-and
| has raised anew the question as to
| what the Federal government Is do
| ing to prevent the yearly loss by swol-
| len streams Of hundreds Of lives and
millions Of dollars worth Of property.
| The fact is that in the past the
United States has done work toward
| flood protection in only q few special
cases. notably in the lower Mississippi
| valley, but has been gathering for a
| generation a large amount Of data
| which will be absolutely necessary as
| a foundation on which to base plans
| for engineering construction. interests
| in various parts Of the country subject
! to inundations have sought for many
years to have the government work Of
| improving rivers and harbors for nav
| igation extended to food protection,
and 1t now appears that the govern
ment is on the very brink Of entering
| this big and useful field.
| Aside from the work of levee con-
| struction and bank protection on the
| Mississippi. which has always been
| described as improvements for naviga-
| tion. the entering wedge seems to have
| been driven In an appropriation Of
| 100000 for combined navigation i'm
| provement and flood protection in the
| Sacramento river valley of California
| in 1910. This was followed up by
! recommendations for work directly
| toward flood control in the Ohio basin
made by special committee of army
| engineers that studied conditions in
| that region following the disastrous
| floods of March and April. 1918.
The report of the special committee
Ohio valley. which was under consid-
| Grafton by the House rivers and har-
bors committee, states the general
questions involved in food control and
lens that the United States will prob
ably have to face sooner or later
throughout the country. The problem.
it Is shown. Is not flood prevention,
since that is impossible. 1t is, instead,
flood control and the prevention of
damage.
Floods result, primarily. the report
shows. from excessive precipitation.
run-of and the Inadequate carrying ca
pacity of waterways. Less frequently
breaking reservoirs are a factor. 1t is
impracticable. in the opinion of the
board, to control precipitation or rum
Off even by extensive forestation or the
adoption of special methods OF plowing
Effective measures toward flood miti-
cation must instead be concerned with
the flow OF flood waters in the river
channels. Much of the damage from
floods. it is pointed out. results from
encroachments on the flood channels Of
streams. improvements placed on land
subject to overflow must almost in
evitably be injured. In addition, such
to the flow of the food waters. extend
the damage to property which under
normal conditions would be safe. This
is true especially Of abutments for rail-
road and other bridges, which in flood
times act practically as dams.
1t is emphasized by the government
engineers that the damage resulting
from floods is caused not by all of the
which rises above the normal flood
plane. The engineering problem in
flood control is therefore to carry off
the water with such rapidity that it
point. or to hold back enough water to
reduce the crest. The usual plans sug-
gested to attain the former end are the
maintenance of an unobstructed nat
ural flood channel. the Strengthening
out of the streams course and the
combining of the water to the main
channel by levees or embankments.
The holding back of a portion of the
Hood waters In reservoirs is advocated
in some cases. and auxiliary channels
through alluvial country. BY one of
these methods or combination of them
federal engineers believe that danger
| Of extensive destruction from floods in
States can be brought to a minimum.
| and It is believed that this can be done
at cost. considering potential losses.
to make it we'll worth while.
What part the federal government
will take in the work probably will be
determined largely by the next Con-
gress. The army engineers have rec
commended the prosecution of flood pro-
lection work in the Sacramento river,
involving the creation OF auxiliary
channels and the expenditure Of sew
eral millions of dollars. on the theory
that the work also will improve navf-
CATION. There is little to prevent the
use of this argument for all navigable
| streams. The military engineers nave
also recommended that surveys OF the
Ohio river be made with the view to the
preparation of comprehensive flood
control plan, and that rivers in other
parts of the country subject to de-
structive overflow be surveyed In the
latter group is mentioned the Brazos
river of Texas, one OF the streams that
have figured in the disastrous floods OF
the present spring. In the meantime
the government, through the geological
survey and other bureaus, Is securing
the fundamental data on which hood
protection work must be based by gath
erin1 readings of stream flow at more
than 1900 gauging stations throughout
the country.
Even though food prices may con-
tinue to rise in the United States as a
result Of the European war.
r.-om;o the dishes from which
Americans eat their food
wares. are likely to cost little
moro than formerly. This appears
from a study Of the bureau of mines as
to how unsettled conditions In Europe
and the interference in many cases of
military operations with exports are
affecting the ceramic industry in this
country.
Normally, 1t is shown. the United
States imports enormous quantities OF
both ceramic materials and ceramic
wares. The influx of manufactured
wares. which has been valued at about
| SIC, 900, 900 in recent years. and which
has come largely from continental Eu-
rope. has been materially reduced by
the war. The ceramic clays and other
raw materials. however. originate
chiefly in England. and have been COM
| ing in as needed at very little increase
| in cost over that under ordinary con-
ditions.
The importations of ceramic wares
l ~ tat ayN1 al