The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-04-27

| When April first arrives, as it did
this year, without the Mississippi river
having evinced an intention to 20 on
mighty riot OF destruction, those
who live III the shadows of It's levees
relax that tension of an impending
evil which grasps them through each
succeeding spring. Mississippi
Hood is usually the result OF repeti-
ton OF storms, beginning in February
and following one after another until
that whole Tast region between the
eghanies and the Rockies becomes
water soaked. and pours forth its vol
umes into the single channel to the
sea. So when April this year arrived
with general condition existing that
bordered on drought. the denizens Of
the lowlands felt secure
For food in the Mississippi; basin
Is the rule Of springtime rather than
ithe exception. Since white men first.
settled. along that mighty father Of
waters there have been many more
! seasons of flood than the reverse.
Then there are the two years in the
1 Immediate past. 1912 and 1918. which
i registered the high est stages Of water
| that the basin had ever known. and
there was the fear that this condition
might become chronic
When these mississippi foods are
unleashed there is set in motion the
most titanic force that this nation
knows. The tentacles of the great
stream reach out to the east and tap
the moisture that finds its way into
! the streams Of many Of the valleys OF
New York. Again they reach to the
west to the point where the SHOWS Of
= 1r,Ft -, 49,
OF the continental divide and to the
\ They are the outlet of all that vast
country between these extremes, and
thence south to the Gulf Of Mexico.
All the rainfall and snowfall of 1 .2+0,-
| 600 square miles finds its way into the
/ mississippi. Six nations like France
| or Germany could be laid down in
the region drained by this stream
| Great Britain, France, Germany. Aus
tria and Italy could be cast into this
region and there would still be space
for nation larger than any one of
them. An inch of rainfall in this basin
would cover the state of New York
| two feet deep in water. "a moderate
rain of three inches throughout the
Mississippi valley would submerge
Conn ecticut to depth OF fifty-five feet
heavy rainfall The Red river and the.
Arkansas bring in great floods from
/ the West. The Yazoo, the Tennessee
and the Cumberland are heavy con-
tributors from the lower reaches on
the cast bank The Ohio brings in
its mighty foods from Pittsburg and
the north. The Missouri reaches into
the vast northwest where rainfall is
generally light but heavy precipita-
ton and snow sometimes occurs. The
Mississippi itself drains the great CEN
trial basin In all there IS 1900
miles OF river that leads into the one
| channel.
Es# Il has never happened that food
has come down from the various trib-
f5utaries or tho Mississippi simutan
eously Such condition is highly
inlpr 1t is improbable that It
will happen for centuries to come. Y ct
/ it is a possibility. And should all
these streams concentrate their flo~
into the central channel at the same
time there would be a food such as
| can with difficulty be appreciated. II
is the thing that is most dreaded Ny
those who have in hand the super
vision Of the great stream.
The nannersin which the storms Of
I the MISSISSIPPI valley occur is FORUM
4 ate in that IT distributes the run-off-
4 Practically all the doWnpours that
are likely#to cause floods sweep across
tine area which drains into the Miss
tissir Cpl from the direction Of Texas
and exit to the norteast in the dfrec-
I ton OF Labrador. AS g matter OF fact
4 ocean, find theil, way across the
states of the west and are usually iirst
reported from Utah, Nevada and Ari-
iona. When they get into the Great
/ Plains area they find a peculiar con-
! In which direction they travel until
they reach the Gulf OF Mexico. Here
they are turned back and strike
II straight for Labrador and are even
I tuaIly lost IN the North Atlantic
\ These storms are usually accom-
panied by heavy rains in Louisiana
Y and Mississippi and here they contrib
ute their foods to the father OF vat
H ers. They work steadily north AMI
Northeast The Yazoo, the Cumber-
i5land and the Tennessee rivers are
VI filled with their downpours. These
waters start to the gulf. But bS the
time they reach the lower MISSISSIPPI
NJ the rains that base fallen there nave
i already passed to the ocean. Tn en- the
H storm breaks over Illinois, Indiana
and ONO neTe Is q 6IEd = 49, - ~
paratice level country which concen-
trates Its waters into the Ohio river.
This region is the mother of Hoods.
Fortunate 1t is again that the rains
4 have first fallen on the lower streams
for the Cumberland and Tennessee
and those further down have had
chance to empty themselves before tn
floods of the Ohio reach Memph Isl
4 Now If one Of these same storms
4 should reverse itself and travel from
Labrador to Te2a s, it would start tne
floods at the headquarters and woIid
follow them downstream. always add
ing other foods when the water Is
i already high So would the stage