Grand Forks herald., 1922-05-01

snsd ,, Sr
this paper pabshd
FLOOD WATERS.
The people OF the lower Mississippi valley are
contending Just now with conditions such as have
confronted men periodically ali the world in all
ages. The imnutable fact which lies at the base
Of all the problems presented in this connection is
the instability OF water. 1hree-fourths of the earths
surfaceFis covered with water, and from the great
ocean reservoirs water is carried into the air
through the process of evaporation to form clouds
which carried hther and thither by the winds,
until through constant accessions from the original
source and lowering OF, temperature the moisture
content passes the point OF Saturato and the eN
cess is deposited in the form of rain, which may fall
thousands of miles from the place where the water
molecules left the surface. The water fall
ing on distant inland surfaces becomes impregnated
with the chemical elements of the soil through
which it passes, and. attacking the surfaces over
which it flows, removes some of their substance
which it carries downward in the form of suspended
matter AS the water reaches the lower levels the
velocity of it's flow is diminished, and part of the
gether with the dissolved clements is carried out to
sea- leaving the solids behind and the water returns
inland carry fresh loads into the great body of the
ocean.
Through the cooling Of the earth and the solid
flying and shrinking of its crust nature has created
great irregularities its surface. Great mountain
ranges have been forced upward. Great plains have
been tilted and vast valleys have been formed In
these latter water has collected to form the
Through the interference of water from place to
place nature operated smooth out the irregulari
ties which she has created. Were it not for the
petition of those structural changes which erect
mountains where great seas once were, and which
submerge the higher land, the mountains would in
the course of millions of years be worn down, the
valleys would be filled, and the entire surface would
be brought to a level. This process is interrupted
by convulsions of which the rocks present indeb1e
records and fresh irregularities created in new
places.
81 All great rivers operate similarly The rapid
flow in the elevated interior erodes the surface the
flow slacks in the lower reaches, mud fats are
ated at the points of discharge the channel is length
ened through these fats, and there is slow, but
constant building up OF the new ground and OF the Il
process is similar, it is varied by local condition.
The Nile for instance, rising in equatorial Africa,
flows in its lower reaches through arid country.
movements regular and subject only to Slight
variations The lower Nile food is annual event
whose date and degree are known in advance with
reasonable certainty. There years without
foods, and none with devastating floods. The peas
ant knows what to expect each year. His lands are
flooded with shallow water, imperceptbly elevated,
and richly fertilizcd.
The Mississippi flows through no arid territory.
Its entire basin, occupying the heart Of the conti
nent is subject to copous, but irregular rainfall.
The average rainfall and average flood height are
known, but the variation from year to year are very
great. The tendency of the population is to adjust
itself to the normal, and because in most years the
cultivation of the lands adjoining the lower stream
lis feasible, safe and profitable, farms have been I'M
proved, roads constructed, and cities built right up
to the stream. Then comes the exceptional year,
when heavy snow falls in the mountains, and deluge
after deuge of falls the entire valley Then
the stream overhows it's elevated banks and sweeps
inland, carrying destruction. and often death its
waters.
Control of the Nile is relatively simple engi-
neefing matter The behavior of the elements there
IS relatively regular and we'll understood. Control
of the Mississippi is different matter. By means
of reservoirs, strong and high evees with plenty of
channel room, and so forth, the ordinary freshet
( may be kept within bounds. But when in occa-
sional year, torrents of water let loose from a
!, million square miles of cloud, and all that water
seeks the readiest way to the sea, the engineer is
helpless.
If power were available IN unlimited quantities,
one might imagine the application of Hollands plan
| to the problem. The ocean is kept from consider
/ able areas of Holland by means of dikes, and the
country is drained by means of canals from which
( the water is pumped over the dikes: The appliea
ton of this practice to the lower Mississippi would
call for the building of enormous dikes back from
& the present banks providing wide and deep chan
mel with gates at the mouths Of all tributary streams
Then. il time Of food, these gates would be closed
b and the water from the smaller streams would be
s. pumped into the main cnannel i nat would work
theoretically. But the installation and operation
of the plant necessary for this might fairly be
pared the removals Of the Rocky mountains to the
other side Of the continent S5
sSWEALTHA AND IMAGINATION.
During the war and the period Of imitation that
q followed Il an utterly unfounded impression Of
Iwcalth existed in thousands perhaps millions Of
minds throughout this country. Prices had adj
8axanced Wages were high With the exception of
the saiaried class, where the response toabnormal
Scondi itons was slower and less marked than among
#0fheE gruups, incomes had advanced enormously.