Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-27
Might of the Mississippi
Fight Against Flood Shows the
Majesty OF the Father OF WstsrA
tfrom the Washington star)

The Mississippi. where the father Of waters was
wont 20 eNPend his surplus energies when the
warm suns Of the spring released the tons OF ice
which had ehoksd up his upper course and
tributaries during the winter season For the
Mississippi. despite the hopes Of scores OF engi-
nsefs, government and private builders OF hum
dfeds OF miles OF leyees. has again oyeffowed is
banks and inundated or carried away the homes
of hundreds OF the tilifTs OF the soil along its
shores. drowned their stock and devastated their
fields.
They must be content alone with the saiisiae-
ton thar the river has deposited four 10 six inches
oi silt over the lands. forecast OF more
bounteous crops. This was what nature intended
when the mighty Mississippi reached out over
the iowands each spring, But man, greedy for
the rich land, built great levees, cut the timber
from the shores aud permitted the spring rains
and melting ice TO rush down to the river and
laee along the ihousand.nile course from Cairo,
ILL.,, 10 New Orleans, where the flood once gently
spread out over thousands OF square miles, left
its plant food and then reeeded TO resume its
journey to the sea,
The race for higher levees is on again. The
next session OF congress will see the repetition of
the scores OF appeals for protection which fol-
lowed the disastrous floods Of 1912 and 1918.
Congress will aid. states will aid and the land
owners themselves will give full share and the
levees will so mp higher. Arkansas and Tennes-
see planters will build higher embankmenis, Far
seeing Kentucky shore dwellcrs will say: Our
neighbors below us have 42-foot leyec. That
means the river can not overflow there and re-
l'eve the pressure on us. Our lcvecs must go
higher
The War department has jurisdiction over the
rivers. so the popular impression in the valley
prevails that congress must build all the levccs
end the presentatves in congress in these
shore-lying districts are given to understand that
reelection depends on getting higher levccs.
The race goes on! Where will il end? sage
engineers ask When the Ohio disRorged mil
lohs of gallons OF water into the already swollen
Mississippi at Cairo, in 1912, practically every
lcvce below that point TO Memphis and on down
into Arkansas and Mississippi gave way. Even
the Ohio had forced its way through lcvee
above Cairo, some eight miles from its mouth,
swept across fifteen miles of low prairie into the
Mississippi, and for more than week the little
town in the triangle at the confluence OF the two
mighty rivers, the water level many feet above
its streets. was afraid TO go to sleep, while hum
drcds of its citizens constantly patrocd atop its
ieyecs. Day by day, however, the telegraph
wires brought reports OF new destruction south
along the course OF the river. and with each re-
port the citizens brcathed easier, for the news
of added ruin meant that Mississippi was per-
forming its normal function again and spreading
over the lowands, its high level upstream mean
time falling.
Hardly had the food subsidized than the rush
to Washington began Scores OF valley towns
sent their delegations. The levee race began anew.
New destruction was wrought the next year,
l9l3 and what little opposition had been en-
in congress was overcome with these
fresh tales Of destruction Then followed ten
years OF steady flood prevention and levee build
ing in the valley. 1t had held the Mississippi in
leash, although threatened in 1918, when the ice
again came. However, lack of heavy spring
rains helped the river carry off the great burden
Conditions were ideal for flood this spring.
The winter, was heavy. The Mississippi was
choked with ice from St. Louis north; its trbu-
tary, the Missouri river, likewise. Floating ice
has been running south from St. Louis to Mem
phis since January Then spring rains came. A
great torrent poured into the Ohio from the
Allegheny and the Monongahela; the Wabash |
aided, and heavy rains from the watersheds of
The Tennessee and Kentucky rivers gave the
Ohio a bankful at its mouth. The Mississippi |
,an carry off an Ohio bankful under normal con-
1itions, but this time the yellow torrent was met
,y darker rush of waters and ice from the
great northern Mississippi and Missouri valleys
Many schemes for meeting this great problem
IN the Mississippi have been presented, but the
evee building, as affording immediate protection,
las had to go on until engineers are asking
Where will it end?" 1t has even been suggested
hat the beds of the Mississippi and Ohio val
eyS III tIC lCNCC UuHuiHS ideS diS Siouuohy iiii
ng up and predicting time when the great
evees will hold the course of the stream above
he level of the lands. The levees in most in
tances are of earthen construction, except those
the cities. That at Cairo on the
)hio side is reinforced concrete based upon in
erlocking steel piing driven far into the ground,
nd estimated to hold out 60-foot stage of
sater.
The nine-foot channel project of the War ,
department., providing for the building OF {
rcat system OF dams and locks up the Ohio from J
IS mouth to Pittsburgh, primarily to establish
ear-round navigation, it was believed would
id the food situation, for hundreds of millions
+ gallons Of water could be stored in the locks
nd discharged gradually. This scheme. how
yer, has never been completed, although con-
ress has appropriated for many Of the locks, and
ONE have been actually CONSTRUCTED
Lumbermen have come forward with the sug-
eston that clearing the rivers shores OF timber
which once absorbed much of the water or de-
ayed it on its rush to the river, is really the
ause Of the great floods, but they do not seem 9
. have taken any steps to avoid this.
Wise old planters, some OF whom have seen
heir homes inundated or swept away dozen
ines by the river shake their heads and say: S
1T is as natural for the Mississippi to over
ow its banks each spring as it was for the Nile
biblical days, and no man-made levees will
old its waters back.
And the mad lcvce building race goes on in
he valley for thousand miles.