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TUB OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 23. 1008.
OVERFLOW OF RIVERS
CAUSES GREAT LOSSES
Tremendous Damage Done Each Year Especially in Mid-
die West Havoc of Eloodi of , 190-Waste of Vai-
liable Resources.
By FREDERIC J. RASKIN.
XCopyright. X908, by Frederic J. Haskln.)
The recent devastation of cities
and farms by the waters of the Ohio,
lrnnAt TaA nt ICnwt rivers nlapaa
more TiTiaiy uviurs uo mo uti mat
the people" of the United States lose
by flood each year aa average of
$100,000,000.; Two weeks ago the
12,000 Inhabitants of Armourdale, in
Kansas City's packing house district,
had to abandon, their homes as tha
. . I , I . H iv. v
water backed In. Down tne vauey or
the Big Sioux 100,000 acres of farm
land were laid waste the early part
of June. .Cedar City, Mo., saw its
population move out en masse when
the Missouri river left, Its banks on
June 14. Two thirds of the bottom
lands within sight of Jefferson City
were under water, with wheat fields
swamped in from six to 18 Inches
of water a million dollars loss to
farmers. The usually, harmless lit
tle Saunganunga surrounded Topeka
with water on Jane 13, and wrought
havoc next only, to that of the flood
of 1903. ' .
, The Columbia, encouraged by heavy
rains and melUn snows In lta liMd
waters, rose until the pumping station
cf Wenatchee, Wash., was carried away,
and lumber Interests , were greatly
threatened. m jtmpona, mb -sha,
and ita tributary, the Cottonwood,
brought the worst flood that section
!)ias experienced. The tar northwestern
tlood plain suffered most. Continued
rain and anow of early June days set
the rivers and creeks rushing from
'their banks, telephone and telegraph
'communications were cut off and trains
on the Northern Pacific were tied up
for 10 ' days, ; Anaconda, Butte , and
iHelena were cut off from the rest
f the world, until the old-time pony
'express was revived to meet the situa
tion. Mines In that region were closed
mud business operations In the city
suspended. At Missoula a.g-iantmill
was injured to the extent of ISO, 000 or
more, and communication with Spokane
cut off for days. . . ,
And so on through the list of floods
that hare recently swept a wide area
f the country in the west, the lowlands
of Arkansas and Texas, the valleys of
the Ohio and of the rivers on the At
lantic slope. In the trail of each over
flow has come loss of property In the
: shape of crops, homes and stock, and
sometimes loss of life. In the trail
of all has come a greater and a more
abiding loss In the shape of eroded
mountain and hillsides, oorraded river
banks and silt-choked river beds. And
greatest of all has come the great waste
of water that rushes unimpeded toward
the seas, depriving the earth of the
moisture it needs for the summer and
fall crops, defrauding the rivers of
the Water necessary to maintain . that
van current and deDth throughout the
years, eo necessary to ' the support of
that great trafflo which the nation
hopes to see on her inland waterways.
Deplorable . Wast. j
AIIU vim Ul'lWI U W ...... B -,
the thing which Is a sad commentary
on our national thrift and Intelligence,
Is that the greater part of this great
waste and Incalculable loss Is our own
fault. The headwaters of these over
flowing rivers He among the moun
tains which, in the beginning of things,
a wise creator set with forests that
were designed to. conserve the winter
snows and vernal ' rains, and then re
lease them later through underground
springs and rivulets to the thirsty val
leys below. ' The river courses lay
through plains set with -trees ana un
dergrowth that would hold the water
from an overflow and keep. It safe In
the tDoncre of fallen leaves, the roots.
end old fogs, until such a time as the
winds or tne soil asicea it again.:
Man, In his misguided Idea, of pros-
rerlty, is denuding the slopes of their
rees aa rapidly as human and mechani
cal agency can eriect it, ana when tne
nows and heavy rainwater find no
abiding places, as in olden days, ana
rush down the valleys to bring death
and destruction In their wake, this same
man stts and wonders at the dispensa
tion of a providence that will so inter
fere with his material prosperity and
happiness! As the first settler of the
country, the white man began the work
of deforestation as a protection to his
home from Indian ambush, and as a
means of acquiring tillable land. Later,
be did It to acquire needed building ma
terial, fuel, etc. :
' Xa Three Centuries.
In the three centuries of his progress
S ad axe man and pathmaker for com
merce, he has in his lsrnorance increased
the flood evil from a practically neg
ligible volume to Its present startling
strength. With Old World lessons in
flooded areas below naked hills fresh
in his mind, he has nevertheless proved
little better than his Indian neighbors.
It was the Indian who first deprived
America of Dart of her forests. Scien
tists tell us that the great prairies of
the west were once foreBt lands, from
which the prehistoric American burned
the vegetation wiien gathering . nuts,
destroying trees on 1 countless acres
through countless centuries. At the
Restaurant
COB3T2S TH33LD AJTO COUCH STS.
OFXJT DAT ABO WIGHT
. Dinner From. 11 a. m, to S p. m.
Chicken Soup. Free With Ma!s
Lettuce 10V . "Sliced Tomatoes" 10s4
Chicken fealad, Mayonnaise
Dtesuing . ................. .20
Fried Razor Clams. ... 15,
Fried Halibut .i ........... . .'.154
Fried Shad , 154
FTled Tenderloin of Sole, Tartar
Sauce .. ( .154
Fried Salmon .. . . , .. . . .. , 204
polled Mackerel. Drawn Butter... 30e
teamed Little Neck Clams. . .204
Clnm Boullllon, with Toast.. . ...154
Hoi led . Bocf Tongue and Spinach, ,204
t hicken Pot Pie.., .,...30o
Scrambled Calves'. Brains, i-. 254
J'orJt Spare Ribs and New Cabbage, 204
Veal Kaunage and Cauliflower,;.;. 204
Olympia Oyster Patties. . u, .. . 254
Cmall Tenderloin Steak ald Onions 254
Cold Ham and Potato fluted. yv.204
Pork Tenderloin, New Potatoes. , 254
fhort Ribs Beef Spanish 204
Piokled Pigs' Feet and Potato -
PaHd ... . . . . . .........,.. .204
Codfish In Cream..., .,-.15
orneJ Beef Hash nnd Egg;j,4,.154
Jee.f 6tew and . Vegetablus. i-,. '.154
pork end- Beans.-;-. ... .... .iv,. if 154
Half Spring Chicken, on Toast..,. 50e
J:omt Chi-ken with Pressing. S04
l-.oant Veal with Pressing. ....... ..204
3 ;odt Pork with Pressing. ...., .204
lioant J-Jeef with Brown Uravy.r, ,le
) oast painb with Mint Sauce. .,..204
F li'd incumbers , . . . . , .......... 104
(rvo tJntons ..................... &C
jtK.,iwH.s 54 ' Plcklod Beets 54
Nnw 1'otaioes In Cream..., ...... ...54
Nfw ('Hhhage .......... f ......... 54
f !itiwl.crrlts snd Cream. .i , 1 04
1 ii Itasp1ierrls and Cream. ... .u 04
((niwlxrrv ihort Cake .....,104
Urswberrv lee Crfm 10
Ciiife, Kread snd Hutter and Potalows
f With All Mesls.
j IMnlng Room for Jjidios .
iPtimcr iioin 11 a, . to p. m, i
foot of the Appalachians the flames
paused, because the vegetation was
damper there and less easy to destroy.
With the increase In floods comes the
yearly Increase In danger to the ripar
ian cities of the nation. The earliest
cities were naturally built' on water
ways to secure the needed transporta
tion facilities. Eighteen of Illinois 31
biggest cities are on rivers, IS of In
diana's 18 biggest ones, nearly all the
leading onen of Missouri, and two-thirds
of those of Pennsylvania. Over half
the population of Iowa is riparian, and
in Olilo there are not over a half dozen
big cities In the uplands. Of 355 cities
lying below the "fall line" of eastern
rivers between New England and the
100th meridian,. 104 degrees, with an ag
gregate population of about 6,000,000
are river towns. All these cities,
through their churches, pray weekly for
deliverance from war pestilence, fire,
flood and famine, and through the ex
ercise of modern Invention and discov
ery havs proved their ability to suc
cessfully combat all but one. The flood
problem hps not been met and grows
bigger every year.
Dwellers by aUvera,
Dwellers In these river towns and In
the valleys have learned to expect a
flood at periods of three, five, or, at
most, ten years. The more Intelligent,
those who have really awakened to the
gravity of the situation, are asking gov-!
eminent aid In defending themselves
against these floods. They ask for
great Storage reservoirs at the head-1
waters of the principal rivers, where
the surplus from tiie thaws and spring
rains can be held and sent down the
rivers later on, -in the west, diverted
to the Irrigation projects. j
They ask for the building of levees
and cut-offs on flood plains as a tem
porary measure, but above all they are
asking for a preservation of the for
ests on mountain and hill, and a careful;
reforesting of all denuded slopes. I
The total area of the watershed of
the Mississippi Is 1,269,000 square
miles, and during great floods It dis
charges 2,000,000 cubic feet of water
every second. It carries an alluvial de-
Fostt that nas formed new land from
orty feet deeo at Omaha to 300
feet, deep at New Orleans, cover-,
Ins 80.000 sauare miles, a surface
the size of the state of Montana; with
an average of 170 feet of alluvial soil,
and using material stolen, unchallenged,
from the hills and farm lands. The
yearly decrease of the habitable part or
the whole earth la reckoned at . 2,600
square miles. It goes to the seas In
the form of silt and much cf It can be
charged to man's carelessness.
Causa of noods.
Floods come from early SDrlnr rains
falling on frosen ground, from the form
ing or sudden ice gorges in streams.
from unusual local rainfalls, from land-'
slides, and like phenomena, but the usual
ones come rrom the lack or means for
holding the early spring waters on the
mountain, siaes. i ne iiooas or tne Mis
souri and Mississippi usually last
longest, sometimes from January to
July, because of the slow advance of
the sun over the widely diversified head
waters. Those of the Ohio, "the most
terrible on the earth's surface," are
usually precipitated suddenly by the re
leasing oi an tne snows at once in tne
headwaters which lie parallel to the
equator. The water released, forms a
volume 100 feet high, 600 feet wide
and 200 feet long, to be hurled sud
denly at civilization.
Last spring the loss caused by the
,Ohio floods aggregated over 1100,000,
000, about one fifth of the sum that
congress would have to appropriate to
purchase the whole Appalachian system
of river hea 1 waters, and establish
enough reservoirs to hold the spring
surplus, and protect billions of dollars
worth of property Indefinitely. The geo
logical survey shows that the flow of
1,650 square n lies, or thirty-five per
cent of the V-aWnge area of the Monon
gahela can in stored, and released In dryi
weather to Increase the depth of the
channel six feet, and Incidentally protect
Pittsburg. Fores tat Ion there and on the
other watersheds of the east would
cause a storage of from four to six
Inches more water annually. A mini
mum of 2,900,000 horse power Is de
veloped In these headwaters everv vear.
and, according to the geological survey,
fifty per cent or more Is available for
economic uses and would bring a rental
of S2S.000.000. Br storing the snrina-
flooda and releasing them for deepening i
for dredging and improving river bedsj
would be saved. The government has !
Sttent 130.000.000 imnrovlnr the rivers!
of the Appalachian system and Is spend
ing 256,000,000 more, expecting to In
crease the 16.000.000 tons of freight
shipped annually over water routes to a
much greater amount.
Floods and Business.
Floods bear a direct relation to busi
ness depression, and the relation to I
human suffering property loss and1
spread of disease Is vital. During the
1907 spring flood, 100,000 working peo-1
pie In Pittsburg were rendered idle fori
an average period of a week, and many
were homeless. The floods of 1847. 1862:
and 1883 were followed down the Mis-j
sinslppi valley by cholera and other ep-!
ldemlcs. In the spring of 1903, 2,000 000 !
acres of Jand were laid waste In the 1
west and '$40,000,000 worth of property
destroyed. In 1901 and again In 1901,
the southern Appalachian district lost!
$10,000,000. In 1883 the loss to Clncln-!
natl alone was $1,600,000 and the
Mississippi valley suffered to the ex
tent of $50,000,000. The flood of 1897
cost the valley $15,000,000, while the
flood in the Monongahela valley cost
western Pennsylvania $1,000,000.
skeletons of former selves, for each na
tion in turn has given its forests to mis
guided civilisers. Northern Africa, once
having a climate of Our gulf states is
now ninety-five per cent aterile. Greece
is becoming more barren, Sicily is
typhus- Infested, France had been dam
aged to the extent of untold millions be
fore she Undertook to reforest her Mils
The Rhone, the Po. the Adlgo, the Ebro,
the Guadalquiver, and ' the Marltza,
localities were floods, almost un
known in the world's dim dawn, now
annually threaten to depopulate their
valleys. Storage reservoirs have recent- j
ly oeen tried by various European coun
tries to conserve the flood waters, but
all, with the United States, will eventu
ally be ftriven to the plan of Mehmet
All of Abyssinia who set out 15,000.000
trees on his barren Mils over half a
century ago to hold the floods and re
deem ls country. I''- s
LITTLEFIELD SCORES
E00SEVELT SHARPLY
'i (Special niapateb te The Journal.)
Chicago, 1 June 27. Theodore Roose
velt' and the Sherman anti-trust law
wera the objects of caustic criticism by
Congressman Charles , E. Littlefield of
Maine,, in an address delivered to the
member of the Illinois Bar association
at the closing session. yesterday after.
noon. Referring tenths Sherman law he!
it M7u pAToaieja m bd ciiurt 10 snow mat
all previous laws with similar provisos
had failed of their purpose. He charac
terlced the Roosevelt administration as
one of "proclamations Instead of per-
luiuiuiei in vn niorceraem or ins
law." .- '-f:
Mr. Llttleflelil said but unui .
vlctlons had been- secured under the
Shrman law since September 1. lftl,
a'nd continued:, . - .
; ''It may be that tha nniilitfnrir rll,
are lurking in every corner and that
.1, "' OI rt wealth abounu,
It this be true and they have been goi
ing about 'sking whom they may de
vour, the extcftt to which the. wlckefl
nave inns rar gone unwhlpped of Jus
tice borders upon the grotesque."
K'::iy-iTmT' ilk. . . , . .
7 v;-:
.. ' : :, ;v.., ': ,.-v" ' . ' " i Wm :
jj
Eilers Piano: House
353 Washington Street
Largest Dealers in Talking Machines and Records
in the Northwest and the Only Place Where
All the Different Makes Can Be Found Side
;by Side for Comparison and Sale." . - .
FILM
mm
. mnr run.,
MOTION PICTURE MACHINES, PHONOGRAPHS, RECORDS, SONG SLID, FILMS, ORCHESTRATIONS, ETC'
We SEUL ond RE1NT CHEAPER Than Any House In!the United States
Einipr motion -bgiMe ca
293 BURNSIDE ST.,' BET.FOURTH AND FIFTH. k Pf4or4E MAIN 8458
NOTE We will start you Into the Motitfn Picture Theatre business. Have several desirable locations. Motion Picture 'Theatres earn $500 to
' $2,000 monthly. START ONE IN YOUR TOWN. '
V ' ' :.
Illustrated above, includes genuine Edison Standard
Phonograph with neat black horn, one dozen genuine
Edison Gold Moulded Records Bottle Phonograph
Oil Oil can and one automatic brush attachment
sent free does not cost you a penny unless satisfactory.
Take no rlsksbuy only after a tree trial and
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send at once today for the catalogue Circulars
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That Will INCREASE Your Box Office Receipts, and No REPEATERS
WE RENT YOU FILMS AT THB FOCL.OWINQ RATES:
2 changes per week, 1000 feet to each change, including song service. $12
3 changes per week, 1000 feet to each change, including song service, $16
4 changes per week, 1000 feet to each change, including song service, $21
5 changes per week, 1000 feet to each change; including song service,: $25
6 changes per week, 1000 feet to each change, including song service, $30
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Rec'd. rx. . . ..... ...
AY
WIDE
Eilers Piano House
SM Washlnrton Bt,
Portland, Of.
Gentlemen Please send Cata
logue, Circulars, etc., your "free
offer" Edison Phonograph to
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. .no.. ...... .
ow
RATERS
Will Be Made This Season by th
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SOUTHERN
PACIFIC
5 J .
cam nr oaaon
- - .... i
FROM PORTLAND
OmWi
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Chicago $72.50 $87.50
SL Louis .... 67.50 , 820
St Paul 63.15 81.75
Omaha ...... 60.00 75.00
Kansas City .. 60.00 i 75.00
TICKETS WILL BS OIT IALS
June ,5, 6, 19, 20
July 6, 7, 22,23 '
August 6,7, 21,22
Ooo! for return la 18 flays with top--aver
privilege at ploasure within limits
REMEMBER f HE DATES
For 1st further infortnattaa al .
the city ticket offlce, Third sod Waab ''
In ft on streets, or write to .
WMM'MURKAY ;.
General Passtng-er A(nt.
PORTLAND. OREGON.
TEETH WITH OR
WITHOUT PLATES
our or cow nom
Wa eaa ao yon aatlM Orowa, Brldre
Positively Painless Sxtraetia 7rM
when plates or brldgea are ordered.
ensitlTe taetli h coots removea with-
on the least pais. Tea chairs. - Only '..
the most scientific and careful work.
BO TUU XM fOITUXS,
W A WISE An s ASSOCIATES .
" OaV yalBlass SaaUsta. !
raUlaa- Bid, Third and Vasalsftoa '
8 s.,m. to 8 p. m.; Sundays to 13. :
Painless Extraction, too; Plates. 4S.0O.
Both Phones. and Main 10l.
FREE
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Eromptly, painlessly and quickly,
all and sea us. -
Hours 10 a. m. to 8 p. m. Sunday,
' . , 10 to It. . ... : ;''
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FOBTU.1TD, Ok,
. 508 Keronaata Trust aids'. ;
( 1 iri-
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