FLOOD FIGHTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 359, 9 April 1910, Page 10

FLOOD FIGHTS.

INTERESTING INFORMATION CONCERNING INUNDATIONS. Dame Nature, when she chooses, can play the most terrible of pranks. It is only just over a year since she struck the world dumb with her great earthquake at Messina. Now she has visited •flipon France one of the most disastrous by which a country has even been devastated, says a London paper received by last mail. tl has been estimated that this flood —which probably will be knowii to history as "The Paris Deluge of 1910" -caused damage to the extent of £40,000,000. The effects of it must be felt among rich and poor alike for many months to come, and the superstitious «re connecting this disaster with the appearance of Halley's fateful comet. THE RIVER OF DEATH. But great floods are due to no such chimerical causes. Briefly, they are due to the inadequacy of the river channel to carry off the water poured into it within a given period. There may be heavy rains, sea-waves accompanying earthquakes, a cloud may burst, or the sudden falling away of rocks may let loose a great volume of water with unexpected suddenness. The bed of a river, being formed and maintained by its stream, is merely adequate to carry the ordinary discharge, for large flood's occur at too distant intervals to scour a sufficient channel for their passage. Consequently, they overflow their banks and inundate the adjacent districts. Perhaps the most appalling floods in the world are produced by a river changing its course, as, for'instance, the Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, in China, which drains a basin of over 600,000 square miles, and is estimated at nearly 2500 miles long. On no fewer than ten occasions this river has shifted its mouth, varying through a distance of 350 miles, the last change occurring in 1889, when it twice in the same month "burst its banks. The loss of life at each change is enormous, and amounted, ■in the fiften_ years from 1851 to 1866, to some millions of lives. The Yellow River has justly earned the sobriquet of the River of Death. WHAT THE MANSION HOUSE HAS DONE. Mansion House Funds has often been raised for the benefit of sufferers from floods in foreign countries. The great Hunagrian floods in 1879, when nearly £12,000 was raised within six weeks, was one of the most terrible on record. Through storms and rain the dams of the river Theiss gave way, and the town of Szegedin was almost totally destroyed. Many were drowned, and thousands' .rendered homeless. Out of 6566 houses, only 331 remained standing. A second Mansion House Flood Fund —the Prussian Inundation Fund—realised £3OOO in four days; and a third—the Montserrat Inundation Relief Fund £2OOO. In the former of these disasters the Elbe and the Vistula over.flowed, submerging over 170 villages. Flood-fighting is'almost hopeless work. rSome rivers have been provided with what are known as "movable weirs." which, while efficient in retaining the water when raised, can be entirely lowered or removed, so as to leave the channel quite open in flood-time, while this advantage is in many instances still further enhanced by a system of •warning, whereby timely information of the approach of a flood is telegraphed to the various weirkeepers, so that they may fully open their weirs before its arrival, and thus aid in facilitating its descent. By telegraphic intimation of the rise in the upper tributaries, and of the rainfall in the basin, it is possible to predict with remarkable accuracy the probable rise of the river at places lower down, and to afford valuable warning of a coming flood to the riparian proprietors. Flood predictions are regularly issued in the United States for'some of the principal rivers. But once the waters besrin to overflow the river banks, more practical methods have to be adopted. WHEN LONDON WAS FLOODED. A source of anxiety in flood time is provided by looters, who spring up in such numbers at times of great disaster, ■whether it be on a battlefield, in an earthquake-stricken city, or a flooded country. In the last case these dastardly cowards go about in boats endeavoring to gain access to buildings on the pretext of being engaged in life-saving operations. Once entrance is effected, arms are whipped out, and the premises quickly plundered.

So prevalent were these men during the great London inundation of 1841, when all the approaches to the Thames 'Police Court were under water, while Westminster Palace Yard and the adjacent streets, the Temple Gardens, and the Duke of Buccleuch's Gardens were also flooded, that on one occasion a genuine rescue-party was refused admission. "Come—come," cried the official, "yon may be drowned!" "Well," responded the owner of the house, whipping out a revolver, "I would rather be drowned than plundered and left penniless. Be off with you!" And the rescue-party were forced to depart forthwith.

PREVENTION' IS BETTER THAN- 1 There are three main methods by which floods may be prevented or mitigated. The first is by the improvement or the river channel. The discharging capacity of a river may be increased by enlarging the section of its channel, aiul by dredging among shoals. The second is by embankment—that is to say, increasing the channel above the surface of the ground by forming embankments Along each side; while, lastly, in certain districts where the land lies below the water-level of the streams, pumping operations are frequently indulged in. It. should not be forgotten that though floods are always temporarily disconcerting, they frequently produce the most beneficial results. In every flood a river spreads beyond its banlcs, leaving behind it when it retires a deposit of soil. Thus it gradually levels the land on either side, forming q flood plain. The soil of the flood plain becomes deep and fertile, and the flood plain of the Upper Rhine, which may ve taken as an ex-ample, is one of the sar- ■ den spots of Europe.