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president and the secretaries of war,
interior, agriculture and commerce.
Under this commission is the board
of river regulation. Seven of this
board' are appointed by the president
and constitute an executive commit
tee under which the"reawork is to
be carried on.
The essential feature of the bill is
the fact that it treats every river sys
tem as a unit from source to mouth,
It recognizes that destructive floods
cannot be prevented by any one
method, but that it is necessary to use
all methods in co-operation.
It provides for forest cover to pro
tect the headwater of streams and
hold back the rainfall in the natural
earth reservoirs; for artificial surface
reservoirs in the foothills to hold back
the flood water until needed for some
beneficial use or until the channel be
low can carry it off; for the drainage
of swamps in the Mississippi valley;
for the building of levees, revetment
and bank protective work, and the
straightening and deepening of chan
nels; and for the cutting of outlet
channels where the rivers empty into
the sea.
The great ends to be gained by the
constructing of this system of river
regulation are the prevention of
floods, the clarification and purifica
tion of water for domestic supply, the
aid to the navigability of streams, the
increase of water available for irriga
tion, and the development of an-enormous
amount of water power.
Immediately after President Wil
son's inauguration Senator Newlands
had a conference with him at which
they went over the bill, and' the presi
dent signified his approval of its pro
visions. At the same time he directed
the secretaries of the four depart
ments concerned war, interior, agri
culture and commerce to confer
with Senator Newlands on the sub
ject. Following this a conference was
held with all the bureau chiefs con
cerned in carrying out the provisions .
of the bill, and these men are at the
present time working on a joint re
port showing just how the money is
to be spent to the best advantage, and
how the various departments and
agencies will co-operate in the work.
Senator Newlands and Senator
Ransdell of Louisiana (who has here
tofore held somewhat aloof from the
Newlands project) have come togeth
er in what appears to be complete
agreement, and a week ago Senator
Newlands reintroduced his bill in its
latest form.
LIVES LOST IN FLOODS
Kansas river, March 3, 3903, 25
lives lost, 8,000 homeless.
Savannah river, Sept. 10, 1908, 25
lives lost, $1,500,0000 property de
stroyed. Missouri river, July 9, 1909, 1,200
homeless. ,!
Black river.Oct. 6, 1911, destroyed
town of Black River, Wis., 2,000
homeless.
Platte river April, 1912, Waterloo,
Neb., flooded. -
Ohio valley flood, March 23-April
11, 1913, 415 lives lost, $180,873,097
property loss.
COST OF FLOODS
Table showing estimated total
damage by floods from 1900 to 1908
(from report of the Natiohal Conser
vation Commission).
1900 $ 45,675.000
1901 45,438,000
1902 55,201,000
1903 97,220,000
1904 78,841,000
1905 98,589,000
1906 73,124,000
1907 118,238,000
1908 237,8'6d,000
NOT STONE BLIND , '
Proudly he placed a single diamond
ring oh her tapering finger. . .
"It's a very small diamond!" she
said, and paused. .Then: "And not
very brilliant, either."
"Ah,-sweetheart, but love is blind."
"Yes, dear, but not stone blind!"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
