Willmar tribune. [volume], May 10, 1905, Image 5

About Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
igfe,
Dissensions Rend
the Mormon Church
Serious Accusationsx Are Mad
Utah, according to those who are
v\ aging war on the Mormon leader and
who are attempting to displace him
trom his high seat.
Charges have been made that Smith
has diverted the flow of tithes from the
i-offers of the church to his own pock-
And the authors of these accusations
are from withiu the sacred councils of
the temple, and until their excommuni
cation for their disloyalty to their lead
er, ranked high in church affairs.
But firmly entrenched behind the walls
of the tabernacle the alleged king is bid
ding defiance to his enemies both with
in and without the state.
Origin of the Trouble.
The electiou of Reed Smoot to the
United States senate may be said to be
The beginning of the trouble. Before
the time arrived for the apostle of the
Mormon church to take his seat among
ihe country's law-makers, a popular
wail arose throughout the country that
he should, be barred from that body.
There were those of the apostles that op
posed the mixing of church with politics
and forecasted the opposition that would
arise from his election, but Smith was
tavorable to Smoot'.s candidacy and, as
i« well known, he was easily elected.
When the committee was appointed by
the senate to investigate the charges of
Mornionisui preferred against the new
ly-elected serator. many churchmen
:a high standing were called to Wash
ington to testify, and among others was
President Smith. The general trend of
the testimony presented showed that al
though polygamous cohabitation had
been abolished as a rule, those of the
mormon faith were still ruled by the law
of the church, rather-than by the law
of the land, or in other words, that the
law of the church is supreme.
Smith a Confessed Perjurer.
It was only after the passage of the
Edmund's law that Utah was admitted
into the union as a state. Under this law,
which was subscribed to by President
Smiht and the apostles of the Mormon
church, plural marriages and polyga
mous cohbaitation were forbidden. But
on the stand before the senate commit
tee on privileges and elections in the
Smoot investigation. President Smith
frankly confessed that the pact with the
nation had been broken that his oath
was a travesty that his obligation as
an apostle and as hierarch of the church
was a subterfuge.
The opposition to the seating of Smoot
was ably conducted by Robert W. Tay-
President Joseph F. Smith.
LATTER. WOVL BE A MONARC
Salt Lake City.—A monarchy withiu
a republic with Joseph F. Smith, presi
dent of the Mormon church, as the arch
ruler. Such is the condition at present
Charged That Leader Speculated with Church
Funds to His Personal Benefit—Accus
ers Are Excommunicated.
Two Prominent Men Leading Fight to Dethrone Al
leged Autocratic Ruler—His Crimes Against the
Church. His Followers and the Nation.
-us: that he has commanded his follow- longed to the widow and orphan and
ers to invest their money in enterprises
under his control so that he may enrich
his private purse, and that he has com
mitted other uansgressions too numer
ous to mention
ler, a former representative from Ohio,
who, while in congress, had more than
once strenuously opposed the seating of
Mormons in congress. He has since been
appointed to the federal bench. At this
time the Mormon church was practically
united. And although, as has been stat
ed, there had been some opposition man
ifested to the mixing of church and poli
tics, there had been no dissensions of
•which the public were aware.
It was t?ot untilrecently that the trou
ble wnich had been brewing for some
time became public property, and that
the irfsue between the two factions in tjie
gburch were squaicly defined.
Serious Accusations.
As the ca-e now gtssds, two men pre-
viously in good standing in the church
have made serious accusations against
Mr. Smith.
He has been charged with taking the
money paid as an "offering to the Lord"
and using it for speculations to build up
his own private wealth.
He has been charged with "taking the
bodies of the daughters of his subjects
and bestowing them upon his favor
ites of "taking property which be-
having absorbed it into the possessions
of the crown with oppressing the poor
I members of the church for his own en
richment of violating the laws of the
church: of committing crimes against
the government: of treasonable teach
ing, and of forsaking a true spiritual life
tor the "worship of mammon."
Accusers Excommunicated.
Goaded into anger by these attacks,
President Smith has sought to retaliate
by excommunicating persons who might
question his acts.
Already former Senator Frank J. Can
non, son of President George Q. Can
non, one of the most celebrated leaders
of the Mormon church, has been cut off
for daring to express opinions in criti
cism of the Mormon head.
Charles A. Smurthwaite. one of the
leading business men of Utah, a high
priest in the church and a man whose
character has been above reproach, has
been disfellowshipped for charging
President Smith with bad faith and de
manding an accounting of the church
funds.
He is fighting the proceedings against
him, maintaining that, if given an op
portunity, he will prove every statement
he has made against the president of the
church.
Furthermore, he has put to a test the
various asseverations of the church to
the effect that polygamy and polyga
mous cohabitation are no longer counte
nanced by filing charges against one of
the elders of the church. Hyrum H. God
dard. on the ground that this elder is
violating the revelation against polyg
amy by living with two wives.
The hierarchy is seeking to evade the
issue by raising technical points, but it
is being continually put into the position
of showing bad faith all around, and is
being forced into this attitude by its own
members.
Discontent Grows.
According to impartial observers, the
discontent within the church is growing
rapidly, and it*is said this same discon
tent is manifesting itself in a way to
hurt the president in the most sensitive
place—the pocketbook. Already it is
stated that the tithing is falling pff
heavily.
Thinking men among the Mormons
are backing up Elder Smurthwaite's de
mand that an accounting be made for
the tithing. They object to giving up a
tenth of their incomes as an "offering to
the Lord" when it is being demonstrated
that Joseph F. Smith, as the alleged rep
resentative of the Lord, is using funds
to speculate in sugar stocks, for exam
ple to build up electric lighting, power
and street railway monopolies to force
the faithful to take out life insurance in
his personally indorsed company and to
insure their homes in his company to
buy their salt from him to patronize his
railroad, to deposit their money in the
banks which he backs with the "offer
ings to the Lord to buy their clothing,
groceries, hardware, furniture, shoes,'
headwear, and, in fact, everything else
which they may1 desire frdm Institu
tions in which are invested, in his name,
these "offerings to the Lord."
Bumors of fortune's -JBiadev.in stock
speculations and in other ways by presi
dent Smith and others "on the inside"
have made large numbers of the faith
ful more desirous than ever'for an ac
counting of the moneys they have
turned over in all confidence to the self
designated servants of the Almighty,
Having made sacrifices in the diviue
they are inclined to insist on
figures will show whether the
dividends from these various enter
prises are being used in the interest of
the Lord.
Againstinterest,which
Another Phase Discussed.
Another phase is being widely dis
cussed, so much so that for the first time
in the history of the church the presi
dent of that organzaton has felt con
strained to make explanations in the
tabernacle.
These explanations have involved him
in contradiction, and there is much won-
derment among the adherents of his
church whether the statements he made
under oath when testifying before the
senate committee on privileges and
elections in Washington are to be be
lieved, or whether his public statements
on the platform in the tabernacle, as the
self-styled representative of God on
earth, are to be given credence.
When testifying in behalf of Senator
Reed Smoot, Joseph F. Smith declared
under oath that he had never received a
revelation. It is a cardinal principle
of the Mormon faith that the head of
the church is in constant receipt of com
munications direct from God. When he
repudiated having received these mes
sages the devout among the Mormons
began to wonder if it were possible that
he could be all that he was supposed
to be.
Admits He Lied.
The mutterings became so general
and so insistent that the president of
the church felt constrained, on March
19 last, to explain to the members of
his flock that he had testified to an un
truth in Washington, the reason for it
being that the senators, whom he desig
nated as his "inquisitors," were "trying
to lead him into a trap." Instead of
quieting the incipient rebellion against
him, this admitted untruth has only in
creased the dissatisfaction.
On top of his admission his chief
mouthpiece, Apostle C. W. Penrose, has
been shown by parallel statements made
under oath also to have been guilty of
telling an untruth. Penrose, who is a
polygamist, has made various conflict
ing statements under oath as to his
marital relations.
All these things are going on within
the church, while from without come
other attacks which are worrying the
leaders. The war is going on in politics
and finance, and in these fields of prac
tical effort on the part of the Mormon
hierarchy lie their most vulnerable
points.
In the field of finance, it is alleged, an
effort was made to execute a "grab" of
a franchise for nearly a century for light
and street railway privileges in SaltLake
City. The action aroused such opposi
tion that the prime movers did not dare
to carry out their original intentions.
At the same time, although no election
is imminent at present, the growth of
feeling among both Mormons and Gen
tiles in Utah against the political activ
ity of the church has-been so great that
the hierarchy is fearful of the next is
sue. The anti-church sentiment has
been crystallized in the American party
of Utah.^
Entrenched behind the wall of state
hood, which was obtained by false pre
tenses on the part of the Mormon
church, the hierarchy is bidding defi
ance to the nation at large and to its op
ponents within the state. It bias taken
the position that all the world outside
Utah should "mind, its own business,"
and that the inhabitants of Utah must
be forced to do the hierarchy's bidding
or be crushed.
This position has aroused resentment
on the part of the Gentiles, and espe
cially those who have large invested
capital and who feel that the develop
ment of the enormous material re
sources of the state is being handi
capped. They are determined to fight
the matter out now, aided by the people
of the United States, with the intention
of settling the issue once and for ever.
Active Leaders in Fight.
The active leaders in the fight typify
the two elements which have joined
hands. One is Thomas Kearns, a Gen
tile who retired from the United States
senate March 4 last. The other is Frank
J. Cannon, also a former member of the
United States senate, a man who as a
Mormon has always stood for independ
ence of thought and of political and
commercial action on the part of the
members of the church.
Opposed to these elements are the
Mormons and Gentiles who are sharing
with President Smith the profits of the
church's present commercialism and
activity in politics. The two present
members of the United.States,senate
from Utah are types. iReed Smoot, apos
tle and one of the. financial advisers of
Joseph F. Smith, was elected some time
ago as the latter'* political represents
ti^e. 'C .. ',"
George Sutherland, a Gentile, owes
his present' advancement and the
achievement of his ambition to his de-,
sertion of the cause of the Gentiles, to
which he had made many protestations
of adherence, and to his promise of po
litical obedience to Smoot and all tho
interests that Smoot represents. Thus
is the issue defined in Utah.
The^fighting for the last few months
.has been made principally by Kearns
and Cannon. Kearns, who is possessed
of millions, has furnished the sinews of
war. Cannon has been the man on the
firing line.
By speech and writing this brilliant
son of one of the ablest of Mormon lead
ers has "carried the war into Africa."
He has kept the church leaders dodging
and explaining, retreating and blunder
ing, until he has stirred up within the
church a commotion never before
equaled. For this purpose he has an
exceptional equipment. Ever since
childhood he has been on the inside of
the workings of the church.
Cannon's Large Following.
Canno has built up a large following
among the younger and progressive
Mormons, as well as among men and
women outside his church. He opposed
the selection of Reed Smoot* on the
ground that it was wrong for the church
to interfere in politics—that it would
bring sorrow to the Mormon people and
woe to Utah. Last fall he announced
that he believed the issues within the
state of supreme importance to the resi
dents of Utah, and he joined the newly
formed American party, which was or
ganized to fight the Mormon church in
politics.
Not long after the presidential elec
tion he began i*e fight on Smith. For
some time an e_ort was made to ignore
the attacks, but finally the president of
the church took cognizance of them by
ordering the officials in Mr. Cannon's
ecclesiastical ward to bring proceed
ings to cut him off from the church,
which were successful.
While the Mormon church has always
welcomed any attack made on its reli
gion as a religion from the out
side, this is the first time in
its history that the attack has ben
from within, and the hierarchy is
frightened. Persecutions from out
siders have only served to make mar
tyrs of the followers of the creed of
Brigham Young and helped to solidify
the people in a defensive attitude.
But now comes a war within the
church, in which the members of the
organization make accusations against
those in authority, while the accusers
maintain their adherence to the faith.
Every move made by Smith and his
followers thus far has only involved
them further, and those who are fight
ing them welcome with glee the increas
ing feeling against them among the
Mormons.
"COPPERED" THE PROPHET.
Weather Man So Often Wrong Jt Was
a Sure Thing to Bet Against
Him.
This is a story oT & weather aimanae
prophet, who may be called Thompson,
tells on himself, says the New Yorh
Press. While recently visiting Jersey
town he went into a store to buy cigar
,He made his purchase and was about td
leave the store when the proprietor re
marked:
"It's a pity you have no umbrella, for
it's going to rain soon."
"I think you are wrong in your predic
tion," replied Thompson, "it looks like
fine weather to me.'.'
"Well," said the cigar store man, "I'll
beta dollar it will rain before noon."
"Very good, I'll call in again to-day
and collect," said Thompson. After
leaving the store he had gone only a few
blocks when he was well drenched by a
sudden shower. Thompson was struck
by the man's prediction, and being al
ways intent on the interest of his alma
nac he went back to the store and was
received by the proprietor with a broad
brln.
"You see I was right after all."
"Yes," admitted Thompson. "Here's
your dollar, and I'll give you another if
you tell me how you knew of this rain."
"Why, the truth is I have an almanac
called Thompson's Almanac, and the fel
low is such a notorious liar that when
ever he predicts a fine day I always know
it will be the exact opposite. I looked at
the almanac early this morning and pre
pared for rain."
Literary Life.
"Molly, has the groceryman gone?"
"No, dear, he's waiting."
"And the baker?"
"On the front steps.."
"Well, I'll just climb to the roof and
finish my work there."
'.'That'll never do. There's a bailiff up
there, levying on the sWcglesl"—CM*
cago Journal.
AS A RULE FINDS JOURNALISM
A DESIRABLE PBOFESSION.
As a Reporter Her Dress Should Not
Be Mannish—No Long Novitiate
Required of the Clever Girl—A
Country Newspaper the Best of
Training Schools.
BY MARGARET SANGSTER.
(Copyright, 190G, by Joseph B. Bowies.)
A new profession hasopened inviting
ly before ambitious girls, who do not
wish to be tied fast to the schoolroom,
or obliged to earn their living in any of
the old peculiarly feminine ways.
Thousands of girls find occupation still
in what may be called womanly handi
crafts of one or another variety, but
there are girls who do not wish to cook,
to sew, to embroider, to design fashions,
or make pictures, and to them journal
Ism is especially tempting.
What are the real needs of the news
paper woman? How is she to fit herself
for her work? Where shall she find an
open door? What price shall she pay for
her technique?- Ascompared with music
or medicine or illustrative art, how long
a novitiate must she serve before she
can reach an enviable position? What
is the limit of advancement to which she
may aspire? These questions are per
tinent. They are asked by city girls and
country girls, by girls on the farm and
girls who have grown up in thriving
communities where nine women out of
ten expect to.be self-supporting.
In the first place, the girl who would
become a. newspaper woman must not
be afraid of hard work. She must pos
sess good health, good temper and good
spirits. In beginning, her foot will be
on the lowest round of the ladder. If
accepted as a reporter her hours will be
irregular, and her pay at first will be
small. She will probably write at space
rates, and these are regulated by the
locality and the paper on which she is
smployed.
I might say. too, that ability to write
is essential, and that she who can see
quickly what is interesting about her,
who can describe it accurately, with a
piquant flavor or a dash of humor, and
above all she who can write good, brief,
telling paragraphs, will find herself
among the wanted.
A trustworthy memory is indispens
able, and as well good manners are never
thrown away, since they give a woman
access and ingress where otherwise she
would be denied. Because the hours are
long and irregular, and because a wom
an must have courage enough to go
wherever she is sent, health, I repeat, is
a requisite. The newspaper woman asks
nothing by way of special courtesy for
her sex, though she need fear no rude
ness on the part of editors or fellow re
porters, men in newspaper work being
almost uniformly courteous and consid
erate in their treatment of the women
who serve on the staff with them.
A woman reporter must be imper
sonal. Her dress should by no means be
mannish, but it should be trim, neat and
unobtrusive. In the streets of a great
city she is safe ty night or by day, quite
as safe in the hours between midnight
and dawn as at high noon, if she simply
goes about her work without a
thought of herself or the anticipation
of insult.
A prominent newspaper woman has
said: "Men like womanly women, but
still they don't want any clinging-vine
business about a newspaper office. If
a woman will only be natural and use
common sense, she will get along all
right, but if she does otherwise, she may
complain as some would-be newspaper
women do, that newspaper men treat
them badly."
Just as a soldier is obliged to obey or
ders, so the successful newspaper wom
an must be willing to do what she is told,
go where she is sent, brave all kinds of
weather, and make light of every trifling
inconvenience. By way of preparation,
she will need a good common school
education, the ability to write a legible
hand, to punctuate properly, to spell
correctly, and to express herself in
good English. This last is absolutely
imperative. Do not for a moment under
rate English grammar and good spell
ing, if you aspire to earning a living as
a newspaper woman.
The price to be paid for a place at the
top in this profession, as in any other,
is the price of personal consecration.
The work must be put before pleasure,
before social engagements, before vis
its to dear ones at household anni
versaries. A great deal of one's self, of
one's vitality must be lavishly given if
one would earn more than a very sub
ordinate place in one's profession. If
assigned to office work, office hours must
be strictly observed, and nothing in the
day's routine must be considered un
important. Take, for example, the
never-ceasing flood of correspondence
that comes to the woman's department
of a newspaper. In two instances re
cently, I have known young women to
be dismissed from very attractive desks,
where they received a generous weekly
wage, because they did not and would
not understand that every letter and
scrap of paper which passed into their
hands was valuable. One of these girls
apologized for tearing up and waste
basketing letters which it was her duty
to acknowledge, on the groundthat they
were nothing but rubbish. The other,
equally unaware of the value of the in
dividual subscriber, pigeon-holed letters
for weeks, and then declared that she
felt no interest in them, and could not
be bothered by people so silly as the
writers. Neither of these young women
at all grasped the fact that in office
work nothing is unimportant.
The girl who would succeed as a
musician must be contented to devote
years of arduous study and incessant
practice to the jealous art she loves.
She who would become a designer or an
illustrator must equally spend years of
her precious youth in mastering details,
and learning the essentials of her call
ing. I have known a young woman
without previous training, with nothing
but a clever brain, a keen eye, and the
ability to write, to come from her home
in the far south, and in a city like New
York reach the position of assistant
editor on a weekly paper, in less than
12 months. I have known another
young girl, this time from the weBt, who
discovered in herself aptitudes which
she fancied might be utilised in news-
paper work, and reached a place most I forded, and eventually a cure effected.
enviable in six months. No extremely
long novitiate is required if the girlher
self have the cleverness, pluck and
perseverance essential, and if circum
stances prove favorable.
The amount of money earned by the
newspaper woman runs from five or six
dollars a week up to $40 or $50, the aver
age perhaps being between $15 or $20
by the rank and file. Few women ever
attain what may be called the great
prizes, but there are periodicals, partic
ularly in the line of fashion, which are
exclusively edited by women, at salaries
not far from munificent. All the great
monthly magazines which make an es
pecial bid for women readers have wom
en editors on their staff, newspaper
women of the brightest and most whole
some kind. Many educational publish
ing houses employ women in one of the
lines of reference—study or verification
or classification which come within
theirscope. The great daily papers have
their corps of women who do the so
ciety news, write of the various char
ities, and turn their hand to anything
else that is needed. Real maids of all
work, you see!
Mrs. Cynthia Westover Alden. one of
the foremost newspaper women in
America, says on this subject: "Any
young woman of ordinary sense,.who
pays attention to the requirements of
the profession, can make a good living
as a reporter. She will find that the
range of her understanding and her
sympathies is being increased with
every month of her work. Her daily ex
perience will be a continual education
for the field of legitimate fiction. If she
has talent o* genius orexecutive ability,
her future is secure. Meanwhile, her
daily bread is provided for. What more
could be asked of any vocation in life?"
One word may be added in reply to the
question: "Where shall the aspirant find
an open door?" I answer, let her try
the newspaper office nearest her. If in
the country, let her seek to become a
helper on the local paper. A country
newspaper is the best of training
schools, and on it one may learn a lit
tle bit of everything. Any newspaper
office is a good school. One learns the
profession somewhat after the world
renowned manner of Mr. Squeers who
setjiis boys learning how to wash win
dows, and then told an admiring visitor
that it impressed it on a boy's mind, to
spell "winder" and then spend a little
time in cleaning the same,.
COVERT COAT FOR BOY.
This Trim Little Garment Is Suitable
for Child from Eight to Ten
Years of Age.
Light shades of fawn, drab or gray
face cloth are generally used for these
coats, and lined with Italian cloths
the same color or finely striped lining.
The fronts are faced with the same ma
terial as the coat and fasten with bone
TRIM COAT.
or pearl buttons. The entire edge of
coat is machine-stitched: the collar if
faced with velvet a shade or two
darker than the cloth.
Materials required: Two and a half
yards 50 inches wide, three yards lin
ing, one-fourth yard velvet and six
buttons.
INFANTILE DIETARY.
To make prominent a few practical
hints the following are mentioned:
Don't give acid milk.
Don't use a tube in the nursing bot
tle.
Don't allow the bottle or nipple to
be any other way than antiseptic.
Don't continue to give stuff that does
not nourish.
Don't fail to sterilize milk early and
then cool rapidly by running cold wa
ter.
Don't forget the necessity of pure
air, cleanliness and proper clothing.
Don't forget that the infant is a crea
ture of habit and can be taught the
proper frequency ar-1 amount of food
and the time for sleep.
Don't produce colic by allowing milk
to flow too freely.
Don't forget that infants are sensi
tive to starches.
Remember*.always to norish.
Aprons Again in Fashion.
This is one of the old fashions now
being revived, greatly to the saving of
our frocks and the comfort of wearers.
The coquettish apron has been set
aside for awhile, but is now once more
asserting itself. The strictly useful has
always held its own. The French have
turned a kindly eye to them, and in the
days of Louis XIII. women wore them
and their bunch of keys, showing that
they were veritable housekeepers. In
the time of Louis XIV. ladies of the
court donned them when employed In
needlework and other arts, and it is
from that period we are restoring the
airy nothings of lace and muslin to our
favor. Sometimes they are of light
colored crepe de chine worked in gold.
More useful ones of thicker fabric have
large pockets. These are adorned with
pretty ribbon bows, and these ribbons
sometimes draw up the pocket. Some
times strong linen aprons are laced with
ribbon at the edge by means of eyelet
holes.
At a Child's Party.
A charming way of serving ices at a
child's party is to line common flower
pots, two inches and a half in diameter
at the top, with parafflne*paper, after
wards filling nearly full with ice cream.
Sprinkle with grated sweet chocolate to
represent earth, and stick a flower in the
top.
& For Frosted Nose.
Melt two ounces of pure lard, dissolve
an ounce of gum camphor and put in the
lard and let cool Apply^freely to the'
frosted nose. Great relief will be af-
The Spring Floods That
Yearly Cause Such Distress
River and Flood Service Laboring to Avert Evils—Very
Important Branch of Weather Bureau—Brief
Glance it Its Work.
VERT one in the country
knows of the weather bu
reau, "that great and grow
ing institution but only a
few are at all familiar with
an important branch, the
river and flood service, which yearly
saves from destruction millions of dol
lars' worth of property and saves the
lives of hundreds of people.
A writer in the Philadelphia Presi,
who speaks in detail of the splendid
work done by this branch, paints in
graphic words a picture of the ruin by
flood that so frequently falls upon vari
ous portions of the United States. He
says the great American floods are be
coming as famous and as tragic as
American blizzards.
The unusual snows of last winter,
the numberless ice-gorges in streams
and rivers, awaken apprehension of
what may happen if spring rains sud
denly flood everything. Floods occur
in the different localities at widely dif
ferent periods. Those in the lower
Mississippi generally begin along the
last of March the upper Mississippi
t_e latter part of April or in May the
Mississippi river floods come somewhat
later than in the upper river Ohio
floods may happen anywhere from Feb
ruary to June the eastern and south
eastern river may overflow any time
of the year save in August, generally
the dryest month of all the twelve, the
time of low waters.
New England floods come when the
spring rains melt the winter store of
ice. On the Pacific coast, the great
Columbia river regularly has floods
that last from near the middle of May
on into June. The Sacramento rises
earlier as a rule last year floods along
the banks of this river worked much
havoc, smashed levees and devastated
to an unusual degree.
Dr. Frankenfield, who has charge
of the river and flood service,
speaks of the Mississippi flood of
1904 as the greatest in the history
of the United States, the only inun
dation ever approaching it being that
of 1844. Third in severity was that
of 1897.
To give some idea of the good Yankee
dollars saved by the work of the new
service, we may mention that in 1897
Dr. Frankenfleld's corps saved 815,
000,000 worth of property, and in the
greater flood of 1903 property of much
greater value. Concerning the warn
ings sent out by the service, Dr. Frank
enfield speaks thus: "We always aim to
frame our forecast at least within afoot
MISSISSIPPI LEVEE DURING A
FLOOD.
of what the conditions will afterward
prove. We always aim, moreover, to
overestimate rather than underestimate
conditions. In the rapid-running riv
ers of the mountain regions we are re
warded with less accuracy than in the
great, slow streams of the middle west.
In the case of the Mississippi, Missouri
and lower Ohio, we can come within
from one to three-tenths of a foot of
actual rise."
Let us now look a bit into the work
ings of this property-saving service.
The United States are now divided into
44 river districts, a weather bureau of
ficial in charge of each, who is attached
to a weather bureau station. Then there
are some 400 substations these carry
on the work of river observation, send
out forecasts, warnings, and whatever
information may deem necessary for
the benefit of those dwelling along the
banks or having property in the dis
tricts liable to floods. Data in regard
t.o the depth of water, amount of rain
fall, general state of the weather, are
telegraphed every morning to the cen
tral river station of the district, and this
collection of Information is added to a
map from which is obtained the daily
forecast of flood probabilities.
For the sake of economy, the data is
sent In cipher, a peculiar sort. The
press writer humorously remarks con
cerning the appearance of the message
and its meaning. "Nude guy hugging
Jetty" looks like a sort of Norwegian
American jargon. Translated, it reads
thus: "Twenty-ninth instant. Twelve
midnight Clear weather. Wind south
last Precipitation since last report,
46. River nine feet belowzero of gauge,.
and rising." Then this strong-seeming
ipeech: "Darn my humbug parson," is
really innocent nothing more than
"Fourth instant, six a. m. Clear weath
er. Wind south. Precipitation sine*
last report, .10. River 8.8 below zero of
gauge and falling."
The big Mississippi is divided into ten
districts, each has a station that gathers
daily reports from its substations. The
station at Cairo is a very Important one,
looked upon as the key of the entino
stream. Here empties the waters of tho
Ohio, and near by Is the Missouri'*
mouth. The forecasts,for the river be
low Cairo are chiefly based on the meas
urements of the Cairo station.
Along the Mississippi are distributed
30 river gauges, huge measuring rod*
that reach down to the river's bottom
and up higher than any probable flood,
ever will go. The shortest are 15 feet
in length, the longest 200. In normal
times the water surface Is read on these
gauges once a day In times of flood
sometimes once an hour. The greatest
variation recorded is 69 feet at Cincin
nati. The variation for slow rivers av
erages from ten to 15 feet, and up to 35
and 40 feet in rapid streams.
The cost of the river and flood serv
ice is very small compared to tho
amount of property it saves. "Fifty
dollars expended by the flood service of
the bureau for extra telegraph tolls in
seasons of flood frequently saves amil
lion dollars in property and hundreds of
lives moreprecious than the total wealth.
RAILROAD BRIDGE WRECKED AT KANSAS CITT.
of the world. During the great flood of
1897 815,000,000 worth of perishable
property was moved at the Instance of
the weather forecasts. Yet thetotal cost
of the river and flood service of the
United States was that year only $15,
000, the one-thousandth of this saving
to the people. So this particular enter*
prise of the government certainly more
than pays for itself, to put it very
feebly."
The people do not by any means al
ways regard the service warnings a3 a
prophecy worth heeding often there is
heard the cry that the weather bureau
needlessly alarms. When the bureau
sends word that without doubt houses
along certain city streets will soon be
submerged, and are told the inhabitants
must move, often the residents persist
in waiting until their houses are deep in
water they themselves can escape only
at the expense of a good deal of trouble
and no small danger. And after the
flood subsides, they go back and build
on the very same spots.
We give below a list of some of the
worst floods that have occurred in this
country:
Lives lost In the flood at Johns
town, Pa., in 1889
Lives lost in flood in Galveston.
tM
'-3M
4
:.iu
Tex., in 1900 soot
Lives lost in Topeka, Kansas City
and other cities in flood of 1903 231
Loss of crop in Kansas in 1903 $3,000,000
Loss in Topeka alone 1.000,00ft
Loss in Kansas to railroads 7,000,009
Loss of property in Carolina flood
in June, 1903 2.:O0.Odt
Persons left destitute s.009
Mills which were destroyed 7
Persons who were missing 100
Persons who were drowned S9
Cost of bridges which were swept
away in Pennsylvania in ten
years $1,000,000
Loss to Pittsburg river coal com
panies in 1904 l.OW.OOS
Loss from Susquehanna flood in
1904 ..-. 2.000.008
Property loss in Paterson flood
1903 l.OOO.OOS
Loss to property in Beach Creek
Valley Pa., in 1903 1.500,000
Loss of life in this flood 30
Loss of life in New Mexico in 1904... 12
Loss of life in Texas ial?03 3»
Loss of property in Michigan in
1904 51.000.OOS
Loss of property in "Wyoming in
1904 2,000.001
Loss of property in Colorado in
1904 1.000.00S
Years ago when floods threatened, all
the people could do was to flee with,
what goodsNthey could carry away, and
wait to return to their homes, to plant
crops and carry on their work when the
waters had fallen. Then gradually pri
vate enterprise began building a levee
here and there next communities took
it upon themselves to provide this pro
tection later the state carried the bur
den, and now the federal government
looks after repairs and even undertakes
to build up new works. To-day there
are 1.800 milesof levees below the mouth
of the Ohio, a contrast to that first levee
built in New Orleans in 1717, one mile
long.
In addition to the river gauges, the
service has lately begun to make use of
the snow gauge. A tube measures
depth of snow deposits, and the snow in
the tube is melted down, this water
measured and compared with the depth,
of snow. Estimates are made of tho
quantity of water there will be when
the spring thaws melt the snow crusts.
Perhaps She Was Right.
"Woman," growled the old bachelor,
"is a/bslusion and a snare."
"I suppose," rejoined the grass widow,
"that is why so many men go out of
their way to be snared by a delusion."—
Chicago News.
Her Husband Explains.
"Yes, we were rivals and drew lots tat
see whowouldwed her."
"And you won!"
"No I lost"—Houston Post
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