1908 



NEWS AND NOTES 



273 



eastern parts of the country from the 

 effects of the progressive deforesta- 

 tion now and for years past destroy- 

 ing the woods, the waters and the soil 

 of the whole region east of the Appa- 

 lachians, and also, in almost equal de- 

 gree, the regions lying on the other 

 side of the mountains ; and Congress 

 is urged to take warning from the fate 

 of the deforested countries of the Old 

 World, so that steps may be taken to 

 avoid in this country such conditions 

 as now exist in the countries of Europe 

 and x\sia. 



The Detroit New Century Club has 

 heartily and unanimously endorsed the 

 Appalachian-White Mountain bill, and 

 has so written to the members of the 

 House Committees on Judiciary and 

 Appropriations. 



The two House committees have 

 also received letters over the signa- 

 ture of every prominent manufacturer 

 in New England, these letters express- 

 ing the conviction that the proposed 

 forests reserves should be established 

 without further delay. The men sign- 

 ing these letters represent industries 

 capitalized far up in the millions of 

 dollars, and they are all activelv en- 

 gaged in business that is vitally af- 

 fected by the conditions of streams 

 rising in the mountains where it is 

 sought to locate the reserves. 



The following was adopted by the 

 National Executive Board of the D. 

 A. R., at the convention in Washing- 

 ton, in April : 



"Recognizing that a timber famine is 

 almost at hand ; also that the health 

 of the people, and that water power 

 for navigation and for vast manufac- 

 turing interests ; also that electrical 

 energy for heating and lighting our 

 homes and for culinary purposes ; also 

 that the conservation of the natural 

 resources of the country, are all de- 

 pendent upon the preservation of the 

 forests. 



Resolved, That the National So- 

 ciety of the Daughters of the Ameri- 

 can Revolution unqualifiedly endorse 

 President Roosevelt's far-sighted pol- 

 icy of conserving all the natural re- 

 sources, including the forests, and that 



we will use all honorable means within 

 our power to further the passage of 

 the bill now before Congress, which 

 provides for acquiring national for- 

 ests in the Southern Appalachian 

 Mountains and White Mountains." 



The flood season is 

 Floods again on. Spokane dis- 



patches of March 16 re- 

 ported the Coeur d'Alepe at three 

 feet, and dwellings along the entire 

 length of the St. Joe abandoned, the 

 people taking to the uplands. All 

 docks had been washed away, and 

 rain was still falling in sheets. Lewis- 

 ton, Idaho, was isolated, and more 

 than two miles of track and many 

 bridges were washed out on the line 

 of the Potlatch Creek. The Pine Creek 

 Lumber Company had lost a $100,000 

 dam and more than 1,000,000 feet of 

 logs. Other damage was reported. 

 On March 19 the Monongahela and 

 Allegheny were on the rampage, with 

 the flood stage of thirty7three feet ex- 

 pected the following day. Merchants 

 were moving their wares out of the 

 danger zone. Railroad schedules were 

 badly disarranged on account of 

 numerous landslides. Eight miles of 

 Pennsylvania passenger track were 

 out of commission. 



Contrast experiences like this with 

 the statement of Chief Hydrographer 

 Leighton, of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey: "Our rivers should 

 be controlled "in much the sarne man- 

 ner that we control city water." 



The world is learning that what, in 

 ignorance, it once assumed to be. mys- 

 terious visitations of an inscrutable 

 Providence are, in fact, effects which 

 can be traced directly to causes which, 

 in turn, can be removed. Diseases 

 which once swept awav thousands 

 have been practically aboli<^.hed. Dis- 

 tance is being largely annihilated t^y 

 modern transportation facilities, and 

 time, by modern methods of commu- 

 nication. Instead of continuing _ the 

 plaything of omnipotent and merciless 

 natural forces, man is learning to 

 master his environment, and make of 



