164 



ARBORICULTURE 



a much greater VdluuK' of water than in 

 the earlier times, it will be reatlily rec- 

 ognized that with the rapid denundation 

 of the forest areas and erosion of the fer- 

 tile soil capable of absorbing- larju^e quan- 

 tities of water, the volume of water llow- 

 inj]^ away in one brief period is far 

 greater than in times when the forest 

 areas were so much larger. 



The writer, as a boy, well recalls the 

 river roads where all the travel between 

 towns and farms along the Ohio passed. 

 These roads were washed into the river 

 and conveyed down the stream year after 

 year with each recurrence of high water, 

 the fences carried away, adjoining 

 farms were swept inte the whirling 

 water, acres at a time were thus lost by 

 the land owners along the banks. One 

 house with which the writer was familiar 

 was moved back from the river bank 

 four successive times, each time being 

 taken several hundred feet to a sup- 

 posedly safe location. It was finally re- 

 moved half a mile back and the roadway 

 changed to a similar distance. 



Meantime there was not, as is some- 

 times the case, any deposit upon the 

 opposite side of the river, but the breadth 

 of the waterway was increased each year 

 and is now 1,200 feet broader than it 

 was seventy-one years ago, at time of 

 the highest water of early days. 



But it is by no means the highest 

 water only which is to be regretted on 

 account of removal of the forest. Dur- 

 ing the long period of drouth which 

 follows, the springs having been dried 

 up, the streams run low and the period 

 of extreme low water in which naviga- 

 tion is suspended or made very difficult 

 is greatly prolonged. 



Prior to 1862 there was no time within 

 the knowledge of steamboatmen of the 

 '40s and -'50s when the rivers of the • 

 West did not have a good boating stage, 

 usually 12 or 15 feet depth, while in 

 more recent years the water has been so 

 low that teams were crossing the Ohio 

 by fording, the water being but two feet 

 depth, all steamboats and crafts of 

 every kind being idle for months at a 

 time. 



Many cities are dependent for water 

 supply on the various streams and dur- 

 ing the low water stages the contamina- 



Hon is far more serious, the impurities 

 being concentrated to such ex^nt as to 

 cause nuich sickness. Of course, with all 

 sewerage of cities polluting the streams, 

 this l)ecomes a serious matter when the 

 water for a long time remains so low. 

 During the Hoods of 1883 and 1884 there 

 was great suffering throughout the 

 Hooded districts, thousands being desti- 

 tute who were relieved by charity. 



The temperature in February was 

 what it usuallv is in May. \'ery unus- 

 ual rains extended over all the states 

 drained bv the (Jhio. The waters fall- 

 ing u])on portions of fourteen states ran 

 rapidlv awav and found an exit m the 

 swelling Hoods of the Ohio. 



The Alleghenv was full to overflow- 

 ing bringing the water from far away 

 AleadviUe. Oil Citv and western Penn- 

 svlvania. and from western Xew \ork 

 almost to the borders of Lake Lne. 

 The Youghioghenv brought its tribute 

 from near 'the" Marvland line. Cheat 

 river swelled the Mon<mgahela and that 

 river submerged a portion of Pittsbiyg- 

 Water falling in Maryland found its way 

 through the \'oughiogheny and helped 

 to swell the rising rivers of the W est. 



The Buckhannon of West Virginia 

 the Greenbriar and Kanawha emptied 

 their contents into the now overflowing 



C)hio. , . , 



From Kenluckv the I'.ig Sandy. Lick- 

 ing and Kentucky rivers aided m the 

 r^Mieral outpour of waters. The cities 

 along the Muskingum. Hocking. Scioto 

 and 'the Little and ( ireat Miami were 

 submerged as those streams rose higher 

 and higher over the low lying districts. 

 At Cincinnati the water kept creeping 

 ui)war(l, passed the danger line, and all 

 the lower districts were under water, but 

 it did not stop at the highest mark pre- 

 viouslv recorded. The railways were 

 covered with many feet of water, trains 

 ccasetl to enter the various depots, but 

 discharged their i)assengcrs in the higher 

 outskirts of the city. The water as- 

 cended into the principal streets, filling 

 the first and second stories of hundreds 

 of business houses. Dwellers of the 

 submerged districts who could not re- 

 move were iv^l from skiffs and boats 

 approaching the higher window^s. The 

 manufactories ceased to operate, their 



