540 STEVENSON— FORMATION OF COAL BEDS. [November 3, 



taut factor in respect of (|nantity, but its swell, coming later than the 

 others, often prolongs the stage of high water. 11ie western rivers, 

 entering below the mouth of the ( )hio, are the Arkansas, Red, 

 Ouachita and >'azoo. all of which descend into lowlands, where they 

 meander for a long distance before reaching the Mississippi. The 

 condition in this drainage area is that of ra])idl_\- Howing streams 

 emerging from highlands on an immense area of lowland, most of 

 which, unless protected, is subject to overflow. 



r>oth l'"rankenlield and Morrill emphasize the gradual rise of 

 Hoods within the open area. h'rankenlield gives the record for 1903. 

 'Die gauge showed at 



Fret. Feet. Feet 



Cairo, Jan. jS. 17.5 Marcli S, 45 March 15, 50.6 



Mcnipliis. I'\'I). I, 10.8 ]'\"1). 22. 33 Mar. 20, 40.1 



Vickshur.u-, l-'ch. .|, 21.0 Mar. 3, 45 



New Orleans, I'd). 8, c).i k'el), 26, 16 Apr. 6. 20.4 



The advance was deliberate, the lirst wave requiring four da}s 

 for passage from Cairo (at the mouth of the Ohio) to Memphis and 

 seven (la\s thence to New ( )rleans. The rise was gradual at Cairo, 

 being a foot and a half dail)' for i,() days to March 8- — which was 

 thought to be remarkably ra|)id — and much less thereafter to the 

 crest; at Memphis, it was one foot for 21 clays and onlv one fourth 

 of a fool for v:\c\] of the remaining _>S ; at \'icksburg, barely nine 

 tenths of a fool during each of the first 27 davs ; while at New 

 Orleans, the dail\ rise averaged little more than one fifth of a foot 

 throughout the whole ]H'riod. '^Idie great mass of the water came 

 from the ( )hio, but the \\c(\ and ( )uachita, entering from the w'est, 

 were abnormall\ high; at New ( )rleans, the water was at or above 

 danger line for 85 days. 



When one studies the reports of local observers, as given in the 

 publications from which this synopsis is taken, he is surprised bv 

 the nature and extent of damage within the Hooded areas. Artificial 

 protection is almost unknown along th.e upper Mississij^pi (above 

 Cairo) as well as along the Missouri and its tributaries. Floods 

 have free course in the low-lying prairie regions of Illinois, Iowa 

 and Kansas as well as in jiortions of Missouri, and there one should 

 expect to fmd record of the greater disaster. Morrill has compared 



138 



