Geographic Notes 



167 



Bureau of Foreign Commerce, trans- 

 ferred from the State Department; 



The unattached bureaus of the Fish 

 Commission and the Department of 

 Labor; 



And the newly created Bureaus of 

 Manufactures and of Corporations. 



The law which created the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce and L,abor also gave 

 the President authority to transfer to 

 the new department from the other de- 

 partments, excepting the Agricultural, 

 any statistical or scientific bureau. 



THE POSSIBILITIES OF SOUTHERN 

 APPALACHIAN STREAMS 



OWING to the growing importance 

 of the Southern Appalachian 

 Mountain region as a source of supply 

 for many streams upon which depend 

 important industries of the South, the . 

 United States Geological Survey has 

 been making a systematic study of the 

 water-courses which there take their 

 rise. No other region in the eastern 

 part of the United States is so important 

 as a gathering ground for widely dis- 

 tributed streams. Its copious rainfall, 

 amounting in places to 72 inches, with 

 an average for the whole region of about 

 53 inches, together with its steep grade 

 and large proportion of forests, makes 

 it a unique gathering ground for streams 

 which flow eastward into the Atlantic 

 and westward and southward into the 

 Gulf of Mexico. The work of the Sur- 

 vey has been directed to the measure- 

 ment of all the important rivers of the 

 district, including the New, Yadkin, 

 Catawba, Broad, Saluda, French Broad, 

 Nolichucky, Watauga, Holston, Big 

 Pigeon, Nottely, Chestatee, Toccoa, 

 Conasauga, Coosawattee, Cartecay, El- 

 lijay, Hiwassee, and Etowah. 



In the study made of these watersheds 

 special attention was given to the nor- 

 mal flow and the yearly variations in 

 the discharge of the streams, the devel- 

 oped and undeveloped water powers, 

 the springs in the basins, the sources 

 and quality of the water, and the gen- 



eral characteristics of the topography, 

 rocks, and soil. Consideration was 

 also given to the minerals, mines, forest 

 areas, rainfall, and climate, as well as 

 to the means of lumbering and of trans- 

 portation. The data thus collected will 

 be made available for engineers, man- 

 ufacturers, and others needing informa- 

 tion concerning the water resources of 

 the region. 



MONT PELEE 



REPORTS from Martinique indicate 

 that Mont Pelee continues active. 

 Prof. Angelo Heilprin states that be- 

 tween the time he left the island, Sep- 

 tember 6, 1902, and December 16, 1902, 

 the mountain increased in height bodily 

 about 950 feet according to measure- 

 ments which have been sent him. Dur- 

 ing January a severe eruption occurred 

 which tore away the larger part of this 

 increase, but since then the mountain 

 has been steadily gaining in height 

 again. A notable phenomenon about the 

 volcano is a narrow obelisk which has 

 been thrust forcibly and gradually 

 through the throat of the volcano to a 

 height of some 200 feet. The obelisk 

 is incandescent, pointed like a needle, 

 and would appear from Lacroix's ob- 

 servations to be of a lavse-form nature. 

 Mont Pelee has now been in a state 

 of unceasing disturbance, more or less 

 active, since th,e great catastrophe of 

 May 8, 1902 — in fact since several weeks 

 before that day. 



Professor Heilprin plans to return to 

 Martinique shortly to continue his per- 

 sonal examination of the volcano. He 

 is at present engaged in enlarging his 

 volume, " Mont Pelee and the Tragedy 

 of Martinique," for a second edition. 



The Census of China, recently com- 

 pleted, shows the enormous total popu- 

 lation of 426,447,000, according to the 

 cabled reports. The number of inhab- 

 itants in Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, 

 and Turkestan were only estimated. 

 Thus more than one-fourth of the in- 



