496 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. MARCH, 1910
Snake River, and a description thereof would be but a repetition
of the disasters of the early winter. Whitman County, Wash.,
was probably the chief sufferer, and it is estimated that the
losses there were at least $1,000,000. The losses over the re-
mainder of the State were about as much more. In the vicinity
of Caldwell, Idaho, the losses amounted to about $200,000.
These estimates do not include the losses t o the railroads, which
can not be given at this time. While 110 regular flood warning
service is possible over the greater portion of this district, a
general flood warning issued from the local office of the Weather
Bureau at Portland, Oreg., on February 26, was of considerable
value.
The flood in the Willamette River was, of course, forecast at
the proper time, and a large aniouiit of freight was removed
from the docks at Portland before the arrival of the floocl waters.
The flood stages were general from Albany, Oreg., to the niouth
of the river, with a crest stage of 19.6 feet, or 4.6 feet above the
flood stage at Portland on March 5.
Nothing of interest occurred in the Sacramento watershed
except the rapid disappearance of the winter snows. presaging a
shortage of water during the coming season.
The dates of breaking up of the ice in some of the more im-
portant rivers were as follows: Mississippi River, at Fort
ICE.
Ripley, Minn., on March 14; at Dubuque, Iowa, on March 16,
and at Iieokuk, Iowa, on March 3. Navigation was opened at Iieokuk on March 15, and on Lake Pepin on March 24, the
latter date said to have been the earliest on record. The
lowest point at which ice was observed was at Chester, Ill.,
where there was some floating ice on March 2. Missouri River
at Bismarck, on March 13, and Omaha on March 4. Red River of the North a t Wahpeton, N. Dak., on March 7; Moor-
head, Minn., on March 19, ancl Pembina, N. Dak., March 28.
Navigation on the Hudson River was opened on March 17,
and at Hartford, Conn., on the Connecticut River, on March 8.
The ice went out at Bellows Falls, Vt., on March 26, but the
Penobscot River was not open throughout its entire length
until March 27, although the ice went out at Mattawamkeag,
hle., on March 8.
All dates were unusually early owing to the high temperature
of the month.
Hydrographs for typical points on several principal rivers are
shown on Chart I. The stations selected for charting are Iieokuk, Bt. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, and New Orleans, on
the Mississippi; Cincinnati and Cairo, on the Ohio; Nashville,
on the Cumberlancl; Johnsonville, on the Tennessee; Kansas City, on the Missouri; Little Rock, on the Arkansas; and
Shreveport, on the Red.
SPECIAL PAPERS ON GENERAL METEOROLOGY.
CJOMMENTS ON PROFESSOR SWAINS ARTICLE ON FLOODS AND FORESTS.
(In American Forestry, April, 1910.)
By THOMAS P. ROBERTB, Unlted States Engineer Office. Plttnburg. PY.
The underlying motive of Professor Swain’s argument in t.he
Engineering News of April 14 is to connect the forest problem with the navigability of rivers and hence the cluest.ions involved
are of considerable national importance. The position of the
“foresters,” of which body Professor Swain is a prominent
representative, niay be briefly stated as follows, to nit:
First. The forests, especially on t,he mountain slopes shout
the headwaters of the streanis? teiid t.0 equalize the discharge of
water from rains and melted snow restraining t,he floods on
navigable rivers, and at the same time increasing t.lieir low
water discharge from reserves of ground storage.’
Against this proposition some of t,he engineers engaged on
river improvements contqncl t,hat observatioiis of river gage
records and calculations of stream discharge lend but little, if
indeed any, support to the t.heories of t.he foresters. Aiiiong
other things it is contencled t,liat, the per cent. of rainfall dis-
charged by the rivers during the winter or flood nionbhs, iarli- cates, at least for most of t.he Ohio Valley, but. a liniitetl contri-
bution to ground storage during that! time and that, this st.orage capacity is usually taxed to its utmost limit. before the close of
winter, and hence its re~t~raining influence would seldom be ”f
any importance. It must be the case that the line of perma- nently saturated soil and rock on great areas is much nearer the
surface than i t is commonly thought to be. This is undoubtedly
the case where short-lived “wet weather” springs abound, the
most prolific of which cease to flow in a few hours after t,he storms have passed.
Second. On the part of the foresters it is claimed that the
destructionof forests leads to such soil waste or erosionabout the headwaters as to result in the silting up of the beds of our navig-
ble streams and thus t.0 interference with traffic upon t.hem. Against this it is replied that on the Ohio at least, by reason
of the greatly climinishecl number of snags and the effect of
training works constructed by the Government at occasional
points, there is much less silting than formerly, and t,liat in con-
To amount to anything for the benefit of open river naviguhion, the vol- ume of such reserve water must be very great.
- - - . . _- . . .. -. . .
sequence the navigable depth is somewhat better ancl very much
safer. With the reduction in numbers of snags and tree trunks,
which, in old times, formed the nucleus of sand bars, the force
of the floocl currents tends to create ancl maintain a more uni-
form cross section with less undermining of the banks ancl con-
sequently greater stability of shore bars. Speaking of the San Francisco River in Brazil the late W. Milnor Roberts, C. E.,
said the permanent shore ant1 other bars were a distinct advan-
tage to the navigation of the stream by ’contracting the dis-
charge in wide places and thus, with a given volume of water,
increasing the navigahle depth. The present writer, whose
esperience on western rivers dates from 1860, and who is very
familiar with the stories of pilots estencling back to 1837, takes
this occasion to emphasize the statement that the Ohio is greatly
improved over its old-time conditions in every respect. Re-
garding the Ohio’s low water discharge, certain United States
Indian C‘ommissioners, in 1785, reported such tributaries as the
Little Miami, 1,500 square miles drainage area, near where
Cincinnati has since grown up, so low that there was no water
visihle flowing from it into the Ohio.‘ The figures of ineasurecl discharge, reported by Col. Charles Ellett at Wheeling, and
Major Sanders at Pittshurg, in 1S3S, were as low as the 13s-
charge for 1908. The year 1854 is thought to have been about
the same as 1838 and 1908, but the actual minimuni discharge
was not obtained in 1854. Also, regarding high water dis- charges, attention is invited to Judge Hugh Brackenridge’s
(afterwards Chief Justice of Pennsylvania) account, published
in 1780 in the Pittsburg Gazette, of a floocl in the Allegheny scouring away the river bank near Fort Pitt, totally destroying a
long row of houses with their gardens. Viewing these extremes,
it is difficult to believe that the operations of man during the
past century have resulted in any detriment to tlie river. Professor Swain admits, and it should be generally under-
stood, that grave doubts are entertained by some of our na-
tional legislators as to the right of Congress to authorize expen- clitures for the purchase of land and reforesting same unless
it can be clearly shown that such espenditures will result in a
benefit to the public and made necessary for the improvement
of inlancl navigation.
’ The cornmimionera reported that their flat boa& were fr&uently aground on the shoals, which were as bad below Wheeling as above that point.
MARCH, 1910. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 497
It is only, however, quite recently that the foresters have proposed to take the navigable rivers under their wings. For-
merly it was the matter of diminishing tsimber supply and aclvanc-
ing prices, to which they patriotically directed the atteiition of
the country, and to this good work no oiie ever raised a voice in opposition. When, however, they encountered the consti-
tution$ difficulty above referred to they at once proceeded to
annex river improvement plans to their field of enterprise.
Some of the first claims of the foresters against the operation of the river engineers were ridiculous in the estrenie. Thus,
for instance, that with. forest conservation, aided by occasional
reservoirs over the basin of the Ohio, locks and clams would be
useless, that perennial depths of 6 or more feet could be main- tained from near the heads of. the principal t.ri!)utaries which would afford unobstructed navigation the year round. It mas
also claimed that the floods could be kept below the danger line and that the income froni wat.er powers would co~iipensate for
the necessary espenditure. Propositions looking to these ends were put forward in a most
illurilig nianner in magazines and newspapers, aiid through
boards of trade, and lecture bureaus, while uiiiversit!y pro-
fessors stepped into the field to work for the coinmoii cause.
There is no cloubt about it, it was a common cause, for the
people everywhere agreed with the editors, professors, and
lecturers. Even to-clay if the question were to be clecicled by numbers the foresters would win by a treiiienclous majority,
and it is rather odcl they have not before this secured their
desired legislation. There must be, it appears, some things
which almost every one thinks should be clone, which are not done because of the restraining advice of but! a few individuals.
It is probably the case that while the mass of the people are
with the forestry leaders in sentiment they are not overly
excited and are ready and willing to listen to representations of
the “corporal’s guard” in opposition to the foresters. It was
so in 1885 when the present writer was actually iavitecl by the
American Forestry Congress to appear hefore that body and address it, the invitation being accompanied by the frieiidly
advice that the guest, would be appearing before an audience
unanimously hostile to his views. A personal appearance was
not possible, but tlie congress very generously published hi?
paper without an axe mark in it.s proceedings. To-day, however, the number of those in so-called ’‘ opposi-
tion” to the claims of the foresters regarding river improve-
ments is larger and increasing in nuiabers, and the congres-
sional conimittes are willing to hear them. Not, for one moment
should the river engineers and their little 1Jancl of friends be
considered as hostile to the proposed espenditure of S5,OOO.OO~) for Appalachian and White niountain Iancls for the purpose of
converting them into national forests, but they clo not .believe
in attempting to justify such an espeiiditure on the ground
that it will better tlie navigahle conditions of the rivers, or in
any way reduce the expenditures necessary to complete the
projectsnow under way for the improvement of inlancl navigation.
Too much biased or, rather, extravagant opinion, unaccom-
panied by the data on which it is hasecl, creeps into tlie cliscus-
sions of the forest and flood problems, as presented by such writers as Professor Swain, and which really does his sick of the
question more harm than good. It has been pointed out fre-
quently by meteorologists how coniinon it is for erring humanity
trusting to individual recollections, to assume that! the climate
is changing, especially as to snowfall, ancl then come ill-founded
deductions and theories based upon them, all firmly believed :
the more so because they are rarely contradicted, but iieverthe-
less wrong. Thus, for instance, Professor Swain goes back as
far as the 1879 report of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., to
quote Maj. Charles 0. Allen, as follows:
The weight of evidence collected by various writers upon the subject of rainfall seems to indicate that reforating of extensive areas of country is followed by a more equable distribution of the rainfall throughout the year.
More personally painful is the statement that Professor Swain lays bare regarding the present writer’s weakness, and
ignorance when he wrote in the same 1879 report, as follows:
Thr clcaring of forest land, I believe, is followed by greakr fluctuations in
our rivers. I t.hink t,he st.orni waters undoubtedly reach the st,rertms mom rapidly now than formerly.
This esposure nialres t,he present writer feel more disposed to forgive t,he weakness of others who lingered longer outside
the ‘i true faith” than he did. The present writer began to be converted in 1883 aiid was nearly turned around to the side of
recorded facts, especially those of long-continued European river observations, when he was called to appear before the
American Forestry Congress in 1885.
hlaj. Charles W. Raymond, writing in the Chief of Engi- neer’s R.eport for 1891, is also quoted by Professor Swain as fol-
lows :
Thf. drstruction of forestu froin t,he niount,nin crest.s and slopes of a wnt.er shed is untloubt.edly t.he principal cause of the increase of t,he average magni- tude of floods. The evidence rollect.ed during the past 25 yeam, wtablishing this conclusion. is well nigh overwhelming, and it is verified by repeated ohwrvnt.ions not only in t,he mount.ains of Europe, but also in our own land.
Then a few lines below Major R.aymonc1 continues as follows :
Colonel Torrelli affirms as t.he mulb of c:ireful observations t.hat. four- fifthsof t.he prrcipitnt.ion in forests is absorbed by the soil or detained by the
surf:tre of t.hr ground to be gr:idunlly given up in sprine and gentle rills and
only oncfift.li of the prwipit.ation is delivered t.o t,he rivers rapid1 enough t o create floods. Upon the mine slopw and surfaces denudeiof their formtr t.hc proportions are reversed.
It, is t.0 be noted t,hat this is a clifference of four to one in favor
of the f0rest.s. There are so very niany negative results shown
in the studies of river records as to leave no stmicling whatever for such wild claims as those macle by Colonel Torrelli.
Professor Swain shoulcl not speak of “ careful observations, ”
when quoting others, without looking them up, especially in
view of tlie fact that in other parts of his paper lie disclaims
some of tlie estravagaiit claims macle for f0rest.s in restraining
floods.
On the subject of erosion also Professor Swain can be criti-
cised. In t,he place where he is trying to corner Prof. Willis L. Moore, as if to illustrate, he says: .
The iininediate effrct. of deforwt.stion on floods and in the deposition of scdimrnt will clcarly Le felt. first in t.he upper rraches of the streams, on the Ohio ltiver, for inst,sncc, at. Pittslmrg and point8 above.
The case probably looked good on t.he map, but the professor
could scarcely have macle a greater mistake than in choosing the
upper Ohio. In many places in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia very deep hillsides may be seen which have been
plowed and cultivated for decades ancl still they are planted in
wheat and corn without the least, attempt to fert,ilize them ant1
wit,li little clone with ditches to carry off surface water. When left fallow t.he bared ground is. productive of grass quite suffi-
cient, t.0 prevent their gullying. There are regions of steep
slopes in the glacial drift areas of the upper Allegheny, formerly
heavily covered with pine trees, now bare escepting for grass,
while the streams issuing from such comparatively bared re-
gions have the largest low water discharge per unit of area of any
streams in Pennsylvania, unless except’ion be made of the lime-
st.oiie district of t,he Cuniberlancl Valley west of Harrisburg.
The Moiioiigahela ‘River is much clearer at medium flood and
low st,ages now than in early periods, for it was formerly muddy t,he year around and was called, in some ._Indian dialect, “The
Caving Bank, ’’ or t,he “ hludcly River, ’’ “ Monongahela” mean-
ing muddy or caving bank. 1t.s extreme clarity at low water periods of lat.er years, it is proper to .say, is clue to acids reaching
it from coal mines and galvanizing establishments.
It is, however, time that. a treaty of peace be macle between
the conbentling factions of the forestry and flood problem. The
present writer believes that the river engineers will join with the
foresters any time for the salvation of our forests. They may
498 MONTHLY WEA
want to stand on the proposition, however, that the irregulari- ties of the rivers are due to their hahit of follouing the irregularities
of precipitation, irrespe&’ve of the nature of the coaer on th4 ground.
The present writer, who claims to be a disciple of the river engi-
neers, would like to present as an article for the treaty of peace, that there is an analogy between the annual discharge of the up-
per Ohio and the variation of levels of the Great Lakes, for the
purpose of showing that whatever it is which produces extremes
of drought or high water in the Ohio, has its seat of operation in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, that the forested areas
of the central United States are creations of those operations, and that cutting away the forests has in no wise interfered with
them, or reduced or increased the volume of the Ohio returned
annually to the ocean.
It is to be feared, however, that no lasting peace can be macle until the meteorologists and the hydrologists have worked up all
their available data (they are the court of last resort) and deal
only with facts and figures, as indeed the engineers have tried to do,
but have not always been well treated by the popular tribunals.
SUMMARY OF THE CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA FOR
THE UNITED STATES, BY SECTIONS.
By Prof. FRANK H. BIQELOW. In charge of the Climatological Divlslon.
The climatological data of the United States, which have ac-
cumulated for the last half century, have been recently collected
together in a series of summaries, 106 in number, covering the
United States by sections, as given on the accompanying chart.
It has been found convenient for various purposes to bring the data together for ready reference, in order that the numerous
inquiries addressed to the Central Office or to the section clirec- tors may be more readily answered. The summaries also serve
the purpose of special studies on the part of engineers ancl others
interested in water resources, in farming operations, and in
climatological matters generally. The records of the Central
Office have been carefully compared with the retained copies on
the stations, and all possible errors have been eliminated froni
these tables. The Annual Report of the Chief of the Weather
Bureau will contain similar data for the years succeeding 1908, so that the record will be continuous for the future. The sum-
maries contain a statement of the topographical and climatic
features of the region, with remarks of a practical nature such as are likely to be of interest to the reader. The tables include the
precipitation for the section, giving the monthly, annual, and
average amounts of rain or the equivalent of snow in inches and
hundredths. Some gaps which have occurred in the records are
filled in by interpolation of data from surrounding stations, such
interpolated values being printed in bold faced type.
A series of subordinate tables follow, giving (a) the average
number of days with 0.01 inch or more of precipitation in each
month; (b ) the mean temperature; (c) the highest teinpers-
ture; (d) the lowest temperature; (e> the average hourly wind movement in miles; df> the mean relative humidity in
percentage; (g ) the prevailing wind direction ; (h) the frost
data, etc.
A brief summary of hydrographic data for the section, fur- nished by the United States Geological Survey, is aclclecl, which
gives some of the relations between the precipitation and the
discharge of the important rivers for each month, namely, the
maximum, minimum, and mean discharge in second-feet ; also
per square mile, together with the run-off as depth in inches on
the drainage area and total in acre-feet.
Diagrams are added showing the comparative monthly clistri-
bution of precipitation a t a number of stations, ancl a chart
showing the boundaries of the sections, the location and nuniher
of reporting stations, river systems, and general elevation above
sea level. These summaries will finally be brought together in a voluine
and this will give a history of the climate of the United States in
as convenient a form for reference as is practicable.
.THER REVIEW. MARCH, 1910
RECENT PAPERS BEARING ON MECEOROLOGY AND SEISMOLOGY.
c. FIRHUQH TAMAN. Llbrarisn.
The subjoined titles have been selected from the contents of
the periodicals and serials recently received in the Library of
the Weather Bureau. The titles selected are of papers or other
communications bearing on meteorology or cognate branches
of science. This is not a complete index of the meteorological
contents of all the journals from which it has been compiled;
it shows only the articles that appear to the compiler likely to
be of particular interest in connection with the work of the
Weather Bureau.
American jowstry. Washington. v. 16. April, 1910.
Unsigned articles are indicated by a -,
Roth, Filibert. The Appalachian forests and the Moore report.
p. 209-21R Glenn, L. C. Forests‘fls factors in stream flow. p. 217-224. Swain, George F. The influence of forests on climate and on floods.” A review of Prof. Willis L. Moore’s report.
Barnnrd, E. E. Observations of the aurora made at the Yerkea observatory, 1902-1 909.
-- Some magnetic storm records. p. 891-892. [Includes diagram of earth currents obtained on broken Atlantic cable before and during magnetic storm.]
Swain, George F. The influence of forests on climate, floods, and erosion. p. 427-429. [Extracts from discussion of a report by Prof. Willis L. Moore, from an advance copy of a contribution to “American forestry.”] White, Lazarus. The retarding of snow melting by forests in the Catskills. p. 136. [Illustrated.]
Beadnell, H. J. Llewellyn. The sand dunes of the Libyan desert.
p. 379-395. [Includes discussion of sand-carrying winds and sand- storms.] Huntington, Ellsworth. Problems in exploration-Central Asia. p. 395-419. [Outlines methods of investigating possible changes of climate in Central Asia.] Zidiuit iiie!eurulogical depcrrfiiieitt. ilfeiiioirs. Sinila. u. 81, pt. 1. 1910. Walker, Gilbert T. On the meteorological evidence for supposed changes of climate in India.
Safirre. Lotidon. 1’. 88. 1910. Bo’ston, W. E. The spectrum of the zodiacal light. p. 470-471. IFeh. 17.)
p. 224-240. -4strnphysical journal. Ctticago. I :. 31. April. 1910.
Electrician. Loiidoii. 1 3 . 6.4. Narrh 1 1 , 1910.
Eiqiiwermg itcii-s. Neil! I-ark. L’. 63. April 14, 1910.
C~~ngmptiical.jottrrtal. Londoii. P. 35. April, 1910.
p. 1-21.
,- ---,
A‘alitre. Loiidoii. ‘P. 89. 1910. Schuster, Arthur. Prof. I<. J. Angstrijm. p. 134-135. (Mar. 31.) Cook. J. Center of gravity of annual rainfall. v. 125-126. War. 31.) Watt, Andrew. ‘Cent& of gravity of annual rainfall. p. lR8. [Criticism of Cook’s method of comparing annual rain-
Bigelow,Frank H The circulations of the atmospheres of the p. 4.77-461. Smith. James Perrin. Ancient climates of the west coast. p.
Swann, W. F. G. On the specific heats of air and carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure by the continuous electric method at 20” C. and 100” C. p. 199-23s. R ~y n l wciely. Proccediiigs. Lotidon. ser. A. P. 83. 1909. Simpson, George 0. On the electricity of rain and snow. p.394-404. Scieitce. New I-ork. P. 91. -4 j n 4 15, 1910. Matthes, Frangois E. Air currents in mountain valleys. p. 577-578. Scienlijic Antericaii. Keui I-ork. v. 109. April 9, 1910.
-- A reform in meteorological unita. Nyiitoiis’s nieteorological iiiagariite. London. v. 45. April, 1910. Mossman, R. C. Correlation of climatic changes. p. 45-46. .4CropIiih. Pnris. 18 ail n h . 16 ))tars 1910.
Lorenc, Vladimir, it Lorenc, Victor. Du r61e du vent dans l’aviation. p. 137-129.
Pic1 ct terre. Britxelles. $1 aiiiib. 1910. Neumann, 8. Navarro. Le tremblement de terre Ib6rique du 23 avril 1909. p. 41-51. (F6vriw.) V[andevgver]. Vulgarisation de la .mCt.&orologie. p. 99-106. (Map.)
- Le paratonnerre avant Franklin. p. 127-131. (Mars.) L., E. filectricit6 atmospherique et BlectromBtres. p. 140-141. (Mars.) France. -4cudhtk des sciences. Coinples rendits. Tome 150. dl niars 1910.
Nouailhac-Pioch ifi Maillet, Edmond. Sur les crum de la Seine en janvier-fCvrier 1910. p. 813-816. [Includes summary of the meteorological factors ]
(Apr. 11.)
falls:] Popirlnr scwice inoitlhly. Areicy I’ork. v. 77. May, 1910.
earth and of the sun.
478-486. fhiytrl society. Philusophiral lransaclioiis. London. ser. A . u. 110.
p. 294.