National' Flood Relief Commission, was the speaker at Thursday's Shanghai Rotary Club tifin re-union, held the Metropole Hotel. Taking for his subject the topical theme of "Floods in China, and' their prevention," the speaker gave a most interesting and informative address, listened to. with rear appreciation by all. present.
Mr, Baker said that, according to historical records, during the past 2000 years "something over 1,800 famines had occurred, resulting from ought, flood or pestilence in. the eighteen provinces, half of which have been due to flood. Out of every fen years, nine see some form of famine, and four or five of these are due to'flood. "It would be diffeult to say which causes more damage—drought. or flood. Drought prevents crop from bring raised—ood destroys it afler it has been raised. So, while a certain amount of property' and food is usually salvaged during a Lime of flood, on the whole, more distress is caused by too much water than too little, and certainly, the disaster is much more spectacular, worm ous Losses The effect of these disasters on the national economy is becoming better appreciated as statistics are becoming more and more reliable, In 1981, the flood damage is estimated. to have amounted to two thousand "mail ion dollars, Floods around Tientsin caus. ed a crop Toss of three hundred miltion, "white the flood toll this year has' not yet been reliably estimated, but will not be small.'Two or three minor floods, or one major ood, oe-fashion Tosses fully equivalent to the entire national debt.
For the most part the causes of floods are geographical, and are acentuated by the metecrotonical conditions." These conditions "are em-Dhasized in their effect by the tre-Imendous area drained by" the prin~ cipal rivers. For example, the area rained by' the Yangtze ahd its tle Dutarles 1s some two million square Kilometres. in" extent, and in 1031 engineers estimate that during one for the storm periods, a total of 85,000 feeble metres of water fell every second of the storm. The Inevitable result was that the Yangtze continued {o rise until there were no dykes high enough to hold. it back: even after dykes were broken, the water rose four oF five fect more. Col. Stroebe estimates that dykes. 87 feet high would have been necessary to carry {he 1031" raintalt—assuming that. the dykes held! And the rush. of -waler {is such that a tremendous amount of silt content is, carried, The alluvial plain which extends from. the general region. of the Peking-Hankow, railway" to the coast thas been built ip by this silt deposit through counttes ages. Frequently the Yellow River contains silt to such fan extent that. the sell contained in given quantity "of water would Weigh 40 per cent. of the entire Weight of siiteladen water, taken for purposes of measurement, he ang:
river {s estimated 10 carry to the fea during the course of the year a weight of silt which averages 1% tons
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.