Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 57, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 July 1931 — Page 4
PAGE 4
- •*' -rSt* I *pj •HOW AMD
l The Gas Fight * If Indianapolis really had municipal ownership of its gas lines and gas plant, the problem of natural gas "would be easy of solution. The city could then buy at wholesale whatever supply may be economically used and sell it to the public. But all that the city thus far has is a contract, a legal decision and a strong hope. The forces that have fought public ownership from the start have only begun to fight. They have millions at stake. The whole brood of public utility monopolies and holding companies is determined that no large city shall have a chance to demonstrate that it is unnecessary to pay extortions to them for their “superior” brains. Especially do the gas combines of the country resent such an invasion into the field of private exploitation. It is for that reason that one of the big combines bought the bonds of the old Indianapolis Gas Company and the head of another is the holder of the majority stock interest in the Citizens Gas Company. They have invested millions in the hope of extracting more millions from the people and of preventing the experiment in public ownership. They c n be expected to use every effort to defeat public ownership by new cases in the courts, by control of finance, perhaps by sabotage. In such a fight the people would be very foolish to overlook any weapon. Perhaps the manufacturers of this city are giving that weapon through their desire to bring in for their own use a supply of natural gas. These manufacturers assert that the use of natural gas is necessary' in order to enable them to compete with similar concerns in other cities. They claim that its use will enable them to keep going and give men work and jobs, jvhich is rather important these days. These men are not public enemies. They head big enterprises in this city. In the plants they represent are employed a large portion of the workers of Indianapolis. It is hardly conceivable that they would lend themselves to a conspiracy to rob this city of municipal ownership. That they may be adding anew weapon for the people’s fight is inferred from the fact that the same companies which bought the bonds and the stock of the present concerns and which still hope to keep control of the gas supply are fighting the entrance of natural gas to fche factories. At least the people and the manufacturers have a common enemy, even jf very sincere believers in public ownership not yet recognize a common cause. It is a time when it is necessary to look fct all facts. The people demand public ownership. The manufacturers are not crooks. lAH want industrial and financial security for she city. Perhaps the best way may be to let in patural gas for the factories and be ready to pse it generally if the vultures finally win. Muscle Shoals f There has been so much said about Muscle Shoals, much written and printed, that another discussion of it by the new presidential commission and the Alabama and Tennessee commissions can do jso harm. These commissions, it appears, can not dispose of JMuscle Shoals, but they can talk and make recommendations. And, so far as the Hoover commission is concerned. judging from its membership, it seems idle jbo suppose that it will recommend anything but private operation. For the head of the President’s new Muscle Shoals Commission is known as an advocate of private operadon and at one time supported the Ford Shoals offer Cnd the cyanamid proposal to lease the Tennessee river plants. The other two members are army officers, and while no one can predict what, if anything, they will recommend, it doesn’t seem likely that they will favor the plan of Senator Norris and Others for c" rnment operation of the great hydroelectric plants. In naming his commission, the President seems to have forgotten that there are two sides to the question of what shall be done with Muscle Shoals. Jle favors Drivate operation, but who can say this Is the best and only solution, particularly after congress twice has voted for government operation? Hoover thwarted congress’ plans, as did Coolidge Jjefore him, and this is only more reason why that aide of the controversy should be represented in the discussions. The country, and particularly Alabama and Tennessee, want Muscle Shoals put to work. But it is a little too optimistic, we believe, to expect this will be accomplished through appointment of more compassions. p Commission Shocked t The Wickersham commission, in its report on Criminal procedure, finds the state of law’ “shocking” in California. This because the courts of California can not correct wrongs done by the courts themselves. The Wickersham commission refers specifically to the case of Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, The refusal of the California supreme court to grant new trials, even in the face of discovered perjury by a key witness, appeals to the commission ps a “state of law shocking to one’s sense of justice.” It is encouraging to discover that the Wickersham commission is shocked. Perhaps now the commission Will do something about the Mooney-Billings case. The commission has in its possession a 600-word report, covering all the judicial irregularities of this relegated case. This report appears likely be
The Indianapolis Times (A SCBirra-HOWABD NKWSPAPEK) Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing 2H-23U Weat Maryland Street. Indianapofia, ind. Price in Marion County 2 eenta a copy; elsewhere, 3 cents— delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. BOXD ROY S°T AED - FRANK G. MOKRISON. Fahor President Business Manager PHONK—Riley ftSSI THURSDAY. JULY 16, 1931. Member of United Presa. Scrlppa-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enternrise elation. Newspaper Information Service and Aud't Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”
suppressed, notwithstanding that in its very nature it is perhaps the best evidence on the subject of legal lawlessness that has come into the commission’s hands. And the subject of legal lawlessness—crime committed in the name of the law—is probably the most important of all subjects studied by the commission. This report is to be suppressed, it appears, because the commission has decided against taking up the Mooney-Billings case. The decision, reached after prolonged dissent, was based first on the ground that a federal commission should not interfere in state cases and, second, on the ground that the commission should not take up particular cases. But, in yesterday's report on criminal procedure, the commission has forgotten both these objections. It has offered a 200-word comment on a particular case and a state case at that. On what ground now can it refuse to make public the complete report of the men who investigated the workings of justice in the case of Mooney and Billings? Seattle Moves Seattle, lively metropolis of the Pacific northwest, has just indulged in the luxury of a civic revolt. The mayor, apparently banking on the usual lethargy of the voters, had ousted J. D. Ross, for twentyfive years head of the city's famously successful water power project. Ross, said the mayor, w’as inefficient and extra/agant. The answer to that was a call from Governor Roosevelt for Ross to serve as consultant in the big St. Lawrence project. A fhovement to recall the mayor was launched and on Monday of this week he was voted out of office. His successor announced that he would reinstate Ross, with instructions to proceed with his plans for greatly expanding the city’s public power program. Arms and Economics Necessity may, in the end, become the mother of peace. When sabre-rattling Benito Mussolini becomes a convert to the cause of disarmament and tells the United Press that "almost every one by this time is beginning to realize that disarmament is the overshadowing issue ... it has got to be . . . there is no other road if western civilization is to live,” then one realizes that the world is at last at the point where economic common sense is beginning to filter through grandiose nationalistic ambitions and dreams that the war did not dispel. Mussolini himself confirms this estimate of his new point of view’. “If only from the economic viewpoint disarmament is a pressing necessity,” he says, “and since the average nation spends about one-fourth of its revenue on its military establishment, the value of lightening the burden is evident. It is the one place where budgets can be sliced without affecting the welfare and happiness of a nation.” It used to be that nations turned to war and conquest to relieve economic distress at home. That day has passed. And now that it has, it slowly becomes evident that economic distress can best be relieved by throwing off the crushing burden carried over from the bygone days. Until the world began to feel the pinch of unemployment and want, the selfish wisdom of peace was not so evident. Now only Frahce and Russia, countries in which conditions are still more nearly normal than elsewhere, cling to their armies and to the old theory that armies make for peace. Mussolini points out the importance of the United States’ decision to take part in the disarmament conference. It is equally important that the Soviet Union participate, for as long as the mighty Red army marches in Moscow no European nation will believe that it marches only in self-defense. It can not march in self-defense if there are to be no other armies who might oppose it. Before February, when the powers of the world assemble at Geneva, deficits and despair may bring others to view with ardor the gentle virtues of peace. A machine has been Invented to solve mathematical problems by means of the light of an electric eye.” Every problem, of course, will be a shining “example.” The United States may have the reputation of being tight-fisted in Europe, but there’s no denying that our aviators “com? across.”
REASON TI“T
JUST listen to this! David Shapiro of Chicago was granted a dissolution of the holy, but tempestuous bonds of wedlock which bound him to Pola Shapiro. Her name was Po!a ; but she was more like the equator. tt tt tt The judge restored to David all of the rights, privileges and appurtenances of the single state because Pola hulled against his dome a shaving mug. It was no common mug, such as one may acquire in a queensware store, but a mug upon which hung the ivy of family tradition. a n It was no less than the mug which three generations of shaving Shapiros had used when desiring to emerge from the alfalfa, and when Pola hurled it at the dome of David, it was broken into many pieces—not the dome, but the mug. Whereupon the judge promptly and properly unhitched David, who had lost not only his dignity, but his heirloom. tt tt a AND it was more than a sentimental loss, for David could have taken that mug up to Detroit and sold it to Henry Ford for much wampum, for It would have been a priceless addition to Mr. Ford's American village collection. In such a collection it would have stood next to the town pump. tt tt tt Os course, most of you folks remember the honored niche once occupied by the shaving mug in our American civilization. Every barber shop had a big receptacle hanging on the wall in which reposed the mugs of customers. tt a a In those mugs the customers kept their lather brushes, their soap, and if they happened to be plutocrats, the mugs also contained their private razors, blades which never were profaned by scraping the peeling of a stranger. And they had the owner’s name in large gilt letters, many of them with an imposing flourish. a tt a A GENTLEMAN really had not arrived at the full flower of citizenship until he had purchased such a mug and had it installed in the midst of surrounding china with most impressive ceremony. But the old shaving mug is no more! it it tt It has faded from the landscape it once adorned, faded with the Police Gazette and the periodical which carried the pictures of plump ladies in tights. It has faded from our view along with sleeve guards, detachable cuffs, gold toothpicks, ear muffs, bustles, wristlets, pickle castors, napkin rings, chains made of the locks of departed relatives, paper collars, side saddles, enlarged crayon portraits and the other treasures that used to make life a very hot proposition. •
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
M. E. Tracy SAYS:
All Right, but Irresponsible, Gossipy Scandal Is All Wrong. NEW YORK. July 15.—After six years of costly litigation, Albert B. Fall bows to the inevitable, agreeing to serve an extra day in order that he may be committed to the jail at Santa Fe, N. M. There is irony in the fact that he helped to build this very jail. There is also irony in the fact that while he was convicted of having taken a bribe from Edward L. DohenV, the latter was found innocent of having given him one. Just try to explain that to some kid if you want to find out how funny it really is. We write advertising that children can understand, but not law. tt tt a And ‘Legs’ Free WHILE Fall goes to jail, Jack (Legs) Diumond, the racketeer, goes free. Diamond was identified by the truck driver whom he was charged with torturing and one other witness, but a bevy of hotel clerks, waiters and other people swore that he was in Albany, which is many miles away, at the time. The jury preferred to put its faith in thus alibi. Officers of the law refuse to be discouraged. Diamond still faces five charges, they point out, four state and one federal. With so many chances, they profess confidence in making at least one hit, but history is against them. Jack (Legs) Diamond has been brought to book some twenty times, but with only one conviction.
25-Cent Wheat WITH wheat down to- 25 cents in some local markets, you can’t blame the farmers for yelling. What’s the objection to a moratorium, they want to know, not for a year, as Germany got, but for thirty days. Bankers will tell you—some of them at least—that the farmers are largely to blame, that they shouldn’t have planted so much wheat and so on. Maybe that’s so, but what about the railroads? Are the railroads to blame for the way freight and passenger traffic has fallen off during the last two years? a tt a All in Same Boat THE railroads want a 10 or 15 per cent rate increase. Asa matter of corporate bookkeeping and government regulation, they may be entitled to it. Asa matter of fair play and common sense, they are no more entitled to it than a lot of other people. By and large, this depression puts us all in the same boat, and bolstering up one crowd at the expense of others should be avoided. The European situation shows that no specific measure is sufficient. The slump is general, and no remedy is worth a whoop, unless It can be applied generally.
Doherty Wins Edge Henry l. doherty has won the first round in Kansas. The statute was unconstitutional. One state commission can not prevent some of his companies from selling .stock because another state commission doesn’t like the rates they charge for gas. You can't find much fault with that logic, even if the rates are too high. Regulating the sale of stock rests on a different theory than regulating rates and is intended to serve a different purpose. The only way a definite connection can be established between the two is through the use of unreasonably high rates to water stock and boost capital investment. tt tt a Backfense Claptrap THE mayor of Seattle having removed the head of the municipal light plant, the people rose in their wrath and recalled him. It sounded like an outburst of righteous indignation in behalf of a faithful, but mistreated official, and, perhaps, it was. Within twenty-four hours after the city council had elected anew mayor, however, charges were openly made that bribery had been employed to put him over. Whether these charges are true or false, they typify a growing and dangerous tendency in politics throughout this country. When a faction or party can’t do anything else, the popular idea is to sling mud. If people believed what the opposition says about nine-tenths of the men in public life, there wouldn't be any confidence left. If they don’t believe it, what good does it do? Honest investigations are all right, but irresponsible, gossipy scandal is all wrong. Democracy requires something better than backfence claptrap.
Questions and Answers
Is “Auld Lang Syne” German or Irish? It is the title of a Scotch song by Robert Burns and means “days gone by.” When was the International Chamber of Commerce established, and what countries were reprc sented? Where and when have its congresses been held? It was established in 1920 at a meeting of chief business interest; of Belgium. France, Great Britain. Italy and the United States, and subsequently forty other nations joined. Its purpose was to promote the development of international trade, to remove or mitigate the effect of trade restrictions and to fester harmonious commercial relations among the nations. Congresses have been held in London, 1921; Rome, 1923; Brussels, 1925; Stockholm. 1927; Amsterdam, 1929 and United States, 1931.
Daily Thought
I humbled my soul with . fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.—Psalms 35:13. Humility is the altar upon which God wishes that we should offer Him Hia Sacrifices.—La Rochefoucauld.
- - > I \ \ / /. ' STOP \ A . A L M that man! \0 f r * o , h o e lt! \ t \ i' p m ~v
DAILY HEALTH SERVICE “Copper Foods’ Help Build Blood
BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hrxeia, the Health Magazine. RECENT research carried on in many institutions has indicated anew the importance of minerals in various food substances. These minerals are concerned primarily with the building of blood, but also with other processes of growth and repair in the human body. Not only iron and copper are important, but there seems to be some question as to the exact parts played by manganese, zinc, nickel and other metals. Investigators in the University of Wisconsin found that the addition of copper to the diet was of great importance in rebuilding blood in anemia. Investigators in India and elsewhere believe that manganese is of importance in improving growth and that it, as well
IT SEEMS TO ME by
AN epic battle looms. Ely Culbertson, the contract bridge expert, has challenged Sidney S. Lenz to a match to decide which one is teaching the sounder system of bidding. To some small portion of the world this contest may see a matter of no importance. But the vast majority of American citizens will hang upon the result with bated breath. To them this is more than a world series or even a battle of the century, for the issue penetrates into their own private lives. It is not too much to say that the happiness and even the perpetuation of millions of American homes depend upon the answer to the riddle, Culbertson or Lenz, Lenz or Culbertson. tt tt u Foreclosure YOU see, if a husband and wife in New Rochelle are using the poorer method of bidding there is every chance that, in the long run, home, grounds, garage and car will go—in fact, will go into the hands of a Lenzite. While it is true that the element of chance enters into contract, in the long run soundness and mathematical fundamentalism must prevail. Accordingly, the big battle will have a certain mood which is denied to most sporting events. There is such a thing as a lucky punch which might decide a fistic encounter. Race horses have been known to be left at the post. And in a baseball game some sudden ray of sun in the eyes of the center fielder may change the whole course of proceedings. But when Lenz and Culbertson strip for action the final result will be accepted by both as something foreordained from the beginning of time. tt a tt Rah, Rah, Hunch IT has almost a Darwinian significance for contract bridge is a game which has grown up from the primeval jungles of ordinary whist. And when the two men, trained to a fine edge, sit down to their trial by combat there should most fittingly be cheering sections at either side of the room. If the queen of Culbertson holds in a finesse I should repect to hear a long-drawn cheer from his adherents and likewise from the Lenzites when some particularly daring play of that master proves effective. But I suggest to the contestants that still Rz-third section of the grand stanej-be reserved for heretics. And the group might well be recruited from those who say, “A plague on both your houses.” There ought to be some representation for that vast army which plays contract without any system whatsoever —the noble band of those who lead from inspirtaion and discard from fright. And in that portion of the stands I hope to secure a seat for myself. a a tt Evolution CONTRACT, I think, is the highest achievement which man has reached in the matter of inventive recreation. Poker is a mere pauper beside it. I say this advisedly, for poker is a game which can be played with spirit only when the stakes are large enough to constitute distress money for the particij pants. On the oiheyiiand, contract can
> Doesn’t Sound Reasonable
as copper, is concerned in th£ development of hemoglobin, or red coloring matter, in the blood. Because of these facts investigators in the University of Wisconsin have recently been making a study as to the amounts of these “lements available in various food substances. They find that ten foods are particularly high in their manganese content. These are blueberries, whole wheat, split peas, navy beans, chocolate, beet greens, bananas, kidney beans and chard. Copper varies from a very small amount in celery to a very high amount in calves liver. Foods that contain good amounts of copper are oysters, beef liver, mushrooms, currants, chocolate, split peas, pork, liver and lobster. Ten foods particularly high in iron are beef liver, spinach, lima beans, navy beans, calves liver, lean beef, chard,
be carried on long and violently, even though the gambling risk be reduced to as little a.s a twentieth of a cent a point. I am not even sure that contract could not be played with emotional profit to all concerned for no stakes whatsoever. After all, the true lure is the appeal to the ego satisfaction of the victor. Once I saw a gentleman who rates well up into the millions toss down his cards at the end of the
People’s Voice
Editor Times—Last week marked the smashing of two lottery and baseball pool racketeer gangs here in Indianapolis The police are to be commended for their work in this direction, but the gullible public should have some inside information on the workings of these pools and lotteries, to decide for themselves whether they are lotteries in fact, or just grand larceny swindle schemes. When the drawing of a quarter of a million dollars pool on the Speedway race was made the night before the race this year, only the unsold ticket stubs were used, and as a result not a dollar was put out for prizes. It’s true that the agents and ticket sellers got their 25 per cent cut and received a good luncheon that night, but the ticket buyer had not a chance. They call their baseball pool “The Midget” when it really is a 32,768ticket pool that sells out for $8,096 at 25 cents a chance. Out of this $8,096 it is possible for ticket holders to win all of $1,300, less than 4 cents worth of chance for 25 cents. And still they buy them. When the demand for them is killed by the knowledge that the buyer has not a chance, then the promoters will quit producing them. A SUBSCRIBER.
Editor Times—“ Will Dailey accept the nomination for Governor?” is the subject of discussion now pro and con. There could not be one more fitting and worthy. In appraising a man's fitness to hold office, his conception of duty should be given first place. Indeed, the people of the state would find it a hard task to think of a better choice. Mr. Dailey has shown himself a splendid public servant as district attorney. Socially, he is pleasant and unassuming, and does not care for his titles and wants to be called just Frank. As to the World war and the Legion, he was with them heart and soul and spirit, and sent his two sons to the front, and he was loyal to every star and stripe of Old Glory. Mr. Dailey goes on the sound and sane theory that the people should choose the candidate, and not the candidate himself. Those who seek popularity so seldom find it. Mr. Dailey spent his time and money and made a remarkable race. We feel that he is justly entitled to another trial, hands down, if he will accept it. He has never said emphatically that he will not accept it, if tendered the nomination, and if he is too modest to seek it, we are in favor of a draft, that we may have another Ralston for Governor. R. W. SANFORD. 217!>s North Illinoisstreet.
watercress, kidney beans and oysters. It is obvious from these facts that any one who eats a widely varied diet with good quantities of the various meats, fruits and vegetables that have been mentioned will get all of these essential minerals that he is likely to need. The average daily intake of any of these metals needs be relatively slight. It reaches barely more than one-hundredth of a gram a day for any one of them. The average daily intake of six families indicated that the amount taken daily by any individual would be for manganese 2.39 miligrams; for copper 2.26, and for iron 15.46. The important fact is to realize the value of these minerals in blood building and to see to it that the daily diet contains plentiful quantities of the foods that have been mentioned.
Ideals and opinions expressed n this column are those of one of America’s most interesting writers and are presented without regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this paper.—The Editor.
third rubber and go to bed angry and broken hearted. He had lost $1.36, but his soul was seared by defeat. tt tt tt .Too Many Rules YET one ominous cloud hovers over this game which I have called the best of all. And that cloud is made up of the black stratum of system and regimentation. Cards should constitute an adventure for those who meddle with them. They offer a release to such souls who are bound down by the deadly routine of scheduled tasks and hours in their office. There ought to be a corner of the world in which the word “system” is unknown. Accordingly, I confess that in the matter of the Culbertson-Lenz match I am a pure neutral. I hope they both lose. (Copyright, IS3I. by The Times)
•ft dOAtf ipuNe-
BOLSHEVIKI REVOLT July IS
ON July 16, 1917, the Bolsheviki, led by Lenin and Trotsky, staged a revolt in an attempt to realize their aim of what they called a “dictatorship of the proletariat." The revolt lasted for two days, and more than 500 men, women and children were killed in the streets of Petrograd. The Bolsheviki struck at a most strategic time, when the separatist movement in the Ukraine, the resignation of the Constitutional Democrats from the government, and the revolt and treachery among the Russian troops had produced a grave crisis. In spite of the chaotic conditions, the Bolsheviki uprising was put down by the Cossacks within a week.
Delicious Fruit Recipes Fresh fruits are very important in the diet as regulatory foods and tissue builders. The fact that they contain mineral salts such as calcium, phosphorus, lime and iron—each necessary to the body tissues—makes the use of fruit in the diet necessary. And the fact that most fruits are low in food value, while furnishing cellulose and acids, makes them ideal for summer use in the diet. Our Washington bureau has ready for you a comprehensive new bulletin on fruit dishes, drinks and desserts. It includes recipes for delicious fruit muffins, fritters, cocktails, salads, desserts and beverages. You’ll be surprised at the variety of tasteful ways you can use fruit and berries in the daily menu. Fill out the coupon below and send for this bulletin. CLIP COUPON HERE Dept. 131, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times. 1322 New York avenue, Washington, D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin. Fruit Dishes, Drinks and Desserts and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin or loose, uncancelled United States postage stamps for return postage and handling costs. Name Street and Number I City state I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times. (Code No.)
.JULY 16,1931
SCIENCE —BY DAVID DIETZ—
Rivers and Lakes in Ceaseless Change; Erosion , Evaporation and Decay Factors in T ransformation. ONE of the most interesting chapters in the story of ceaseless change which makes up the geological history of our earth is furnished by lakes. Small lakes are usually created by rivers and no sooner has a river brought one into existence than it sets to work to destroy it. Small lakes usually form because a river reaches some obstruction like a clay or gravel dam or a mountain barrier which prevents it from flowing any farther. Consequently the water spreads out over the surrounding territory forming a lake. Usually at some point the water again finds its way out of the lake in a continuation of the river. But as the original river flows into the lake, its water loses velocity. Now’ the amount of sediment which the water is able to carry depends upon the velocity of the stream. Consequently, the river begins to drop its sediment in the lake. In time, the sediment will fill up the lake, leaving only a narrow channel for the river. The amount of sediment deposited is also made larger by the death of the many living creatures in the lake, particularly the countless minute organisms. Their shells and skeletons collect on the bottom of the lake, in time forming considerable sediment. Plants also aid in this destruction of lakes. This is particularly true in the last stages when the lake is getting very shallow. When this happens, a dense swamp vegetation begins to spring up. The decay of these plants clogs the lake with a vegetable sediment known as muck. The shallow lakes in Florida are being destroyed in this way by the decay of the dense swamp vegetation.
Sphagnum A MOSS known as the sphagnum grows very densely upon swamps and shallow lakes in some parts of the world and is one of the most active and rapid agents in thus filling and choking a lake. The decay of this moss and the rise of anew growth of it, followed by a second decay and third growth, and so on, will frequently create a bog which is several feet deep. Ireland and Scotland are noted for their peat bogs, the material of which is cut and dried and used for fuel. In the western part of the United States and in other parts of the world which have arid climates, lakes are frequently found which have no outlet and which evaporate quickly. This evaporation causes an accumulation of mineral salts, for when the water evaporates, the mineral matter wffiich had been dissolved in the water is, of course, left behind. This is the reason that some lakes have water that is very salty. The Great Salt lake in Utah became salty because of the salt which was washed into it and left behind when the water evaporated. The continuous evaporation from some lakes causes the formation of deposits of ordinary salt, of gypsum and of other mineral matter. Frequently in desert regions, deposits of salt, gypsum or some other material are found. These mean that once upon a time their sites were occupied by lakes which have disappeared In the course of time through evaporation. tt tt a Behavior r I 'HE behavior of rivers is a fasci- **- nating subject to study. The speed of a river will frequently be changed by the nature of the land through which it flows. For example, a river will come tumbling down a mountain slope and then enter a fiat plain. This causes a great change in the velocity of the river. As the river slows up upon the plain, it can no longer carry all the sediment which it has been bringing down the mountainside. Hence, it will deposit much of the sediment at the foot of the mountain where it enters the plain. This deposit usually takes the form of a fan-shaped deposit like a section of a cone with its apex In the foot of the mountain. It Is known to the geologist as an alluvial fan or alluvial cone. Another type of deposit occurs where a river flows through a wide flat valley. During a flood season, the river will overflow its banks and spread out over the valley. But the outer reaches of the flood will not have a velocity like the central portion of the stream. Consequently the sediment will be deposited there and after the flood recedes the valley will be covered with a thick layer of sediment. This Is known as a flood-plain. These flood plains are usually composed of very fine sediment. Asa result, they usually form extremely fertile tracts of land which are extremely valuable for agricultural purposes.
