Let’s defeat the elements (Magazine Universe 1927)

Every year, the surroundings of Kremenchuk are usually flooded by the spring flood of the Dnipro, and the flood of 1917, which caused a lot of disaster, is still well remembered by the residents of Kremenchuk.

That year, the Dnipro overflowed a lot and burst through the temporary levee and flooded the entire city except for the center. The frightened population together with the children and the treasure fled from their nesting places and hungry (the delivery of food almost stopped) had to live in dirty and stuffy attics for almost a month.
When the water receded, it turned out that many houses, especially old ones, were completely washed away. Townspeople returning home did not recognize the home environment, mutilated and swollen, did not recognize their houses with mowed walls, broken windows and doors.
10 years have passed since then. Along with other measures to streamline Kremenchuk, the construction of a mighty gate has now begun.
As soon as the ground was cleared of snow and the first spring sun warmed up, the bank of the Dnieper, previously dead, came to life and lit up with smoke from the chimneys of gloomy earth dragons.
The turbines of two large black and gray earth dragons spun. The floating pipeline began to spit out water in a stormy stream at the place of construction of the future ghatka.
As a result, the urban part of the ghatka has already grown over two versts. The total length of the ghat with the entrance to the city will be equal to 6 versts with a width of 6-15 fathoms. Therefore, Kremenchuk will be completely protected from the elements of the Dnipro. In addition, it is planned to lay a railway track on the ghat to serve the needs of local industry.
The bulk part of the ghatka with a reinforced bevel is filled with neat, loaded with stones woven cages made of reddish vines lying right there on the shore, stacked in long rows.
Every day, as soon as it dawns, 250 men of stonemasons and grabbers, blacksmiths and persimmons work on the second part of the ghatka, which will consist of the fireplace retaining wall.
In the chaotic, at first glance, mess on the shore, the force of shovels, stirrers and beds with cement are scattered.
Mountains of granite stones, brought here by the Berliners from the nearest quarry in the village of Taburyshchi, rise above all this. The puffy, crackling steel heart of a brightly painted boat towing Berlin loads of granite. When the boat delivers the 5,000 cubic meters of stone needed for the construction of the ghatka, he will be able to calm down and rest. Meanwhile, he has set off on another voyage. Oh, there is smoke creeping over the horizon…
The construction of the gate will cost 800,000 rubles. The main manager of works and the author of the project — engineer Parshchik — thought to finish half of it in October.
This summer, with the start of construction work, the lyricism and poetics of the Dnipro disappeared from us. You can no longer see on the shore, as before, uncles in straw blocks, who know how to sell imported coal well and, sitting next to the chicken, cook the famous kulish. Somewhere very far away, oak trees with black-eyed peasant girls are now standing, bringing fragrant berries, green cucumbers and meat, twisted eggplants.
The entire riverbank now breathes a business atmosphere.
… Stone… cement… rumble of hammers…
You’re not going to go there again, maybe you… Comrade technician, another Berlin has arrived. … There is a commotion everywhere, business shouts.
Out of habit, it’s even strange somehow.
And only in the evening, when a black, star-strewn cloud spreads across the sky, the day’s work noise disappears and the Dnipro becomes the former Dnipro again.
At this time, it is good to sit on a stone, just above the blue ribbon of the river and, looking at the moon that shines in it, to chat with the fisherman grandfather Yakym, white as milk, about the smooth Mr. Ostrogradsky and about the silver crucians that wandered in his pond .

Author: Gr. Segal
Source: Universe magazine. 1927 year. Kharkiv