Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1844-08-24
From The Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper.
A Graphic sketch OF the late Disastrous
Flood Tn the Mississippi and Missouri
KIvers.-Immense Loss of Property
shock of an Earthquake.


shock of Earthquake.
CARE GiRARpEAu, Mo, July 2l, 1914.
MEssRs. EDrroRs The mighty Mssssip.
pi, the Missouri, or the Missourian, (for we want
a name, to distinguish the main stream from
mountain to ocean,) unsurpassed in its course
unlimited in its resources, gathering waters
from every quarter, stretching out in its trbu-
taries from east to west, invading the very
verge of the great lakes in bibulous ambition
though it rolls on for the most part in unassu.
ming repose, now and then merely lifting up
its head to cast glance at advancing culiva~
ton, yet there are times when it seems deter
mined to assert its supremacy, its undivided
| sway and utter awful warnings of its over
! whelming power. From such an epoch are we
Just emergng-from such deluge as surpas.
/ ses the recolections OF the Oldest settlers
Through the whole of the country west of
! Mississippi, ruin has been more than abundant
since the first of April, but the river was not
much affected by it till about the middle of May.
! The volume Of water which it has poured down
since that time is truly astonishing. This great
ming of June, and the river seemed to be retur-
ming, though slowly, to its bed. 1t was imagi-
ned by many that this frs, rise was the usual
annual elevation Of the waters, and that it con-
tanned the mountain freshets and the melting of
the SHOWS. Some old settlers asserted that they
could recognize the mountain floods by the cool.
ness OF the water; some entirely denied this,
and maintained that the SHOWS had not yet
changed their character. But a short time pro-
we'd that the worst rise was yet to come, and
since that time We have Lad a perfect deuce,
devastating the bottom lands and the river pra-
ries in a terbe manner, destroying the crops
IN toto, and in some cases destroying the very
SOIL covering it with black RATS of dirty drift
wood, and overwhelming that again with sand
bars and mud. About the first of July this Sc.
cond fresh was at its height, though this period
would of course vary in the distance of some
hundred miles. AT this time it was an awful
yet sublime sight, swelling from bluff to bluff,
and approaching like majestic series ofrotous
lakes, nine or ten miles in BREADTH in the prai-
RE and untimbered districts. In other parts,
the astonished river wandered through the deep
recesses of the forest, and passed unseen and
surprised beneath intcrminable shades But
where 1t was confined to a narrow aud rocky
channel, as at the Grand Chain, or obstructcd
with islands, as at the Fatal Graveyard, It's Vi.
oIenCe, roaring and irasclbillty were fearluIly
emphatic. 1t hurled its wrath in vain against
81, a, 1 1 .
their solIdity bat when ii encountered the al
iuvla. islands, It's power was visible at every
turn. 1t broke over their opposing points, nm.
dermined their timber, and hurled it with ilces.
SAINT crashing into ;hc midst of the boiling tor.
rent. AT night the noise was peculiarly awful
peculiarly lmpresSve-it was Il restless piung
ing of battcring ram against the crunbng
towers of Natures citadel, and sounded omn
; ousy and alarming to the sad and wakeful sut
terers-to those whose corn, whose fences
whose cordwooh whose dwellings were success
= sively taking flight for "shores unknown ana
strands Ct other climes" 1t was indeed q n aw
tu sight, in the day time to see the ancient mon
arch of the forest bending MS venerable head
and at last proslrating himself before the tur
bid tyrant. There might be seen, at time, 0
trees, a whole uniform company, performing
the Eastern custom of prostratlon, and ther
ruthlessly hurled away by the implacabc tor
rent. The whole river was, besides, cucumber
ca with strange and to stranger on unac
countble mixture of floating matter, masses O
> living and dead timber, loads of cord good bacl
logs, that had perhaps been for ages embeddeC
: and embayed, here and there house, here
and other things lndiscribabe, sometimes apart
, sometimes Struggling often combined in
confused and fearful mass now whirlng in al
eddy, now swinging round point; now caugh
on the head Of an island, and driven upwards ant
- inland by the wild mass of confusion behind, ap
- parenty unwilling to arres, is course unde
any circumstances, and TO any obstacle. Man
of the islands Zone of which, near the Grave
- yard, contains nine or ten thousand acres) hay
,. had invaluable crops upon them, and mmens
u piles Of cordwood-all all have perished. In
deed, many individuals have lost to a serou
amount, and are thoroughly disheartened wit
the bottom lands, 50 much and so literally lauC
ed in all parts OF the Union. The great Amel
lean Bottom containing hundreds of thousand
e. acres, has been entirely submerged, except
70 partial ana almost imperceptible points. At III
10 dividing line between Cape Girardeuu and SEQ