Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1844-07-11
From the -. Lou, Republican oc June 2Jlh.
The Great Hood.

that the dnod is at lis highest. 1t may
60 up an Inch, or few inches more,
but our Impressions are that IT viii to-day
commence receding. The weather con-
tinues clear and warm, aud the reports
from above on all three Of the rivers are
favorable.
The Liberty (Clay county, Pioneer
of the . st estimates the rise on The Mis-
-ouri, at that time, to be FIVE feet higher
than il was in 1896, or has ever been
known to be by the Oldest settlers. The
Pioneer continues
( The aggregate of inquiry is so great
that We need not spend time Ia recount
lng eases of individual suffering. la
this county alone it is computed sixty
families from Browns and Cooley's bot
toms are, at this moment, many OF them
10 want of lhe very necessarics Of life,
and all oi them laboring under great
and almost irretrievable losses.
A gentleman Yesterday gave US Wv
ID description of the effects Of the flood
IN the Sand iii prairie, lying in Ray
county, between Camden and LeXing-
ton. On one ofthe highest Of the hills
which are scattered over this prairie,
which he wen, to last Sunday in II canoe,
after labOrlous tnp against the power
iul current, he saw n collection asvaried
almost as that contained in Noah's q ark (,
men, women, children, horses, oxen,
and cattle Of every description {; rabbits
squirrels, sheep and hogs, even reptiles,
/ tor they killed Il coppcrhead while he
wns there, were gathered together IN
fellowship by the instinct OF sri!-pfescr.
vatiCn, common 10 brute as well as man.
I The lowing ofihe frightened cattle, the
ueighlug of horses, the strange mlX'nre
of animals wild and tame-all seeming
to have forgotten the habits of nature,
and looking Ia the human countcnauce
for safety the deep anxiety aud aaita-
ton of the rational portion of this sngu.
lar congregation on the Sabbath, and
amid that wild scene of desolati0n, left
an impression on his mind, as our inform
ant SAYS, which he will not soon forget,
bat which is not easy to describe. W hIle
he was there, he saw on a neighborIng
hill about thirty head Of sheep, already
half under water, seeming by their loud
blcatIng and motions TO be conscious Of
their fate and numbers of stock, hogs,
sc. floating by dead, or swimming from
hIll, or rather from island to island, or
drifting on logs or fallen timber.
The Mary Tompklns, when near Lib
eriy landing, could get no wood, except
what was picked up floating, and two or
three cords Of nalboat. The current
carried her of into the Wacondah prairie
some distance, to The great terror Of all
aboard, who looked for certain dcstruc-
ton. A passenger tells Va that she
must have broken down fifty OF the tall
est cottonwood trees in her passage down
this praiile.
Below Greenvillo she met three men
on two horses up to their arm-piis in the
midst OF a strong current. With great
difficulty, one OF them, with the horses
was taken Oh board ,and landed at Green
vile wlthou; charge /; the others were
taken oil bv canoe which came at the !
same time from the shore. These men
hao been in the water three days, and
the legs OF one Of them had suffered n
good deal from It
The Lexington Express, Of the l3th,
contains the following particulars;
The river is ten feet higher, plump
water, than it was in 1926 aud full lbr /
ty feet above the low water mark. The /
current is exceedingly rapid running
at least ten miles per hour. The bot
toms North and South OF the main chan
Gel OF the stream are entirely inundated
the water in some places beng 10 or - !
feet deep, and strong current from bluff /
to bluff, bearing or every thing movea-
BILE. The river now presents one Of the /
most majestic scenes that We ever look /
co upon. The water is from five to SIX
mles wide opposite this place.
Millions oI dollars will not cover the
loss of property which has been sustain
ed by ih;s dood. 10 the bottom opposite
this place some Of the most valuable and |
most beautiful farms in the state have
been rendered worthless, at least for
several years. All the fencing has been
swept away Hundreds ofhorses mules,
cattle, hogs, sc. have been lost. The |
farmers near the bluffs have no doubt l
saved much Of their property. The /
p;Incipal reason why so much stock was
drowned Is the fact that the land ueaI .
the bluffs is lower than that nearer the I
river, and as the water rises it covers
those lower grounds before il does the .
farms, and thus cuts off all retreat, un-
less it is by swimming. The present
rise has been very rapid, averaging
about feet every "a hours
The Alton Telegraph extra Of the 2 ilh
June says:
The Mississippi is now higher than it
has ever been s,nce the first settlement
0f the state. The Missouri is equally
high. II not higher and having broken F.
Iutn the former river at and below Port
age dcs Sioux, about eight miles above
this place, It's yellow water now forms
nearly one-lhird of the mighty stream
which Is rushing past our landing, con
trastlng s,roug y with the blush appear
dnce OF The Mississippi
Or the damage done, il is impossible /.
to ofer any estimate. 1t ia lncalculablc. |
On tho Missouri, from Weston To the
mouth, the bottoms are generally inunda- /
ted ; the crops DESTROYED, the cattle,