Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-06-22
From the St. Louis Republican, 18th inst.
The Calamity at Cairo.

We are still without any definite information of
the extent Of the damage by the food st Cairo. A
gentleman who was in Cairo gives the particulars
in relation to the new hotel just finished there.
About l, P NJ, on Sunday last. forty feet of the
new brick hotel fronting on the leVee, fell from the
roof down, making q tremendous crash. Fcrtu-
nstely this portion of the building was unoecuped
at the time family had just moved into another
part of it. and were preparing dinner at the time,
but they quickly evacuated the premises and escaped
without injury, It was a most fortunate circum-
stance that the building fell on Sunday, else many
of the Workmen employed in completing it would
! have been either killed or wounded.
The main building Of the hotel had front Of one
hundred feet the LeVee street, by fifty deep, in
addition to which there was an forty by seventy
| five feet on Second street. 1t five stories in
hight with an attic fifteen feet high the whole
| covered with slate. The house was commenced q
| year ago, and would have been finished some time
! since had it not been for the burning of the Col
Crossman, on which vessel the slate for the roof
had been shipped. The hotel was about to be rent
| ed for S., 900 per annum. The building had al
| ready cost about S8S 900, and required IS 600 to
complete it. Whether the attempt will be made to
rebuild the house is questionable. There was no
insurance, except fire risk for $25 900, and the
entire loss will fall heavily upon the shareholders.
The Cairo Company is represented by stock to the
amount Of 81, 600, 600, of which George Peabody
! owns $780, 900, having purchased the same during
/ his visit to this country last year.
LATER FROM CAIRo.-The frame houses in Cairo,
/ in many instances, have been removed from their
foundations, and some Of them floating about in
| the water. From our very careful and attentive
| correspondent at Cairo under date Of yesterday,
we received the following letter:
CAIRO June l6.-CsirO is 30 far under water that
it can hardly be seen or heard from The water on
the inside is now within foot of the top Of the
Ohio levee and lacks only two feet of getting over
it the outside, and the river is still rising The
water is three feet over Mound City, and the pas
sengers Of the Illinois Central have to be ferred for
a considerable distance to the river.
The suffering here is fearful to contemplate, and
the destruction Of property is at present incalcua-
! BILE. The inhabitants have mostly been content
with saving their lives, leaving their property to
take care Of itself Piles Of lumber cattle, houses
fences trunks, and everything generally, are float
ing about in q miscellaneous mass The people of
Paducah, hearing Of our misfortune, sent down by
the ThQs Scott, last night, quantity of bread and
meat, and some money, all Of which came very op-
portunely, and we are infinitely obliged to cur Pa
ducah friends for their charitable remembrance of
u.s. Most Of the women and children have left, yet
all the houses on the levee are full and both the
wharf-bOats are crowded with people, baggage, and
furniture.
The Woodford laid over here last night, and kind.
ly accommodated number Of citizens aud strangers
with lodgings for the night. The men in town have
no chance to sleep, thinking it enough to accommo-
date the ladies' Your correspondent has not slept
for two nights, and has been hard at work for two
days. in the water and out Of it, in fact nearly eve
ry mans endurance has been taxed to the uttermOst
and we are all Workedout.
The news was brought last night that about 8
thousand feet OF the Illinois Central track, some
three miles above Cairo, are washed away. The
break in the levee was three hundred feet in length
yesterday-the water rOsred like young Niagara,
and could be heard for miles, The agent of the
Cairo Company did everything in his power, but all
efforts were unavailing. tried to telegraph during
Sunday and yesterday, but was unable to get any
dispatches through. viii try it again In the morn
ing, but probably equally Intellectually. Captain
Phillips, Of the upper wharf boat, gave up his rooms
and his boat to the suffering people, and the lower
wharf boat also accommodated as many as possible
A niece of Lord Rose is preparing for publication
most elaborate table Of the planetary system de-
scrbing the exact size of the planets their distance
from the sun, and the several periods Of time they
take in their various motions, with many valuable
particulars supplied by her learned and scientific
relative.
The st. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Asso-
citation offer $4,000 as premiums, to be awarded at
their third annual fair in September next In add-
tiOng $4,000 are offered by individuals.