, 1874-04-29
LOUISIANA
Account Of tho Flood by an Eye
Witness.
Its Extent and tho Distress 1t Has Caused.
~, Special Incidents.

II Special Incidents
Tho inundntlon Of the country on the Lowel
Mississippi and along tho Rod River is the son.
sutton OF tho dny; mud, although pretty full
nccouuts OF 1t and tho attendant .dIHtross to the
pooplo on tho plantations hare boon receivod By
telegraph, additional information will uniloubt.
cdly be read With interest, from Mr.. William A.
Abboy, resident of Chicago who returned
from Now Orleans yesterday, reporter obtained
tho following statement With reference to tho
flood:
Repurscr-Whon did you leave Now Orleans7
THE oyEarLow.
Mr.. Abbcy-1 loft thoro on Saturday the 18th,
Oh the John 4. 6cuddor, for st. Louis. Tho inn
preston up loro about tho overflow Is not oxact-
ly correct. It WAS aggravated by tho terrible
rnins a|l over tho South for two mouths past. At
Now Orleans, 8 inches Of water fell In twenty
four houra. was tloro abont fifty days. and
am confident It ra,nod thirty-lyo. Tho Nod Riy-
er was swollen worry much, and tho water has
wrought torrib!o destruction. from Now Or
lcanB up to Bonnet CAIRO 1t is not very bad, for
the reason TINT tho wntor runs through
M imucnBo crovasso thero into Lake
Of tic river. On the, west sido fur
Immense one, aud the water was running oyor
everything. III tho majority ol places along the
not bo aeen at all, tho wntcr going over tho top
Of It, and In many cases tho water Is from
to, 0 feet deep for lfty miles back on either
side Of the river. ...
Roporter-could you SOC any pooplo floating
Mr. Abbey--1 will givo you ono instance Of
houses had bcen thrown. over BY the
force S Of %.ra to "'tse end atoc er0 INF o'tng
been deserted; and. In many instances, the
mules, and cattlo, and shoop were standing OIL
tho. porchcs, waiting to DO drowned or starved
to death.
noporter-Did you SEQ any people?
Mr.. Abbey-Wo saw some. We loft o French
woman Mt q landing above Natchcz. Her hus.
band owned m elegant plantation, and sho told
We t9y so asa to ho a sSdns as s;G es "na
. placo about feet wido and 200
iesee ss ''as a'ia Il was was literally " covorad rcd
III 1 @ ssfa Il Geo. MSnsss M s1 1s1s 'e saa Il tn %nsS as aGs
had boon swept away. We saw the people thore
pushing around OIL rafts md in skifrs, and
great many on the tops Of: houses. The lower
1cors Of tic dwellings wore full OF water. When
VIC got to Chicot-a new town with quito num-
her Of houses aud railroaa-we saw TINT It wns
flooded. Ihero was no way to get around except
IL rata or in bonta: Wolandod some passengers
there, and among them wero two men who Ind
brought boat with tlen, and thoy roWed away
from tho steamer In 1t.
DEPTH OF THE WATER.
Reporter-.What seemed to be the depth OF the
water tlcre?
TLoro were some freight cars standing on 4 Lowell
place, and the water WAS up to within third OF
Tho top; md there was an old wagon. aud I
could just see tho tire Of the hind wheel. we
then ca1no on to
which is in very bad state indeed. It is abont
half way between New Orleans and Cairo.
ESeryth,ing Is flooded; IT, railroads Were, were
have gono NO OF sen' On to tho Dx Woods .ns5 to
fluid higher ground, but do not know where they
ere to hnd at IT. ~ that country, o. tho land seems
have been ;n tue now5papers-I have read them
Rll-are not exaggoratod particle, I waB seven
fnya On tho river, md anw tho extent Of tho iu-
undation, and loarn that tue river haH risen
siNce.
Reporter-IIow far north did you SEQ evidences
Of tho tlood2
Mr.. Abbey-Thoro is not much north of Mem
bottoms, which are. full. Tho rains filled up
everything. The river Mt New Orleans iB tlo
highest ever known; 1t flowed over the leyeo ut
tho Trench Market and othor places, as you
know.
TIE DEsr1Tul1oH.
RoEortor-1s The suffering very great In tho
county,?
Mr. Abboy-It must be; and tile poor stock
arc terribly of. Tho people down there do not
stack up Any rs NO do North. The cattle feed
10 the folds all winter, aud there is no food for
them now, mud We saw In somo places mon cut
ting down trees aud giving tile loayes to tho
zunllH.
Neporter-Did you experience any trouble in
eonling up7
many chntes that boats seldom attempt to navi-
gate. The ST 'soor is largo one, and wo
had heayy fro.e; ut liht but passed along all
sighs, always finding y, 10, aud II feet OF water
ID tho chutoa.
neporter-What did tho hoat-hands aay of 1t I
AIR. Abboy-Ihey ueycr eaW anything like it
bafore,-it was tho Torat flood they had over
soon. There are
~ t*'"' S011E CHICAGO MEN
who l1avo plantations OIL tho Techo River. Tho
prospects for good crops, especially for sugar,
woro excellent; and nll their stuff Inns been ru-
irod-,-you might say, wiped out com:
Hs' ott Now orleans. 1oaoa tho '" passsugo:a usu1
Oh tho Jackson Rarond took the oarH to Lake
ponchartrniu. and then the steamer to Man.
ohac, and there got Oh tho cars again; but the
1onuot Care creyasse has stopped that travel,
the water having submerged tho laud and
covered tho track. Tho tiood iB terrible blow
to that country, mud tile reopo arc in fearful
condition. Everybody ii poor and, they arc OPP
pressed with taxation, aud it seems All II God
lad almost forgotten them, az there does not
goom to bo bright look in any direction for
them.
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