The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-05-01
THE MISSISSIPPI FLOODS.
The Tide Three Feet Higher than Ever
known.

AyERmh's PARISH.
The Louisiana state authorities re-
| ceive letters daily from persons from
the overfowed sections asking for. pro-
visions, etc. The following extracts
from them are fair specimens. A letter
dated Simmport, Averill's parish, ad-
! dressed to thegovernor, says "Please
send me some supplies, as I have fam
| lily of nine children to keep up and
| feed. The water is three feet deep in
my yard and all over my place. It is
utterly impossible for me to get any
thing for my family to eat without call
| ing on you for assistance. Please for
| PHYS sake do not fail to send me some
supplies by return steamer"
| The following is an extract taken from
letter to the governor dated Big
! Bend, Averill's parish "The whole of
| the Bayou des Glaizes and Red river
front is entirely overfowed. All of us
are bankrupt. No money, no credit.
Commission merchants all shut down on
us. We have no provisions. Many
are in a manner starving. The water is
all over the country, and still rising.
The COWS not drowned are dying for
want of food. Sheep and hogs are
drowned by hundreds. Take this mat
ter into consideration and see if some
thing cann5t be done for US"
BAYOU TECHE. ETC.
The governor has received letter
from Clarendon, st. Mary's- parish,
which says Among the many suf-
ferers by the recent overflow are those
who have lived on the east side of
Bayon Ohenez, Bayou Pigeon, on the
shore of Grand Lake and Lake Ohicot,
all of which districts are now submer-
| ged, leaving some three hundred fam
lies in a state of utter destitution."
SEVERAL CHILDREN
are reported drowned in the streets of
| Port Vincent which was overhOwed.
| The fiat country of st. Helena, Tauxe-
patton, Washington, st. Tammany and
East Feliciana parishes is flooded for
miles.
The Times says gentleman from The
upper coast gives the most appalling
description of the condition of the peo-
pie who happened to live in the dis
| trict o7erfowed by the Hickey creyasse.
| He says that not less Than twenty sugar
plantations have been submerged from
that source already. That, however,
was nothing compared with the suffer
ings of the people. On Sunday last,
! the gentleman witnessed a large num-
Der of persons wading their way out of
| the torrents of water which passed
| through that break. Among them were
women in the water
| UP TO THEIR ARM-PTTs,
! holding their infants above their heads,
and it was reported that some had been
| flooded away on the rushing tide with
their little ones in their arms.
THE DISTRESS IN DETAIL.
Capt. Blanks, in letter to a member
of the relief committee, says " 1 have
! just returned with the OQachita Belle,
from Camden, Trenton, and Mourtoe,
! through the Overfowed district of north
Louisiana. and see that efforts are being
made to relieve the suffering occasiOned
| by the overflow. L have also seen the
tabui ar statement which was presented
by you to a meeting of citizens from the
Overfowed districts, held In the senate
chamber last week From personal
knowledge and direct information de-
rived from others within the last few
days, am satisfied that said estimate
is by far too low. AS You have been
requested by three different public meet
ings held in the overfoWed district of
Louisiana to represent their wants and
condition, I now present you with a
statement of the localities and numbers
needing help at once, so that you may
present the same to the governor and
the committee for distribution appointed
by his honor the mayor. Lower Black
/ river, 800 destitute; Mardis, including
that part of Concord parish on Black
| river, 500; Wilson's, on Black river,
400 Trinity, including Tensas Bayou,
Little river, 1,200; HarrisOnburg, in
! cluding Bayou LAWS, 1000; Rarb's
Landing, including Braine Landing,
300; Carter's Landing, 400; Bunker
/ Ia e11 ~ Ia
and swamp. Balavan, Ouachita and Boef,
800; Columbia, including Franklin
and Oneal's, between Ouachita and Boef
river, 1000; including bottom on both
sides, 1900; HOpewen and Waco, in
cluding back swamp up to the Ouaehita
line, 1, 500; Monroe, 1,500. Total, H.,
600 now, at lowest estimate.
I "This number may be said Ia actual
want, and many have been so for days,
as they have now been under water for
two or three weeks. They have lost all
their hogs, and nearly all their cattle
are either lost or drowned. The people
themselves have neither money nor
credit, no place to go to and nothing to
do. But this estimate by no means
discloses the distresses of those resid-
ing on the small bayous and creeks who
have been oYerfowed by the backwater
I J
have been on land, but have lost much
of their stock and improvements and
are out of provisions and money, and
the provisions for making crops are so
discouraging that none are willing or
able to advance the supplies. If these
must be added the number In need of
help is not short of 20,OO0 people in the
district referred to.
THE COTTON FIELDS
The Times says the extent of the
damage which has resulted from the
great overflow Is Just beginning to be
fully understood. That it was vast, was
readily conceived, but that it should in
volve Eve million of acres and popula-
tion of 17S, 900 was apparently beyond
reasonable satisfaction. Yet such was
the case. It is now ascertained that
nine of the largest and richest parishes,
producing cotton, have been inundated.
The parishes of Carroll, Morehouse,
Rlehland, Madison, Franklin, Tensas,
Caldwell, Concordia and Catahalu are
ali overf1owed and embracing fully D.
500. 600 acres. The amount of cotton
land IN those parishes IN actual cuItiva-
ton is ascertained to be 250, 600, besides
/ 10, 600 acres in corn. These estimates
include only large places, leaving out
hundreds of small farmers and all esti-
mates for cattle, hogs aud gardens. The
population of these nine parishes Is 90
394 whites and 81, ,033 blacks, according
to the census of 1870.
THE sUGAR REGIONS.
In the sugar producing parishes, the
ascertalned facts discover an equal If
not a greater amount of ruin and suffer
ing These parishes are Point Couple,
East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge,
Iberville, Ascension, Assumption, La