The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-05-01
THE DEEUGE.
Six Million Acres OfLand Sub
"AFRRd.

NAlAHlOn acres Oh 4NEAnN S0O-
merged.
MONROE, La, April "A, p. Mt is
impossible to give an idea of the extent of /
he overflow here. The water is higher
han ever known. The town is an island |
wo and a half miles long by half mile
vide from which is no exit except by boats !
)r swimming. From the eros sing of the |
abroad and Desard street back, is one |
vide sea. Boats come and 20 from Oakley. |
The people living in the rear have been |
trlYen in. All vacant houses are taken |
and several families are living in the |
Business is almost complete |
ly suspended, but the houses are open.
Fully one thousand people in town have
not ratlons for three days nor money to
buy one Stock of every description is
gathered in the town and starving On
Desaird Island almost all the plantations
are under water. OF one thousand acres
Capt. Phillips has only about one hundred
and fifty. OF what has transpire below
we know nothing.
Pardoud home place is two feet sub
merged in the yard and no passing below
Trenton Is under from Crossley's resi-
dence up beyond the business houses of
the town fIom six inches at the foot of
principal stree at the river bank to eight
feet in the rear. Cotton is brought in and
goods sent out of Claiburne half mile in
flats. At Heads and Standifier's resi-
dences the water is two feet deep in the
yards. On the river bank front, the fences
are nearly all washed down. One could
run a steamboat down Cotton street The
river rose one inch last night. 1t has rain
ed slowly ever since daylight and is still
raining. There are no crops to speak Of,
and not five days work done along the riv-
er for four weeks. In the hills the land is
washed badly and what has been done to-
ward making crop has been labor thrown
away What the people are to do God
only knows. GEO. W. MCCRANIE,
Editor of the Ouachita Telegraph.
New ORLEANS, April 25.-Capt. Blanks,
in a letter to a member of the Relief Com
mittee, says: have just returned with the
Ouachita Bell, from Camden, Trenton,
and Mourtoe, through the overlooked dis
trict of North Louisiana, and see that eft
| forts are being made to relieve the suffer
| ing occasioned by the overflow. have al
so seen the tabular statement which was
presented by you to a meeting of citizens
| from the overhowed districts, held IN the
| Senate chamber last week. From personal
| knowledge and direct information derived
/ 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 meetings held in the
| overlooked districts of Louisiana to repre-
sent their wants and condition, now pre-
sent YOU 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 ap
pointed by His Honor the Mayor.
Lower Black river, 800 destitute. Mar
dis, including that part of Concord parisl
on Black river, 500. Wilson's on Black
river, 400. Trinity including Tensas Ba
you, Little river, 1920. Harrisonburg, in
GLIDING Bayou LAWS, 1000. Harb'
Landing, including Braine Landing, 800
Carriers Landing, 400. Bunker Hill, in
| GLIDING both sides of the river and swamp
Balavan, Ouachita and Boef, 1900. Co
lumbia, including franklin and Oneal s
between Ouachita and Boef river, 1000
including bottom on both sides, 1900
Hopewell and Waco, including bacl
swamp, up to the Ouachita line, 1900
Monroe, 1900. Total, j 900 now, a
lowest estimate.
This number may be said in actual want
and many have been so for days, as the.
have now been under water for some tw'
or three weeks. They have lost all the
hogs and nearly all their cattle are either
lost or drowned. The people themselve
have neither money nor credit, no place t
go to and nothing to do. But this est
mate by no means discloses the distresse!
of those residing on the small bayous snC
creeks who have been overflowed by the
backwater and floods of rain. They gen
srally have been on land, but have lost
much of their stock and Improvements ant
| are out of provisions aud oney, and tbs
| provisions for making crops are so dlscour
| aging that none are willing or able to ad
| vance the supplies If these must be add
| ed the number in need of help is not short
of 20, 1000 people in the district referred to
The Times saws the extent Of the dam
age which has resulted from the grea
| overflow is just beginning to be fully un'
| derstood. That it was vast, was readily
| conceived, but that it should involve five
| million of acres and population Of IT'S,
coo was apparently beyond reasonable
satisfaction. Yet such was the case. Il
| is now aseertained that nine of the largest
and richest parishes, producing cotton
have been inundated. The parishes o.
Carroll, Morehouse, Richland, Madison
Franklin, Tensas, Caldwell, Concordia
and Catahalu are ell overfowed, and EN-
bracing fully 100000 acres. The a
mount Of cotton land in these parishes II
actual cultivation is sscsrtained to be 25O,
600, besides 10000 acres In corn. These
estimates include only large places, leav
| ing out hundreds of small farmers and ell
estimates for cattle, hogs and gardens
The population of these nine parishes Is
| 2O,394 whites and 54,033 blacks, accord
| ing to the census OF 1870.
In the sugar producing paLishs, the as
| certained facts discover an equal II not
| greater amount of ruin and suffering
| These parishes are Point COupae, East
Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, lberslile
| Ascension, Assumption, LatourCe, St.
James, ST John the Baptist, St.
| Charles, Terrebone and Plaquimlne.
| The overflow in those parishes covers
| nearly 1890 900 acres titled and untitled,
| intending a production of 10000 hogs
| heads of sugar, large product oil rice and
| some small farmers, OF whom there aTe
many hundreds, who lost their Sto Ck and
pretty much all else they possessed: The
population Of these parishes, according to
the cencGS of 1870, was so, sos whites snd
72,24l blacks, making total of l22,6O9:
In all the parishes named, 1t is believed
that more than 25.000 people are now in
actual suffering for the necessary supplies
of life. and that IN less than sixty days,
the number of those whose Circumstances
will require all rations will increase 10
more than 10000 person. Above we pre-
sent all facts as far as ascer'alned by Re
lief Committee up to yes erday.
Mr. John X. Clair o. St. Landry par
ish, in note referring to the atosa says:
have Just seen in the Times of this
morning an approximate estimate of the
extent OF damage which has resulted from
the overflow. In the nine northeastern
parishes of this State, which includes only
the parishes north of Red river, and then
passing at the mouth of said river, over to
the parish of Point Coupee, the estimate
includes all of the parishes between the
Mississippi and the Atchafalay rivers to
the Gulf, which is all very correct SO far
as it goes.