Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-04-15
WESTERN CORRESPONDENCE
The Wild Waters Mt Omaha.

The Wild Waters Mt Omaha.
OMAHA, Neb., April II, 1851.
Editors Lntelligeneer: We are having a
regular water "boom" at present. The
"Big Muddy" is terribly on the rampage,
being higher now than ever before known |
to be. 1t is at present % feet inches
above low water mark, and rising. 4
flood had been expected for some time, yet
when it did come it was far worse than
anticipated. A Adispatch received by Mayor
Boyd on Tuesday last, announcing that
everything had broken loose at Sioux City
and that the river was rushing down a.
rise of four aud half feet, put everyone on
the lookout. An ice gorge had been form
ed between Yankton and Sioux city, seven
ty five miles long. and it was this that was
started, the rise covering the bottoms and
filling the smelling works at this place
putting out the fires two men were drown
ed in these works, the Union Pacific shops
were also flooded. The protection against
high water by the government at this
Point proved no protection at all, the river
is fully two and a half miles wide at
present at this point. The brewery and
distillery are both flooded. There is but
very little ice on the river. The track and
depot Of the Omaha & St. Paul r. Il. are
standing in two feet Of water, and no
trains are moving. The city proper has
sustained no damages as the banks here
are considerably higher than the river.
Our s'town-sister' on the east side-Couu-
Gil Bluffs-fares considerably worse, and
fears are entertained that the greater part
Of the town may be inundated. The rip
raps along the Northwestern railroad
track about two miles north Of Council
Bluffs gave signs of weakness a large
force of men were employed in strength
ening them, in hauling cindcrs, grave!
and ballast into the weak points, but at
0p. m. on Friday the water broke through
and at O'Clock a. m. OH Saturday the
| fire alarm was sounded and the citizens of
that town turned out Ell masse, with
teams and boats, to rescue those in dam
ger; over one thousand people are
swamped out. The tracks and platforms
of the U. p. transfer are flooded, tho
platforms are three feet high and are
covered by four inches of water. The peO-
pie are completely hemmed in; what the
end will be is hard to tell advices from
up the river give no hope for relief.
The weather is anything but spring like
and greatly retards building improvements
in this town, as nothing can be done on
account of the want of bricks. Quite a
number of buildings are already under
way. A large hotel Oh tho site of the
Grand Central will be built. Boyd's opera
house, on the corner of Fifteenth and
Farnham, is being energetically pushed
forward, and will be one of the most
beautiful structures in the West. A
county court house will grace the hill at
the head of Farnham street. 1t will cost
about one hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars large force of workmen are at work
grading the grounds. The United pipe
company, in connection with the citizens
Of Omaha, will erect Il mammoth elevator.
The building will be cased in iron. The
Union Pacific company will build larger
additions to their shops On the grounds
now occupied by the old government cor
raj. Work Oh seven different blocks of
buildings are in progress, all Of them to
be four stories high; a large number of
private residences are to be built. On
every side improvements are in progress.
while preparations are being made for
many more. 1t seems to be no longer a
question that 1881 is to witness building
boom in Omaha. which amonnts to little
less than revolution and which eclipses
anything witnessed here before. The town
within the last eight months had been
visited by serious confagratiOns, but all
the gaps have been filled by substantial
buildings.
There is large acreage of corn that re.
mains unhusked evA at this late date.
and certainly large percentage is wasted,
and especially so is this the case on the
bottoms along the rivers. We are in
formed that Oh the Iowa side of the river
thousands Of acres remain unhusked. Pos
sibly the reason for all this has been the
early cold OF last fall, but then there
generally is great degree Of negligence
in this matter. 1t seems a pity that
after working all summer to raise
q crop of corn, to then let it
stand in the field until a part or all
of it is lost. There is yet much husking to
be done before the ground will be in con-
dition for ploughins for spring crops; the
season is far advanced and there even as
yet are no signs of favorable weather for
spring work. Very little, ifany, fall plough
ing had been done, SO that all this work
must be done before wheat can lie sowed,
and corn planted, and farm help is scarce,
in consequence Of railroad building. The
prospects are that the corn crop will be a
failure, as it will of necessity be planted
late, and will not have sufficient time to
ripen, and lots of soft corn will be the
result, wheat may be all right, but corn is
king in this section of country.
The six Brule prisoners confined at
West Point on a charge of murder were
brought here by United States Deputy
Marshal Moody; they were discharged by
the United States court. The evidence
against the prisoners was purely circum-
stantial, and the release of the prisoners