The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1882-04-15
THE OVERTURNED DISTRICT
Greaf Suffering Among
the People.
Come 10 sI.cIr Iscscue.

] shall endearor, 10 the best Of "
ability. 70 gre to ,yon and rear mEn
readers FAINT idea Of the te1ibl
food wbiell is sweeping the Mississippi
!, Valley and adjacent eonuiry, bripgiu.
raih to mary peaItby planters an'
making horaeless and destitute thou
sands Of peor peopla.
left New Orleans on the 4th inst.
, on board The steamer John n. Cham
bers..' Cspt Auggah in command
The steamer backed ont from shel
berth at fFe O'Clock p. N.
From New Orleans to Donaldson.
! vile, a distance Of ssventy-fre miles,
there is but little Of the country I'M
der water as By almost saperhtlnan
efforts the Ievess have been kept in
lart But there is an occasional
rFerasse, and some plantation Is sub
merged byfits waters As we 20 up
/ the river the situation becomes verse
and worse. From DonaldsenriDe 10
Baton Rouge the destruction becomes
mere appalling, and from Baton Rouge
ito the head Of upper month Of Ateha-
/ falaya almost the entire eouHtry is a
rerltabla inland sea. As we approach
the Tunica Hills fsupposed 10 be the fog
end Of The Blue Ridge moaatainsl they
= loom up, aud being surrounded by
water, reioind one Of some tnounLain-
Gus Island. ] think that the tops of |
these bills are about two hBndred feet 1
above The present water level. and as
there is fifty feet rise it would make
an altitude Of two hundred and fifty
above low water Below Atchafa-
lava . ] saw no stock and few people
as everything had been removed to
high ground, except some few people,
and these had to take refuge in their
garrets and on their house tops; and
often on raft of logs moored near
their houses or fields. In some in
stances when the houses come in di-
rect way of a ereVasse they were swept
Of their foundations, and often carried h
away.
On Thursday, the 9th, about seven !
o'clock a. M, we reached the upper !
md Or head of the ktchafalaya river, I
which is two hundred and seven miles
rom New Orleans. Here, indeed, !
Yere sights too painful to contemplate 7
without shudder. Here / realized h
What the food really was. Here, right n
t the mouth, on the lower, OF Morgan !
lily side of the river, were gathered ,
eyeral hundred of cattle, horses, 2
heep, hogs, etc. These were stand f
nc along on The tops of the leYees, in 4
atboats, on RATS and on an occasional a
ry acre that had not been sacrificed 7
y the greedy waters. They are suffer \
lg terribly and dying at the rate Of Il
bout sixteen head per day. The cat j,
c are fed with leaves and branches of =
'ees which are cut and brought to 9,
lem in boats. But it is impossible $,
provide even enough Of this poor
'od to keep them from starving, n
ally. Many of them have stood in il
alter so long that their legs have Il
gollen to four or five times their !
ltural size. If one lays down, they II
eyer rise again, but die and increase St
ie stencil caused by previous deaths. q.
The horses and mules fare some bet =
II, as far as food is concerned, as the y
eopIe have some little feed, either u
BY them, saved from the b
god, contributed by New Orleans 4
.tizens, Or furnished BY the govern "
lent. By feeding frugally and say
lgly they manage 70 keep the horses It
I'D mules from starving, but other ID
auses, such as the gnats, (which are j,
'aFfully worryiag) having 10 stand in 81
.ater and in such crowded positions, 4,
enough to make the mortality very 5,
'rge. j
From the head Of Atehafalaya down 81
nat stream for many miles, the suffer 81
lg which witnessed was indeed ap q,
alling. The leyees, on both sides The 81
lYer, when above water, were crowded u
nth stock Of all kinds. Just think Of u
y Miles and miles Of poor domestic Al
l'im+ls o. narrow strip Of land 81
bout three feet wide, and from a foot i,
poYe waite, to, in many places, i've Is
eet under water, standing tAcre With VI
'aters rushing wildly BY them aud \,
aFEylng frequently, horriblefrsight ii. i,
Aape of dead stock of al kinds, and 4
be foods victims in shape Of fences,
ouses, cabins, etc. !,
There are several boats engaged Is 4
slSipg the stock off and removing i,
anne 10 higher grounds. III sVashino. X,