The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1882-02-23
THE BREAK ar HELENA.
Fearful Distinction OF Property by the
Flood in Arkansas. ! ~ Y

Fearful Destruction OF Property by the
ss Flood in Arkansas. ~ T.
HELENA, Ark. Eel. 2O.--The break of
| the levee, one mile below the city, is
now over one hundred yards wide, and
the bottom lands for miles and miles
are covered with water eight feet deep.
The. finest plantations IN Arkansas
| are IN the bottoms, and the damage
done by the overflow can hardly be
estimated. Cabins and fences have
current. The littlefurniture owned by the
poor coiored tenants on these farms is
gone, and hundred of cofored families
are homeless. The force OF. the current
| when it swept through the. crevasse can
hardly be Imagined. The road bed of
the Iron Mountain & Helena railroad is
about five feet higher than the land.
| For awhile the waves dashed nladly
| against it until it gave way, and the
water rushed over it. The tcle-
graph poles were washed away,
and had 1t had not been for Henderson,
the manager of the Western Union, we
would still be without the means OF tele-
graphing. AS soon as he became awaIr.
| of the damage on the lines lie moved the
| instruments two miles below, and estab-
lished his Office. The river is now fall
| ing rapidly and unless there should be
| another rise, now unforeseen, the water
will leave in time for the planting Of q
| crop. The NJ. 81 ii. railway runs Its
| trains within two miles of the CITY,
| where it crosses the Arkansas Midland
| and there passengers change and are
brought to the city, on the Midland rail-
| road. The Midland levee, running from
| the river tC the hill. is IN fine condition,
aV,1 4, .
| give way, but il lit should this city
| would be entirely under water in two
hours. AS it IS, but little wafer is COM
ing into the city, and at pres
ent there is not Hover :. a. FOOT
in the city, while the mainstreets, which
are seven feet higher than the natural
| grade of the city, are dry. That the wa!
ter is at all IN the city IS due 10 the fact
that We. have too many bosses here
There isla large culyert in the railroad
levee, through which the water from the
city is drained. AS soon as it was
learned that tile levee below had broken,
Marshal Mooney started with 100 men
to fill the culyert, and thus prevent the
water from flowing in, but some. OBJ
jected that If that culyert was stopped
there would be no outlet for the
rain water, and that the water from
the river would not back up for several
days. During the night the
water came up to the culvert, when it
closed, but SO Intellectually that the
water is running through it, although
very slowly. The break in the levee is
due 10 what may be called the criminal
neglect of the planters of the bottoms.
The leyee was. one of the best in the
south, and was built by the state while
under Republican rule, and paid for
with levee bonds. These bonds have
now been Tepudiated, or rather been de-
clared void by the supreme court
Nothing was done 10 keep the levee in
repair except where the water was
about to come over. In 1870 TIC
legislature passed an act creating a
levee district aud authorizing a special
tax TO be levied upon the request of the
land owners. A few men, notably Ed.
Pillow, tried their utmost to protect
their place Ply organizing and proceed
ing under the act, but as the large ma
jority would do nothing to assist them
in the good work, they failed and now
they suffer from the consequences. Had
the people below here displayed the en-
ergy that characterized the people of
this city there would be no complaint
This calamity, added to the failure of
crops for the last two years, is a fatal
blow to this country, from the effects of
which it will take years to recover.