The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-03-10
The Flood in the Lower Mississippi.

MEMPHIS, March 8.
News reaches here of terrible destruction Of
property by the breaking of the levee at Car.
sons Landing, La. A gap of seventy-fyo feet
was first made by the rushing water, and 100
yards of the leyee were soon swept away. The
noise of the roaring flood awoke the sleeping
cit zens, who, looking out of their homes, saw
the river rapidly spreading over the country.
Without taking time TO clothe themselves, the
people lied for their lives. Tour persons were
overwhelmed by the rushing waters and
drowned. Their cries for help were heartrend-
ing. Many people had narrow escapes.
By the breaking of the levee a few miles
above GreenVllle, Miss, the whole of Bolivar
county, Miss, is inundated. Great loss of
property, and, worse still, loss of life has re-
suited. Rosedale, the county seat of
Bolivar county, is more than six feet
under water. Advices from Riverton, Miss, $50
miles south Of here, report fearful destruc-
ton of property and some loss Of life. The
stock is all drowned, and there are no provis-
Ions for poor people to subsist on. The village
of Riyerton has been entirely swept away, and
the inhabitants are homeless and penni-
less. Steamboats, now run through the
streets at Indian Bay Arkansas. The
than the average level of. the CITY.
Arkansas City, Ark. is from six inches to four
feet under water. The poor inhabitants depend
on Government rations. The damage to the
Memphis and Little Rock road by floods is esti-
mated at $500,000 Refugees are focking to
MemDhis By hundreds. The Commissioners to
distribute rations for Arkansas and Mississippi
are on hand, and supplies have already gone
forward to Riverton Concordia and Belen.
MEMPHIS, March 6.
Reports received from the flooded districts in
Eastern Arkansas are of the most dishearten-
ing character. The damage is much greater
than first announced. Refugees from Desha
and Chlcoh counties give graphic and thrilling
accounts of the floods which drove them from
their homes One man says he was awakened
at midnight by roaring sound, and aroused
his wife and three children under the impress
sion that cyclone was sweeping across the
plantation. Some minutes later the house
was swept from its foundation, and it foated
off on q sea of water. The wreck was
almost instantaneous, and the occupants of the
dwelling could not realize the situation until
they were forced to seek shelter on the roof.
They were rescued the next morning. Many
incidents OF similar nature are related. The
Governor of Arkansas says the num-
Der of persons requiring assistance in
that Safe alone will reach $4,000.
Secretary of War to increase the rations
ordered for the flood sufferers Secretary
Lincoln replied that eight days supplies
had already gone forward to the inunda ed
portion of Missouri, and that tho Arkansas
Commissioners ask 49, 900 rations for forty
days, which will exceed the appropriation.
Eight army officers will be detailed to investi-
gate the needs of the people, and it is thought
that 100000 will be required. Congress
IN In bod N
corn.
ACCOUNTS of the floods along the Lower Mis-
sissippi country grow gloomior as the days go
by Whole towns have been swept away by the
angry waters, plantations destroyed and i'm
mense stretches of fertile country in Arkansas
and Mississippi inundated. The destruc-
ton of property has been appali-
ing, and famine threatens the unfortunate vic
Tins of the overflow. A dispatch from River
ton, Miss, says that when the current struck
that town it was impossible to pull boat
through, and the people took shelter upon the
housetops and upon floating pieces of fences,
sides of buildings, etc. 1t was about an hour
before Rosedale was flooded, and the people
there had time to save some of their
clothing and the most valuable Of their
light personal property. AS soon as possible
the ladies and children were removed to the
wharf-boat at Terrene, where temporary
shelter was found, the men staying by their
property and homes, seeing ali they possessed
swept away by the torrent of angry waters.
The colored people Jared the worst, and many
were lost in the immediate vicinity of
Riverten.
Hon. L. H. Mapgum, of Arkansas, in
an interview with an Associated
Press reporter at Memphis, said that in the
counties of Mississippi, Crittenden, Lee, Pom
sett, Cross, Craghead, st. Francis, Phillips,
Desha, Chicot and Monroe, in Arkansas, he
had reformation of about $1,000 destitute peo-
pie, who would haye to be fed by the Govern
ment for at least forty days. These counties
do not include those bordering on the Red
river, where great suffering is said to exist.
Senator Garland says the cities and towns of
the State are responding literally; but they are
burdened by refugees from flooded districts.
He also says the present distress is only begin
ming
Commissioner w. L. Hemingway, of Mis-
sissippi, said the inhabitants of Tunica Goa
homa, Desoto, Quitman, Bolivar, Washington,
Issaquena Yazoo, Tallahatchee and Sunfo yer
counties in his State, to the number of $4,000,
were in like suffering condition. Those coun-
ties in Mississippi are all above Vicksburg, AMI
there are other counties below that city that
have suffered by the floods.
Three Thousand Tennesseeans residing along
the Mississippi river are reported by Gov. Haw-
kins in destitute condition. The Governor of
Illinois has asked the Secretary of War for re-
lief for the sufferers from the overflow of the
Ohio in Pulaski county, ILL.,; Secretary Lincoln
has ordered relief to be sent.