The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-02-20
WILD WATERCOURSES.
DISMAL PICTURE IN WATER coLoRs.
The Hi',Is,ippi Bisrsards the Conventional Ltas.
OfItS COuns and Floods Vast Area Of COua.
try. Ds.trOyIsE Property and Crops.
Lower Ohio Also on q Nigh.
MENpas, Tenn, February 1s.-The Ap.

Lever Ohio Also on . nigh.
AiENpnrs, Tenn, February 1s.-The Ap
PeaPsspeclal tonight from Helena says
There is no abatement Of the disaster
that have overtaken the planters OF tn
Mississippi river between Memphis an,
Vicksbug.
For three weeks they have been battlinl
not only with the elements from above Ia
1t has raincd almost duly during this DO
riod,) but inch by inch the pishty'riye
has been encroaching upon them, unit
now there is but dreary watery waste ex
tending fully fifteen miles inland from
either bank. The destruction to dwellings
stock and lands can not be properly esti
mated. There have been innumerablt
breaks in the fevees, and the outlook iol
the future Is anything but hopeiuI
Cattle and hogs have been drowned
ny the. hundreds barns have been
swept away and their entire contents
wasted, mules aud horses are suffering and
the loss to planters by these mishaps can
not but have lis effect in cramping their
facilities for putting in q crop for the wear,
This condition OF affairs exists to an alarm.
ing extentin Crittenden, Lee and Phillips
counties, Arkansas, and in DeSoto, Tunica
and CoahOma counties. Mississippi. These
are the largest cotton growing counties in
the Mississippi valley, and what is true Of
them is also true OF others that
have suffered in similar man.
ner. Starvation is threatening many poor
people Whose homes line the banks OF the
streams TINT have overGowed. In some
Instances cabins can be found wherein nre
negroes, hogs and mules, ali gathered nm.
der one shelter, awaiting the rcceding Of
the river, that has in its mad fury driven
them 10 seek safety by flight to the high
lands. The latest break occurred last night
about 800 yards above Austin, Mississippi.
This will overflow the entire country be.
tween Austin and Friar's Point, distance
OF thirty-tive miles.
MEMrnIs, February l0.-The latest nd.
vices from down tie river are that the
break in the levee, which occurred lust
above Austin, Miss, Friday night, extends
nearly 0ll the wayup to Mahone's Landing
distance OF about three miles. The leyee
which protects lACOnia Circle broke TueS.
day night, and il is now Under water. The
break occurred in the rear, and is about
MY yards wide. There are eighteen large
plantations in the Circle, several being
owned by Governor Luke Blackburn, Of
Kentucky, and his relations.
Planters are MI busy at work trying to
save their stock, which, whenever able. are
being boNted away TO ridges. Great fear
exists that the rise now coming down the
Ohio will check the decline that has set in
and add to the disaster that overwhelms
the inundated sections. At Helena, Ark,
the water has backed up into the city until
the largest portion is covered TO the depth
OF four feet and it is rising Mt the rate Of d
ioota day. Citizens are conveyed to their
dwellings by means OF skifTs. Planting
throughout this section OF the country from
Memphis as fur down as YiCksburg must
necessarily be delayed this season.
CINCINNATI, February l0.-Rain began
falling here at l2:o5 this afternoon, and up
to 1880 tonight one inch had fallen. At
Louisville, at that hour, ono inch and
thtrty-tour hundredths had fallen, and ut
Pittsburgh, where the rain commenced
late, nearly an inch had fallen. The river
at O'Clock tonight was 5S feet and sta.
tionary, which is within feet 10 inches OF
ot the great rise OF '99, and within 0 feet OF
the great rise OF ~. Business men on the
landing are watching their cellars, some Of
which are flooded already. The water is
over the sidewalk on the river front near
the suspension bridge in Covington. This
rain appears to be general, and It gives ap.
prehension OF great destruction, the flood
coming as it does on the Ohio when that
stream and all its feeders arc ut flood
height.
LOUISVILLE, February 19.-Great crowds
visited the levee to-day 10 see the big river.
The river rose nearly two feet in twenty.
iour hours, aud is still rising, with 20 feet G
inches in the canal and % feet Biuches in
the chute on the falls. The foot of Fourth
street is cut Off by water from all commu.
nication with the river. The water has cx
tended some DISTANCE up Fourth street and
cellars as far up as Gray's alley are filling
with water. All the first floors OF houses
around the corner OF Fourth street and the
river are covered with water, and all houses
along the wharf, from Fourth street down.
ur9 IN water. Teams re:busy hauling stuff
off thelevee and many people are moving
;, siSciSSArt, February i0.-The Ga:ette's
GAINESVILLE special reports the AIuskingum
river rs high and rising rapidly. Naviga.
ton almost closed. Rain falling.
CINCINNATI, February ia Ga;e.t.
Madison, Ind speeidl says The starch tac-
loEy, saw mills, ship yards, cooper shops
and cellars on Ohio street are flooded, to-
Tether with the JefIersonville, Madison 4
indianapolis depot
A telegram from St,Louis reports heavy
rain setting in tonight, and all noints II,
the Ohio Valley. from pittsburgh to Cairo,
report rain during the day and continuing