The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-03-16
THE DALLAS wrrK1Y HERALD, THURSDAY. MAaon 10, 1889.

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1 charge oflhat section yesterday afernoo
and got through this morning 1n temp0ra
work, which, with care aud altenllo
can stand high water he
lust now that The loyeo ut Bonno Cgf
Point IL keeping planters In It's noiRhbO
hood busy repairing tho damage fro
muskrats, which are giylng them muc
trouble, aud every now and then n hi
scare. Breaks caused by defective rio
ilumes In loyocs are reported almost dali
ut points near Baton Rouge and the mOut
of Red River, but no serious damage hA
resulted, Red River continues very high
and 3 still greater rise will occur from th
effects Of rains at Shreveport for the las
few days"
Major Richardson, chief state engineer
has lust returned from a tour of inspection
ss far up rs GreenvillG, Mississippi. IN ~
interview he gives SOME interesting facts
concerning the disposition of the course o
the flood waters. going through the ere
vases. Reierringto breaks in the levees IN
Bolivar county, he says: 1.-THE first breaks
were in Bolivar county, Miss, where quite
Il number occurred almost simultaneously
on March LIST. After these breaks a .percep-
tible and rapid fall was obtained at points
below, on account Of the discharge of water
through them and through old breaks,
which have existed for a long time on the
Arkansas side as far down as Burche's
Bend. At GreenYille, Sunday, a fall OF
eighteen inches had been announced, and
Sunday night there had been Il fall OF
eleven inches at Lake Providence. The
water which passed through Bolivar
county spreads over that section Of
and eventually finds It's, way back INTO the
Mississippi, at the mouth OF the Yazoo.
As the flow of water, which passes through
the break, is delayed in progress, it does
not reach the river again until high water
in the river has passed the point where
it returns to the river" No effect
from the overflow of water had been felt
in Mississippi at the mouth of
the Yazoo river when Mr.. Richardson passed
that point. About six days after the pre-
yious accounts of breaks in Bolivar county
and along the river levee of East Carroll
and Madison parishes, the people were
awakened to the extent of the danger which
threatened them. These levees were in a
precarious condition before the break
above, as such q volume Of water has not
been known before for many years, and if
they had not occurred it is doubtful if the
levees below could have withstood or con-
fined the rapidly rising waters. The
water which passes through the
breaks on the Arkansas side tinds.its way
to the Atchafalaya or to the mouth of
Red River. This back-water is now reach
ing those streams, and the Atchafalaya is
now very full. The section of country af-
fected by this overtlowed water has passed
through its worst condition, as the supply
at least for the present has been cut off on
account of a fall in the river along the Ar
kansas line, and unless there is another
heavy rise the back country will be relieved
by the water running off and finding its
way again into the Mississippi at the mouth
of Red River and down the A~tachfalaya.
The Times-Democrat's Bayou Sara special
says: Point Coupee levee, three miles
above here, on the west bank of the river
gave way last night. This is a new levee
not yet finished. Yesterday citizens worked
for the purpose of letting the water
against the new levee. No danger was
apprehended, but it became somewhat
threatening. The water rushed with such
force against the new levee that fifty
feet has been swept away. The break in
the new line to-day was 800 feet wide, widen
ing every moment. 1t would be a waste of
money to try to stop the crevasse. This
will flood a portion of the False river coun-
try, Increase the volume of water from
Morgauza ana will affect the best lands of
Baton Rouge. The cutting of the old leyee
was a fatal mistake.
IN ARKANSAS.
l-ll LIE NUN, hhh., hldlCu J.-ll. ~.
Harris, who was sent down to Desha county
by Governor Churchill, to aid i'll distribute
ing government supplies to persons rem
dered destitute by overflows, returned yes
In an interview with a reporter he
said that along the river front in Desha
county, one hundred miles in length, the
restitution is beyond description. The
water has reached an unprecedented height.
Scarcely a farmhouse or residence has es-
pQnpd lnl1nI2tlnn and tho nnnnlp
have been compelled to build false
floors in their houses or to seek
safety on higher lands, where, in newly
constructed camps of brush boughs and
cane, they sit and wait for starvation and
death. The situation is appalling, and
without government aid is literally and
quickly bestowed, there is no telling where
it will end. Many persons have been feed
ing on carcasses of drowned cattle. Per-
sonsl investigation, as well as assurances
of respectable gentlemen, convinced Mr..
Harris that not less than six hundred fami-
lies, averaging six persons to each, in Desha
county alone, are dependent upon the
charity of the government. He believed it
to be no eIaggeration to place the gross
tons point to a long continuance of the
overflow, the most sanguine hardly daring
to hope for its subsistence peforeMay.
CHICAGO, March "a special dispatch
from Little Rock says: Governor Churchill
was found this morning in his private office
letters which had been received
from the sufferers by the recent floods aud.
debating. dispatches, in response to tele-
for immediate aid. The extent
of disaster can hardly be measured. lie
said to an inquiry 81 feel greatly de-
pressed over the situation. ! received this
a number of letters from promi-
nent men in the overlooked districts in
Arkansas, who draw gloomy and graphic
SCENES of death and su1erings around them.
] am also in receipt of numerous kilograms
every dav appealing for aid. The situation
is appalling. Ashby county reports 1000
persons on the verge OF starvation, and
Chicot and Desha counties have each
as many if not more. Cross, Critten-
den, Mississippi, Lee, st. Francis,
Monroe and Phillips counties have thou
ofsufIerers in destitute circumstances.
| should judge that there are nearly, If not
fully 1000 persons needing aid in the state
to-day. They are tenants and farmers Of
small means who have lost their all by the
overflow. Houses, farming implements,
stock-everything has been swallowed
in the flood. To them the
Is gloomy, for no matter how in
dustrious they may be they cannot imme-
get employment and must therefore
be fed at the public expense for a time at
4 lthI lhhl many viii Alf VI AZ Ahdl
starvation. Relief boards are busy dis
tributing rations at all available points
throughout the overlooked districts. The
work is going on as rapidly as can be ei-
fected, but the trouble Is that there
are so many needy that Il will
be impossible TO supply their wahts
in time to prevent suffering, If not actual
starvation. Judge Mangum, whom ] APP
commissioner Of the relief fund, is
working ~zealously. He has appointed sub
for all the counties, n Is executing
his work efficiently. A considerable
quantity Of ratiOns have been dis
I hardly think that the
amount voted will be sufficient.
Congressman Dunn IL Of the opinion that
Bn equally large quantity will be needed.
II will be many weeks before the sufferers