The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1882-03-16
MISSISSIPPI FLOODS.
ACCOUNTS Of the foods along tho Lower

tims OF the overflow. "A dispatch from Kycr-
ton, Miss, says that wlicn the current struck
thAt town It was impossible 10 pull . boat
through, and the people took shelter upon tie
housstops and upon floating pieces OF fences,
sides Of bulldings eto Il was about IN hour
before Rosedale was flooded, aud the people
there had time 70 save some VI their
clothing and the most valuable Of their
light personal. property. Al soon ~ possible
wharf boat q Terrene, where temporary
shelter was found, the mon staying BY their
propegty and homes, seeing all 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
RiveEten
Hon. I. II. Mangum, Of Arkansas, in
N interview with an Associated
Press reporter ct Memphis said that in the
counties Of Mississippi Crittcnden, Leo, Pom
sstt, Cross, Craighead, Dt. Francis PHILIPPE,
Dssha, Chicot and Monroe, In Arkans1s, he
had information Of about %, 900 destitute peo-
pie, who would have to be fed by the Govern
ment for at least fovty days. These counties
Do not include those bordering on the lscd
river, whore great suffering il SAID to exist.
Senator Garland says the cities aud towns Of
the State ~ responding literally; b1t they are
burdened by refugees from flooded dist lets.
He also says the present distress is only begin
ming.
Commissioner w. L. Hemingway, OF Mis-
GIssippi, said the Inhabitants Of Tnnica, Goa
homa, DesOtO, Quitman, Bolivar, Washington.
lasaquenA, YAzoO, Tallahatchee and sunni yer
counties In his State, TO the number OF $1,000.
were IN like suffering condition: Those conn.
ties In Mississippi are oil abovo vicksburg, anl
there ars other counties below that city that
have suffered by the floods.
Three thousand Tennesse0Ans 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 IAncoln
has ordered relief to be sent.
APPRAIs for aid are being received by the
Secretary OF War from the sufferers from floods
in Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee. Mississippi
and Arkansaa In Pulaski county, I'LL, 1000
persons arc IN need Of assistance. The relief
commissioners for Arkansas, Mississippi and
Tennessee report 5000 destitute persons. Re-
ports from every section Of the Southern Mis-
oissippi valley give accounts Of destitution and
suffering. Hundreds Of poor cOlored people
have bsen rendered houseless BY the water,
to eat The white people are poorly on them
solves, nearly Ill Of their stock being lost, and
boinG nearly impoverished owing to the bad
crops Of last year. The town Of Austin, Miss.,
between Memphis and Helena, has been almost
entirely destroyed. Hon. u. G. Harris, who Was
esnt TO Desha county, Ark, by Gov. Churchill 70
I'D in distributing supplies to persons rendered
destitute BY the overflow, reports that the suf-
feging and destitution, ID beyond description.
Scarcely farmhouse or residence in the bot
tom has escaped inundation. The people have
been compelled to build false floors In
Of 1T the higher lands. where. in n raioiy I
constructed camps Of frnsh bonghs
and cane, they cit and wait for starvation and
death. It 10 appalling, and without Government
aid, literally and quickly hastened. there il no
telling where It will end. Many persons
have been feeding on carcasscs OF drowned
cattle. Personal investigation, rs we'll a.
assurances from reputable gentlemen, con-
sinced Mr.. Harris that not less than
coo families, averaging say six to the family,
IN DeshA county alone, are dependent upon the
charity Of the Government
The indications point to long continuance
o. the overflow, the most sanguine hardly dar-
ing 10 hope for its subsiding before May.
Cart. J. M. LEE, OF the United States army,
who was ordered to Mississippi to report on the
necessities of the sufferers by overflow, re
turned to Memphis last week. He says the
destitntion has not been half stated. The levee
between Memphis and Arkansas City was broken
In forty places, and at some points the Mis-
sesippi was fifty miles wide. His first estimate
made to the Secretary Of War, that 36O, 600
rations would be required to feed the $4,000
needy in the State Of Mississippi will, he says,
fall short, as the destitute viii probably be
will telegraph Secretary Lincoln and await
further instructions here. Capt. Lee
said to reporter mo idea Of the tue condi-
tion Of the country overiiowei can be imagined
without beiug seen. From point twenty miles
below Memphis, where tho first break in the
pank
sea Of water. The people oil through this sub
merged region are utterly destitute ana in :
starving condition. Their stock has been
drowned, and they are living in gin-houses and
stables, lofts and the upper stories Of cab
ins. Hundreds are snbsisting on parched
corn. Many have been temporarily relieved BY
the distribution Of Government rations, but
others could not be- reached, and their suffer-
ing ID very great. All published reports have
fallen far short Of giving an idea Of the dan,-
ags that has been done g the destitution pre-
John McElyen, Of Deaha county, Ark, had
thrilling, adventure and narrow escape. The
story Of his escape, narrated in his own words,
II lived near what il known - Cypress bend,
in Desha county. had cabin situated on an
elevation which had never been overfiowed,
and thought never would be. Some days
ago the Mlssissippi began to rise, and Istopped
my children from going to school, fearing that
they would get drowned In the bayous with
which that country abounds. I had several
head Of cattle further down tho river. and /
brought them homo for . like reason. Ny
wife got very uneasy, and suggested that wo
had better 90 70 Arkansas City or 70 Little Rock,
big Hood. laughed ct her fears but il wasn't
long before had better have followed her ad-
vice, for In abort time the rising water cut on
communication in cvery direction. One night,
over week ago, We went to bed oppressed with
dread, though l still thought tho water would
mako an effort to reach Arkansas City with my
family, unless there Was change by tho next
morning. II began raining early in the even-
ing, and by the time night ret in the ram was
coming down In torrents. ! think It was about
10 o'clock when my wife cried out: Jack, the
house Y giving away! And SURE enough i
WAS The cabin sl0wly went to pieces, water
pouring In at every crevice, while my wife and
children shrieked and cried. Looking out, you
could Gee nothing but wide expanse OF water,
and knew that We would all be ingulfei in
snort TIME, and &c / took tho bed-cord
Of m old-fashioned btdstead and tied somo
Of the logs which had fallen in from one
end Of the cabin together, and On this raft
placed my family, taking only few quilts and
leaving everything else. With . fence-rall,
which had been intended for frewood, ]
pushed out through the opening in tho house.
and the next moment We hoated away.
have been in good many perilous scrapes,
but that nights adventure snrpasses them all.
How We escaped, how we got tangled in the tree
tops, how We were picked up lats the next day
not far from Arkansas City, can hardly tell
II il enough to know that We al are saved but
! lost everything cattle, h0rses farming tools
everything. am thankful. Of course, that
I escaped, and expect TO 60 from here Y st.
LouN, and hereafter will live on mountain
tops. have had an experience Of Hoods that'll
last me I lifetime"
The Chinese Bill.
The bill to suspend Chinese immigration has
passed the United States Senate, and will in
oil probability 90 through the House and se-
cure the approving signature Of the President.
The measure proposes to 60 right to the heart
Of the so-called evil Section "suspends"
the coming Of Chinese laborers to the United
States for twenty years. Section 2 provides fino
and imprisonment for the master OF vessel
who shall bring such lAborcrs. Section 5 exempts
the Chinese alroady in the United States and