The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-06-28
Horrors of the Floods.

! ST. LOUIS. June 26 -Advices from
Chester, Randolph county, Ill. s "
that st. Miry's levce, opposite that
point, III Missouri, broke Sunday
nigh', and the St. MaTy'S bottom, d
( large wheat raising region, is now
nearly all flooded. 1t is said that 20
900 acres of wheat is unrier water OH
this bottom alone. From Chester IL
Grand Tower, south ward on the Hi
nois side, a distance of twenty-five
miles, with an average width of ten
miles, is nearly all submerged and
crops de. trOyed. To the north f
Chester. nearly all the way up to st.
Louis bottom, is said TO be inundated,
except here AMI there a high ridge
which is out of water. Information
from all this region is of general
rather th,ln specific character,
but it is safe to say that if all
these bottoms are deluged as stated,
thousands of families are either liv-
ing in flooded houses or have fled to
the bluffs for safety, and that the loss
to crops and general farm property is
almost incalcuIable. The American
bottom extends from Alton to Cairo,
something over two hundred miles, Il
large pat of which is pretty thickly
settled. All the great tract is subject
to overflow in freShetS like the pres
eut, and it can be readily imagined
that the loss of property and distress
and misery brought on the inhabit-
ants must be immense. The town of
st. Marys, on the Missouri side of the
river, is partly submerged, and Kas-
kaskio on the Illinois side, is to be
no
sent to Chester for steamboat to
miles above Cape Girardeau, Missouri,
about fifty miles above Cairo, and an
other at Prices landing, twenty-five
miles further down the river, broke
Sunday night and let large volume
of water rush over the bottom.
Other points on both sides of the
river below here, but particularly on
the Illinois side, are in about the
same condition as above described.
and it may be said that pretty much
all the bottom land between here and
Cairo has more or less water on it.
The best available information is
that the river is falling slowly in
East st. Louis on the river side Of
the Chicago and Alton track, and still
rising out on the bottom east of that
enlb lnkment. The fall, if any, is
small, but it is enough to create
strong hopeful feeling that the worst
is past, and that gradual subsistence
of tn flood will now take place. The
situation at East st. Louis and the
bottoms toward the north, presents
no noticeable change. From Brook
iyn to Venice, on the river bank
northward to Newport, it is the
same. Okio and Mitchell, on both
sides of the Chicago aud Alton EN-
bankment, and from along the Van
dalia track eastward, thence north
up the bottom for several miles
there is nothing but a broad eXpanse
of water. The scene is one of desc
lation and ruin. Perhaps there is not
u farm in all this region, from the.
river to the bluff. that is not sub
merged to greater or less depths, and
only here and there can a bit Of land
be seen, where the tops of knoll
higher than the common level shows
above the watery waste. Some dis
lance north of Mitchell the bottom
rises, and as Alton Is approached,
where the bluff touches the river,
some of the land has escaped mum
dalton. Three-quarters of Brooklyn
is under water Only one street in
Venice and Il bit of high ground in
the north part of town is above the
flood. In East st. Louis all the low
land is inundated, the depth varying
from ten to twenty feet, and hun
dreds of houses within the city limits
have their lower floors flooded, and
many their second stories. South of the
city the entire bottom for an indefinite
distance, including the villages of
East Carondolet and Cahokie and
other small hamletS are submerged.
All the farms for miles down the riv-
er are under water. Crops are de-
Stroyed and the farmers who owned
or rented them are scattered along
the ridges and bluffs seeking shelter
wherever they can find it. Many of
these poor people are in destitute
condition and wholly dependent upon
the generosity and charity of others,
end will have to be fed for some time
to come. Loss by destruction of crops
and other property can not be stated
with any accuracy, nor even approx
mated. No specific information is yet
at hand on which to base any reliable
calculation, but there is hardly a
doubt that the aggregate loss in the
American bottom between Alton and
Cairo will run into millions, and this
is not half the story, for nearly as
much more bottom land skirts the
river on the Missouri side,
most of which is subject to
overflow, and hundreds of thousands
acres of land along the Missouri
river and its tributaries between here
and Kansas City now lie under the
devastating flood. and have been
swept OF their houses. Advices from
the southeast section, st. Charles
county, Mo-, in the region of Portage
| DIES Sioux, give the individual losses
of about one hundred farmers, which
aggregate over $4,000. These range
from 800 to $500. and represent
wheat and corn, no account being
taken of other property destroyed or
greatly damaged, except in less than
half dozen cases. The total loss in
this section alone is estimated at
100000. There is very little live
| stock lost, as the animals were driven
to high ground in time to be saved
| Reports from Alton about the loss of
cattle on the American bottom below
that city, are simply ridiculous. 1t is
not a cattle-raising district, and there
is probably not so many cattle on the
| whole bottom as have been reported
| lost.
|