The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-02-17
THE OHIO,s DESTROYING TIDE.
LAWRENCEBURG.


Desolation.
Special Dispatch from staff Correspondent Of the
Journal.
AURORA, Ind, Feb 6-Lawrenceburg is
all but annihilated by the most appalling
flood ever put forth by the Ohio and its
tributaries. Not even the most vivid human
imagination can conceive of the condition of
affairs in this unhappy city. 1t is beyond
the power of tongue or pen to portray. 1t
is not possible to exaggerate the pitiable
plight in which the city and its people find
themselves to-day, just one week from the
time when the water first encroached upon
their precints. The streets of the town are
washed out entirely and filled with over
turned houses, wrecked foundries and shops,
furniture and household effects, and debris
of all kinds that has found a lodgment
against the buildings left standing. One
week ago to-day the food began to assume
dignitied proportions, and the Lawrence
burgers shook their heads and ventured the
opinion that the houses along the river front
might have little water in their cellars be-
fore the thing was over From that time
until yesterday the water has risen steadily,
driving the residents from block to block
bach from the angry river toward the higher
portions of the new town. With each sue
ceeding hour the food increased and the
people, in desperation, moved into the upper
stories with all their goods and chattels,
only to find themselves pursued by the re-
lent}ess water until they were forced 10
abandon their homes property and all their
possessions to the mercy of the elements and
flee Tor very safety to the hills above. Street
after street, ward after ward was submerged,
until only two blocks of the hapless city re-
malned above the water, and even the house
tops i'll the lower sections covered to the
depth of from six to fifteen feet Dwellings
Were torn from their foundations and carried
GSwn the swiftiy-fowing Ohio; factories and
foundries succumbed one by one in rapid
succession to the power of the food, and
were overturned wrecked and ruined, and
in many instances being carried some dis
lance from their places and lodged against
other buildings. Not less than 200 houses
have been carried away entirely or over
turned and ruined. Scarcely an article
of furniture was saved by any of the stricken
luSltlNeS, anu nOSG Oh Llem are HQunCldllY
ruined.
WATER IN EVERY HOUSE.
Not house remains in WHAT known as the
old town without water to the ceilings of the
second story, and scores upon scores OF them
are completely hidden from view, even the
lightning-rods being hidden by the muddy
water. Among these is the Christian Church,
over the roof of which your correspondent
passed in skif this morning without being
able to touch the combing with ten-foot
oar. The Presbyterian Church, on Elm
street, in a high quarter, was built with spe-
cial reference to keeping it free from danger
in time of freshet, and it has water almost to
its ceilings. The Catholic Church is sub
merged to the second tier of windows, twenty
of the adjoining parsonage remains above the
surface. Over two million feet of lumber
was carried from Fitch's saw-mill and taken
down the river, one large portion of it strik-
ing the end OF a substantial dwelling belong
ing to one of the Slater brothers, carrying it
from its foundations and into the torrent
Mr.. Fitch's loss will be over $50 600 Graham
x auSO MIL QlSdDp6tTGQ ell
tirely, together with all its machinery and
over q million feet of lumber Snyder's
buggy factory was swept away by the tide,
with all its contents, and lodged against the
bank at Aurora, several miles below, where
the vehicles were afterward recovered Moore
& Co.'s cooper-shops went out with the flood,
and other structures TOO numerous to men
l,a,, 70 IL
upon them, and are journeying to the gulf.
The tops of the houses remaining above
water are covered with furniture and house
hold utensils, and weighted down by the
piles of driftwood and debris that has lodged
against them.
The new town is separated from the old
town by raging river flowing over the tops
of houses. But two blocks of it remain above
water and most of the houses have water in
the second story. The old cemetery is under
water and monuments and tombstones have
been washed away, and scattered, no one
knows where.
HALF MILLION OF LOSSES.
Distllery warehouses, dwellings and
churches have suffered equally, and $780, 900
will not begin to make good the actual losses
sustained by the people. H. Dobell's immense
furniture warehouse gave away last night,
and the loss to him alone will exceed $40, 900.
The scenes, in all quarters of the city, defy
portrayal. All is confusion, chaos, ruin.
The people move about in skiffs, searching
for their homes, and anxiously feeling below
the surface with rods and poles to ascertain
if the houses have withstood the floods and
remain in position. In one place glass
greenhouse is lodged on church spire; in