Huntsville gazette., 1883-06-30
HIGH WATERS.
The American P~ttom Flooded by the Ris-
ing River-The Loss Becoming some
thing Enormous.

ST. LOUIS, MO-, June 26.
| The rise of the Mississippi continued un
til yesterday afternoon, the gauge at three
p. m. showingan increased depth of three
inches within twenty-four hours. Themeas-
urement gave thirty-four feet and ten
| inches above low-water mark, the river
being one foot higher than in the flood Of
1881, and seven feet two inches lower than
in the great flood of 1874. Later in the dav
| the depth seemed about stationary, and the
| general opinion among river men seemed
| to be that to-day would show slight SUBJ
! sidence of the waters.
| Attention was largely directed yesterday
70 the perllous situation of affairs in East
st. Louis, a general feeling of alarm exist
ing among the people of that city, and but
partial faith existing in the work done to
preserve the town from inundation, though
effort in every direction was not abated,
and weak points in the dikes strengthened
as lar as practicable. Were the danger to
East st. Louis confined to single weak
point there would be no difficulty in meet
| ing the emergency, but the food threatens
from so many different directions, and the
pressure of water at many localities is so
| great, that it seemed yesterday largely a
matter Of chance whether or not the fight
| could be maintained successfully until the
| Slow subsistence of the Mississippi lessons
! the strain upon the weakening embank-
| ments.
Later reports from the flooded farming
region to the north and south of East ST.
Louis show that hundreds of thousands Of
dollars worth of ripening crops have been
| destroyed and hundreds of farmers ruined
A great number of families have been left
absolutely homeless.
| Nor further loss resulting from the food
is reported on the st. Louis side of the
river, and a rise of several inches must still
come to affect seriously the well-protected
| lumber-yards and manufactures in the
northern part of the city.
Immense Loss Above Chester.
EAST CARoNDELET, ILL, June Is.
| The water at this point is still rising and
| it is now believed that in two or three days,
should the river continue to rise, there will
| not be dry spot between the river and the
bluff, except ridge known as the "bench,"
/ lying parallel with the bluff, about two
miles from the river. Most of the farmers
have retreated to this tract with their stock
for safety. Further south, in the vicinity
I of Fish Lake, the ruin wrought by the
/ waters simply beggars description. AT tho
eastern end of the dixie, which crosses the
lake, is a narrow strip of land connecting
two ridges across which the farmers of the
neighborhood had constructed a temporary
levee, which up 70 twelve o'cleak to-day
held the water back from about 1,e6as cres
of corn, potatoes and wheat. Fir Sc +,-vs
! days ana nights the ia rners haSS& : tit
in the Ess,o thee stst rnIs little spot at least
naieht possibly be savod, but III ti,vir vr-
| forts proved fruitless. The water steadily
crept up the crumbling banks, and at noon
the workers threw down their shovels, as
the waters burst through, laying waste the
last of the crops.
In the vicinity of Smiths Landing, Har-
risonville, Chester and Grand Tower, the
situation was but duplicate Of that pre-
sented in the Fish Lake country. The
ppfira bOttpnlc from East ST. Louis TO
Chester on the Illinois side and from st.
Mary's to Bailey's Landing on the Missouri
side being inundated, save an occasional
knoll here and there.
In an interview with Mr.. Welsh, e1-
Sheriff of Randolph County, it was learned
that the st. Mary's levee, opposite Chester,
broke last night, loosening the waters OF
the Mississippi upon 900 acres OF wheat
that was ready for the reaper, and accord
ing to the opinions of those competent TO
judge, would have yielded thirty bushels
to the acre. The town of st. Mary's is
partly submerged, and is still further
threatened unless the water should subslde.
From Chester to Grand Tower, dis
tance Of twenty five miles, the situation is
even worse than in the st. Mary's Bottom.
The bottoms between these points repre-
sent an average width of ten miles; hence
in this locality alone an area of $50 square
miles is said to be fully three-fourths under
water, while the influx continues to spread
out, swallowing up the rich fields.
In the neighborhood of Kaskask1a the
same doleful aspect presents itself. The
town is to be utterly abandoned to the rls-
ing waters, the inhabitants having already
telegraphed to Chester for boat to convey
them to the latter place. The breaking OF
Levee No. !, in the vicinity Of SMITHS
Landing. which occurred at two O'Clock
this evening, destroys the last hope OF saw
ing anything in that part of the bottom.
The Missouri at Atchison.
ATCHIsoN, KAN, June rs.
Since Sunday forenoon the Missouri
River at this point has risen sixteen inches,
now makiug eighteen feet three inches
above low-water mark, with the volume
| gradually Increasing, having gained nearly
five inches to-day. All adyices from points
further north-Sioux City, Nebraska City
and Omaha-are to the effect that the river
is ON a decline. Such streams as the
Nemaha and Platte, which have poured most
| of the water into the main river, owing to ex-
cessive rains, are also subsIdlng, as tne
former has lowered four feet IN the past
! twenty-four hours. Old rivermen here IN
| cline to the opinion that while the present
waters NAV recede two feet, still the June
! freshet NAV catch the then high water and
cause disastrous results. This is partially
| confirmed by reports to the Government
1 Engineer that the L ellOWSlOue anu opPCl
! Missouri are rising. How much or now
rapidly is not given, but it proves the
| theory that high water may yet be ant1cl-
| pated and that all danger is not passed.
| The high water has at last affected the bot
| toms and low lands opposite here in Mis-
! souri,. as it has cut through what is denOmi-
mated the Sand Cut, near Rushvllle, mum
! dating that section.
| A Bad Break in the Leyee.
CAIRO, ILL.,, June 25
/ While the John A. Scudder was lying az
| Prices Landing, Mo-, last night, twenty
five miles above here, and during the heavy
| storm which prevailed, about $50 yards OF
! the levee was washed away by the high
waves, and an immense body of water is
now devastating large area Of grain coun-
| try. An outlet is found at James Bayou,
| forty miles below Cairo. The storm was
| yery severe, accompanied by high winds
/ and the widest of thunder and lightning.
| Some few trees were blown down, and the
! Sherlock, moored at the wharfboat, sus-
| tanned considerable damage. 1t lasted
| about an hour, during which nearly an inch
| of rain fell. The river raised three inches
! in the last twenty-four hours, the gauge
reading thirty nine feet three inches, thir.
| teen feet below the high-water mark OF
| February, 1888 At Birds Point, opposite
i Cairo IN q wind -Iact NIGHT Assumed the pro-