The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-02-13
LAwRENoEBuRG AND AURORA.

On Saturday there was scarcely dry spot
within the corporate limits of Lawrenceburg.
Since that time the river has risen almost
four feet. which must place the ground at the
highest point Of the city from three to five
feet under water. The place is cut off from
communication. The telegraph office is un-
der water Railroad trains can no longer en-
ter, and the river steamers cannot effect a
landing. The city is entirely surrounded by
water.
Every family in the city has been COM
PEELED to seek safety in the top stories of
their houses. There is no means of commu-
nicating with one another except by boats.
Hundreds of families are certainly out of pro-
visions, and danger of their lives must be ex-
pected at any moment. The current is said
to be swift through the main streets.
1t is doubtful whether the frame structures
can much longer stand the pressure of the
fierce waves and increasing current. Yester
day afternoon, before telegraphic commun-
cation was shut off hundreds of people were
seeking safety in the courthouse and such
other public buildings as were safe and Sc
cure against the swelling waters Hundreds
of families have evidently been rendered
homeless and destitute of the comforts of
life. 1t is an ill-fated city, and doubtless be-
fore this reaches the eye of the reader hun
dreds of people may have found watery
graves.
! The Imagination is not strong enough to
/ paint the scene of sadness and distress that
is at this hour being enacted in the little city,
and which is wholly at the mercy of the
widest flood that has ever been known in
the history of the great Ohio valley. If the
water grows much more voluminous death
and general destruction must of necessity
| follow in the path 1t does not seem that it
can be prevented. 1t it is to be hoped no
/ such calamity may befall it, but it seems
i probable it is doomed
| AT $50 O'Clock last night the authorities at
Z Lawrenceburg telephoned to Colonel Reilly,
saying that the town was IN great need, and
| asking that 500 loaves of bread be sent with
all possible dispatch. The bread will be sent
this morning on the first train on the 0. & NJ.
Colonel Reilly telephoned back the as
surance that all the food needed would be
sent, and if Cincinnati could help them in
| any other way she was not only ready but
anxious to do so. 1t does not seem to have
occurred to Colonel Reilly that there is no
way of getting the desired relief down there.
A gentleman who passed within sight of
! ILawreneeburg yesterday stated that in some
parts the houses are completely submerged,
ana only lIe CnlnlneyS are VlSiDle. On one
chimney, which was a few inches above the
water and quarter of a mile from shore, q
| little dog clung for dear life, and howled and
looked despairingly for rescue
There is not particle OF land above water
in what is known as Oldtown, while the cone
| OF High street is submerged to a depth of
four feet The trouble is still further aggra-
waited by the boom in the Big Miami, and the
sufferings of the people are indescribable.
Mrs DR.. Walter, while trying to recover
some goods from her home, fell out of the
skiff and narrowly escaped drowning. Mr.
Jim Reinecke lost piano out of boat but
it was recovered. One sawmill near Law
renceburg lost $50, 900 worth of lumber,
| which tioated away.
Fitch & Co. are hauling metal to place on
their lumber and saw-mill to preventit being
carried off by the flood
The bank of the Big Four railroad which
has served as dixie for the western part of
the town, is under water. Many people who
placed their furniture in the top stories of
| their houses for protection have seen the top
of the roof of their residences slowly disap-
| pearing beneath the terrible flood
| The telephone exchange office contains
four feet of water, and Jim Reinecke, the
courageous operator sits on a table placed
on scaffold reaching above the water, and
| thus maintains communication between the
people of Lawrenceburg.
Mayor Roberts has been untring in his eff
has worked hard to that end night and dav.
Just before dark last nighta bale of hay,
with a horse on top of it, iloated past Law
| renceburg.
| Cincinnati Enquirer, Editorial.
Lawrenceburg, Ind, is suffering more from
the flood than any other town on the Ohio.
The old part of the town, which is the prin-
cipal part of it, is literally under water. In
the lower portions the water is up to the sec
ond floors of the houses. Seven hundred
families are driven from their homes, and
find quarters with their more fortunate
neighbors who dwell upon higher level A
large number of families also find temporary
refuge in the public-school buildings the
Methodist Church and the courthouse. The
mayor has asked Cincinnati for 500 loaves of
bread to feed the suffering and they will be
promptly supplied this morning. The dam
age TO property is great. Large quantities of
lumber have been swept away from the
| yards, and even the mills are threatened
! One saw-mi!i is anchored with metal to keep
it from drifting off with the current Law
reDceburg is place of spirit and enterprise,
and will soon recover from its misfortune
And it is perhaps safe to say that its levees
will De put in condition to hereafter defy
the water,
| DAMAGE AT AURORA.
| AT o'clock on Sunday evening the water
reached the highest point of the flood of
1882. At that hour the water was running
six inches deep around Chambers Stevens g.
Co.'S corner, and was six inches deep on the
Mainstreet bridge floor. All of the town
between George street and the river, north of
Hogan creek, was submerged, and also to Ju-
dietary street, south of the creek. The Cres-
cent Brewing Company and the Aurora Dis
tilling Company cleared their pens of stock,
expecting four or five more feet of water.
Sixteen carloads of cattle from ST. Louis are
water-bound at Aurora and are being pro-
vided for: The people being prepared for
the rise. but little damage has been done by
the water. ssa
| Anrora Is ON hiuher rround and the rr,i,