Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-07-14
II GREAT FLOOD.
The Mississippi Falling Slowly and Conf
dence Being R~estored-The Worst
Thought to be Over.

-o 1SoAo
Thought to be Over.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, June q.
After rising for twenty-six days, and
reaching the highest stage of water known
since 1858, the Mississippi, to the gratifica-
ton of all, is %subsiding slowly. At six
O'Clock yesterday evening it had fallen n
inch, when the Government gauge at the
foot of Market street registered thirty-four
feet nine inches. The decline will proba-
bly, not be rapid, but will be sufficient to
greatly lessen the danger of the situation
when the anticipated "June rise" comes.
The kilograms from Upper Missouri River
points bring information that the rise from
the mountains has begun, but over q week
must pass before the effect will be felt in
the neighborhood of st. Louis. 1t is the
opinion of many of the river men that the
worst of the food of 1883 has been seen.
In East st. Louis the news that the river
had commenced falling caused universal
rejoicing. The situation yesterday was
considered more favorable, and it is gen.
orally believed that the worst is over. No
further danger is feared unless there should
be a heavy rise. Every dangerous point
about the town is well protected against
any possible influx of water, and work
goes on constantly. While elated over the
khange, citizens and railroad officials are
as vigilant as ever, and prepared for any
emergency. At Bowman's dixie yesterday
everything appeared safe. The water in
the slough had gone down three inches
since Monday morning, and the fall was
perceptible. The new ridge on the dixie is
considerably above the sweeping water,
n it will require a heavy rise to cause any
weakening. Cahokia Creek was higher,
however, caused by the influx of water
from the breaks at Venice and Brooklyn.
The current was quite swift, and for the
first time in four days running in its nat
ural direction dow stream.
In the region known as the "willows,"
and at different points on Bloody Island,
the i%nundation is extensive, and many
houses, nearly 400, are still in deep water.
Some families have been obliged to leave
their homes and take quarters in box cars
on the railroad tracks.
The leak at Jarrett's Station has been
stopped and no danger is feared for East
st. Louis in case of the embankment being
cut. In the old railroad yards, midway
between the Relay Depot and the Junction,
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about two feet and a half high was quilt
between the two west tracks and those east
of them. On the east side of this dixie
there were foul inches of water, and on the
west side about twice as much. The water
was rising steadily last night, but having
very nearly found q level, there was no
danger along the line of the Alton Road is
from the ground moles, which, driven from
their usual haunt by the water, have made
their way to the road-bed, the only dry
ground they can reach. They are in count
less numbers, and are continually burrow-
ing and loosening the track below it's slSr-
face, SO as to concentrate in springs the
water seeping through. Probably from
the result of these borrowings an alarming,
though not serious, break below the water
line occurred yesterday afternoon, about a
mile above the junction. An extra force
of men and a liberal supply of sand-bags
stopped the flow and restored confidence.
Later reports from the flooded farming
region to the north and south of East st.
lLouis show that hundreds of thousands Of
dollars worth of ripening crops have been
destroyed and hundreds of farmers ruined.
4 great number of families have been left
absolutely homeless.
Immense Loss Above Chester.
EAST CARoNDELET, ILL, June &c.
u AASC1 oo CuAS pO1uu Cdil1o ~ q oaA
list night, since when it has fallen three
inches, a fact hailed with great joy by our
people, who, for thelast ten days have lived
in painful suspense, hedged in on every
SIDE by the threatening waters. 1t is now
confidently felt by all that the crisis
is past. Further south, in the vicinity
o. 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
ne>ghborhood had constructed a temporary
levee, which up to twelve O'Clock yesterday
held the water back from about 1000 acres
of corn, potatoes and wheat. For seven
days and nights the farmers nave battled
nthe hope that just this little spot at least
might possibly be saved, but all their eff
forts proved fruitless. The water steadily
crept up the crumbling banks, and at noon
the workers threw dow their shovels, as
last of the crops.
IN the vicinity of Smiths Landing, Har-
%risonville, Chester and Grand Tower, the
situation was but a duplicate of chat pre-
sented in the Fish Lake country. The
entire bottoms 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, ex-
Sheriff of Randolph County, it was learned
that the st. Mary's levee, opposite Chester,
broke night before last, l%ooseningt the waters
of the Mississippi upon zoe, 900 acres of wheat
that was ready for the reaper, and accord
ing to the opinions of those competent to
judge, would nave yielded thirty bushels
to the acre. The town of st. Mary's is
partly submerged, IL is still further
threatened unless the water should ubside.
From Chester to Grand Tower, a dis
lance 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 Kaskaskia the
same doleful aspect presents itself. The
town is to be utterly abandoned to the ris-
Ing waters, the inhabitants having already
telegraphed to Chester for a 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
yesterday evening, destroys the last nope of