Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-06-27

| statloDafy or rihlns very slowly, Whicn Will
give time for the water 10 run of bsicre
the June rise Gets in. All the bot
tom lands bstween Cairo and ST. Louis
are inundated, and the loss of crops and
farm property will run up into the million.
Much destitullon prevails, and hundreds of
families will have to be supported by ch arity
for some months TO come, and while the suf-
fering is not 80 great AS during the floods on
the lower Mississippi and the Ohio earlier
in the year, it is qIile as urgent, and should
receive the immediate att, nlion of the
charitsDly disposed. The whole story is told
in the subioined dispatches.
|
THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.
| RISE OF ONE INCH AT HELENA-FEARs OF
| MORE WATER THAN WAS EXPECTED.
| Special to the Appeal
| HELENA, Juue 26.-The river he s risen one
inch here since yesterday, and is about on
stand tonight. Latest reports from above
| give rise 10 the fear that there will be a
greater rise yet than was hitherto expected.
! The heavy rains along the Tennessee and
Cumberland rivers, 10 addition TO the COL
tiuued ri-e in the upper Mississippi and Mis-
souri,, it is feared will overtake the present
stage Of wafer aud produce a genuine food.
| Should there be no further rise, however, the
worst is over, the damage done spproxi-
| matiog twenty per cent. of the bottom lands
subject to overflow.
THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
| ALL THE BUTTONS BETWEEN ST. LOUIS AND
CAIRO oFLooDED-IMMENsE DESTRUCTION OF
PROPERTY.
ST. LOUIS, June 26.-Advices from Chea-
ter, Randolph county, H., says that ST..
| Msry's levee, opposite that point, broke
| Sunday night, and ST. Msry's bottom, large
| whes.-raisiOg region, is now nearly all
| flooded. II is said that 10000 acres OF wheat
are under water on ihi. bottem alone From
Chester TO Grand Tower southward, on the
Illinois side, a distance OF twenty five
miles, with an average width of ten miles,
embracing an area OF $50 miles, it is nearly
all submer. ed and the crops destroyed, en-
failing great loss. To the north OF Che ter,
nearly all the way up to 81. Louis, the bot
toms are said 10 be Undated, excsp. here
and there high ridge, which is out Of water.
Information from all this gion is Of a gen
er al, rather than specific character, but it is
safe to say that if all these bottoms are
either living in flooded houses or have
fed to the bluff for safety, and tha,
the loss TO crops and general farm
property is almost incalculable. Toe
American bottom extends from Alton
to Cairo, something over 200 miles, a large
part Of which is pretty thickly settled. All
this great tract is subject TO overflow in
freshets like the presen', and it can be read
lily imagined that the loss of property and
| the distress and misery brought upon the in
habitauis must be immense. The town oi
st MAry's, on the Missouri side of the river,
is partly submerged, and Kasksskis, on the
| illinois side, is to be abandoned, the pee
| pie there having cent 10 Chester for a steam
| boat 10 carry them away. A levee three
miles above Cape Girardeau, Mo-, and abou
| fifty miles above Cairo, and another at
Prices Landing, seventy-6ve miles further
down the river, broke Sunday night aud let
large volume OF water rush over the bot
| tom. Oother points on both sides of the river
| below here, particularly on the Illinois side,
| are in about the same condition as abov
| described, aud it may be said that pretty
| much all the bottom land between here and
Cairo has more or less water on it.
HOPE THAT THE WORST Is PAST.
The best available information is that til,
river is falling in East S.. Louis on the river
siie of the Chicago and Alton track and still
rising out on the bottom east OF ihst embank-
| ment. The fail, il any, is small, but is
| enough TO create a strong hopeful feeling
! hat the worst is past, aud that the gradual
subsidence of the q BOD will now take place.
| The situaliol at East st. Louis and on The
bottom to the north presents no notable
change. From Brooklyn TO Venice, on the
river bank northward to Newport and Mitch
| ell, on both sides OF the Chicago and Alton
4 h., ar,1 81 1,isa
track eastward, thence north up the bot ON
for dozen miles or more, there is nothing
but broad expanse of water, aud the scene
| is one OF dev astation and M. Perhaps
| there is not farm in all thi. giop, from
river TO bluff, that ia not submerged to a
gre ater or less depth, and only here and there
can a bit of land be seen, where the top
of a knoll higher than the common level
shows above the watery waste. Some di-
tance north OF Mitchell The bottom rises, and
as Alton is approached where the bluff
touches the river some of the land has es-
capped inundation. Three fourths Of Brook
iyn is under water, and only one street in
Venice and bit of high ground 10 the north
part of town is above The fiJod level. In
East ST. Louis all the lowland is inundated
to depth varying from ten to twenty feet,
and hundreds OF houses within the city
limits have their lower f)ors flooded, aud
many Of them their second stories. South
of the city the entire bottom for an indefi-
mite distance, including the villages of E ,st
Carondelet, Cahokis and other small ham
lets, are submerged and all farms for miles
down the river are under water Crops are
destroyed and the families Of farmers who
| owned or rented them IRE scattered along
ridges and bluffs seeking shelter wherever
they can 6nd it. Many of these people are in
destitute condition, and wholly dependent
upon the generosity and charity of others,
and will have be for some lime to come,
The loss by destruction of crops and other
farm property cannot be stated with sny
accuracy. il cannot even be spproxim ated,
for no epecihc Information is yet at hand
upon which to base a reliable calculation,
bat there is hardly doubt but that the ag-
gregate loss in American bottom between
Alton snd Cairo will run into the millions,
and this is not half of the story, for nearly
ss much bottom land skirts the riy on
the Missouri side, most of which is subiec, to
overflow, and hundreds of thousands OF acres
OF land along the Missouri river and its
tributaries between here and Kansas Civ
now lie under the devastating food and
have been swept of their crops. Advices
from the southeastern section OF 81. Charles
county, Mo-, in the region of Portage des
Sioux, give individual the losses OF about
|
900. These range from 500 10 s. 000
and represent wheat and corn, no account be-
ing taken Of other property destroyed or
greatly damaged, except in less than half
dozen cases of the heaviest losers. The
total loss in this section alone is estimated q.
100000. Very little live stock was lost, as
almost all the animals had been driven 10
high ground 10 time TO save them. Report,
from Alton about tbs loss OF cattle IN Amer
ican bottom, below that city, are simply
ridiculous. 1t is not a caltle-raisips section
and there are probably not so many cattle il
the whole bottom as have been reported lost.
Meh-The river actually fell one inch
to-day, and there is general rejoicing on
both sides of the stream. Every body looks
for 3 pretty rapid decline OF wafer, and al
have strong hopes that it will go down fal
enough before the June rise comes 10 escape
another extreme freshet. In East 81. Louii
: no further danger is feared, unless another
heavy rise should come. Every weak o.
dangerous point about town is well protected
and work is not relaxed, but still kept up Il
guard against any possible contingency
The B0unnam dyke holds firmly, and j
! good for considerable more water, bu
| no more is now expected. Cshokia creel
. rose some to-day, caused by the water from
! the breaks at Brooklyn aud Venice, and 70
direction down stream. This brought III
water nearer to the railroads at the rela
/: depot, but the levee built along the east BAN
Of the creek by the Cairo Short Line an