The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-06-27
THE WESTERN FLOODS.
GREAT DESTRUCTION OF CROPS AND
OTHER PROPERTY.
The situation Mt NJ. Louis--Honseless and
Destitute People.
[By telegraph 10 the Dispatch. |


ST. LOUIS. June 2G.-On this side Of the
river the whole OF the lcvee is now sub
merged, and in the lowest places the first
floors OF stores are flooded from few
inches TO n couple Of feet deep. Business
in houses on the riyer.iront Is suspended.
except in two or three " doggeries, where
scalTolds have been built. and whiskey is
still dispensed for five cents drink. The
Chicago and Alton, in connection with the
indianapolis and st. Louis and Wabash
roads, are driving piles In the break IN
their track above Venice. and il Is eX-
pectcd that they will have q good trestle
across the gap by Wednesday and their
trains rlnnin" again.
A large number Of farmers and land
owners on the American bottom and resi-
dents OF Venice and other towns between
East st. Louis and Mitchell held a meeting
ut Venice yesterday afternoon and adopted
resolutions calling for aid. Many OF the
people who make their appeal are clmped
in tents on ridges surrounded by wafer or
in the open air on the bluffs beyond. Many
are also housed in boX-cars on the railroad
tracks, and a good many OF them will he
obliged to be fed. Their crops are totally
destroyed, and they are destitute OF money
and the necessaries Of life.
CONDITION OF THE RAILROADS.
The situation in East Carondelet and
Cahokia grows worse daily. The water
covers the whole of that section of the
country. The railroads which have lost
their tracks have abandoned the ferriage
system between here and Alton, and have
arranged with the Nandalia road TO run
their passenger trans. The indianapolis
and st. Louis will send their trains to
Etiingham, and thence to MattoOn. The
Wabash will Use the Nandalia 10 AltamOnt.
where it will take its own track, and
the Chicago and Alton and the Chicago.
Burlington and Quincy will run to Smith
boro', where they will connect with their
own roads. All the other eastern lines are
using their own tracks, and all the western
roads are getting trains through with good
success. The Nandalia track, about which
there has been some apprehension, is still
two feet above water.
TWENTY THOUSAND ACRES or WHEAT UNDER
WATER.
ST. LOUIS, June 2G.-Advces from Ches
ter. Randolph county. Ill.,. say that st. Ma
ry' leyee. opposite that point i'm Missouri,
broke in Sunday night, and st. Mary's bot
tom, a large wheat-groWing region. is
nearly flooded. Twenty thousand acres OF
wheat are under water on this bottom
alone. From Chester to Grand Tower
southwark, on the Illinois side. distance
OF twenty-five miles, with an average width
OF ten miles, and embracing an area Of $50
miles, nearly all is submerged and crops
destroyed, entailing great loss; and north
OF Chester, nearly all the way up to 81.
Louis, the bottom is SAID b. be inundated,
except here and there high ridge which
is out Of water. Thousands Of families are
either living in flooded houses or have fed
to the bluffs for safety. and the loss to crops
and general farm property is almost meal
culable. The American bottom extends
from Acton TO Cairo-sOmethng over 200
mileS-a large part OF which Is pretty
thickly settled. All this great tract is sub
feet to overflow i'm frcShcts like the pre-
sent. The town OF st. Mary's, on the Mis-
souri, side OF the river, is partly submerged, |
and KaSkaskla, on the Illinois side. is to be
the people there having sent
TO Chester for n steamboat to carry
them away. A levee three miles above
Cape Girardeau, Mo-, about fifty miles
above Cairo, and another mt Prices Land
ing, twenty-five miles down the river,
broke Sunday night and large volume OF
water rushed over the bottom. Other
points on both sides OF the river below
here, particularly on the Illinois side. are
about i'm the same condition a. above de-
scrlbed. and it may be said that pretty
much all the bottom land between here and
Cairo has more on less water on il.
THE WORST BELIEVED TO De PAST.
ST. LOUIS. June 2G.-The river is falling
slowly i'm East St Louis on the river side
OF the Chicago and Alton track, but is still
rising out on the bottoms east Of that EN-
bankment. The fall is small, but sun-
cient to create strong, hopeful
feeling that the worst is past. There
is hardly a doubt that the aggregate
loss i'm the bottom between Alton and Cairo
will run into millions; and this is not half
the story, for nearly rs much bottom
lands skirts the river on the Mis-
souri, side, most OF which has been
overlooked. and hundreds OF thousands Of
acres along the Missouri river and it, tIib-
utaries between here and Kansas City now
lie under water, and the crops thereon are
destroyed.
Great Rain in Nebraska.
CROPS DESTROYED, HOUSES AND BRIDGES
WASHED AWAY, AND STOCK DROWNED.
lBy telegraph 10 the Dlspa,ch.l
LINCOLN. NEB., June pa great rain
fell Friday night IN the Nehema Valley.
and the streams are already destroying
crops and washing away bridges, roads,
and houses. Thousand, OF hogs and hun