The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-02-14

sufficient to bring a shudder to the stoutest
heart. Tonight fully hundred houses are
involved in the flood that were out Of it last
night, and this number will be doubled by
o'clock tomorrow morning Your correspondent
asked an old and prominent citizen, to night,
who is taking a deep interest for the sufferers by
the calamity, how many families he thought had
been driven out by the food
''No less than one thousand; probably good
many more, he promptly answered.
''The city officials, who are aiding in relief
measures. place the number higher. 1t is GER
tain the number exceeds that in the food of last
year. There slowed away, in many in
stances, dozen families in a house, and many
of the houses to which the sufferers have been
driven are hardly fit for habitation, they are so
open to exposure from the elements"
There was terrific rainfall and wind storm
last night. This afternoon there was another
heavy storm, and still the clements are at war,
as if trying to rival the raging torrents in dis
comfort and accumulation of suffering. The
combination of woes can hardly be exaggerated.
Last nights high wind and to-days increased
torrents swept away wrecked number of
residences and sent ahoat on the river very
many llcluUlnS small SldOleS anu
many hundreds of feet of fence Seven dwell
lings were foated off and wrecked from a single
limited neighborhood. The work of destruction
seems now fairly inaugurated. Very many houses
have been in the flood for nine days, and are
greatly weakened; these will yield readily to the
uprising tide and increasing current, and be
wrecked if they not foated away. The
Force & Co. Brentwood Works the largest estab-
lishment of the kind in Southern Indiana, are a
wreck; they will probably be entirely swept
away.
On the river bottom west of the city, nearly
every one of the barns and outhouses
erected last summer to take the place of those
destroyed last February have been foated off.
Most of the residences of the farmers and gar
deners in these bottoms will be badly damaged,
If they are not swept away entirely. In the
lower Albany suburb there is no better condition
of affairs, In the western part of the city, from
point half a square south of Main street. the
peril is imminent, and many residences will be
destroyed. Further east, and extending nearly
to the eastern limits of the city on a line balf
square south of Main street, there will be fear
| full damage to residences and many will be
wrecked The water is nearly to the roof of a
great number of these houses. In the glass
works and other large manufactures there will
be heavy losses there are serious losses in these
already.
The only relief afforded sufferers here, thus
far, outside the work of some secret societies
and a number of noble women, has come from
the city and the county treasury. Today go of
the sufferers, in order to help themselves, were
scraping the streets and alleys in the rain re
ceiving for their labor 81 25 day 1t is not to
be denied that there is great deal of real suffer
ing in the city, and that the present measures
are inadequate to relieve it, Many wonder that
the authorities and relief committee do not call
upon our own citizens for contributions to aid
the needy. This, call for outside help.
will have TO be made, for the situation here is
daily growing worse.
The trains on the st. Louis Airline railroad
were compelled to stop running to-day so that
the only road now running trains into the
city is the L., N A & c. The
flood reached the tracks Of this
road day and entered the depot, and it is pos
sible trains will have to start, after tomorrow,
from the extreme northern suburb of the city
The indianapolis mail now reaches the city by
way of Louisville and the Portland and New
Albany ferry. 1t does not arrive until P. NJ
The city to-day received an insignificant sum
out of the 5000, 600 aid voted by Congress-not
more than enough to provide for the present
su ferers for two or three days. The relief com
nlittee held meeting tonight and adopted adj
ditional measures to aid the distressed. There
will be suffering here and a great deal of it. AS
this report closes it continues to rain heavily.
The flood last year is sure to be greatly ex-
ceeded, possibly by two feet.