Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-02-15
THE WESTERN FLOODS.

I
Turning Cold and the Rivers SLOWLY
| Fallfng-Great Suffering for the Poor
| Who Have No FaeI-Sad Signs of fhs
| Great Devastation WrOught-A Pttfa
BILE Picture of Distress.
CINCINNATI, Feb. 1.-THE long hoped for
| cold wave has come at last. The heavens
are cloudless and this is in itself sufficient to
inspire hope. At last the food has ceased to
come upward and the waters are beginning
to recede. People have hardly begun to
count up their losses and indeed none can
tell anything about the destruction and DESC
lation until the river has shrunk to its chan
mel But if the prospect is sad at present it
will be doubly SO when the receding waters
fall away and the wreck and ruin they have
caused are left exposed. To the terrors Of the
most devastating food known in the annals of
the history of the Ohio is to be added
tonight the suffering that must prevail
in countless homes from the cold. To those
who are cheered by the warmth of glowing
fire the cold wave with clear sky is prefer
able to the warm weather with incessant
rains and gloomy outlook but to the hus-
bands of families living in upper stories with
no fuel and scant supply of food and cloth
ing the bitter cold is a most unwelcome Wis.
itor. The depth of water in the bottoms
varies from ten to twenty feet and
the damage to property is running
up into the millions. The streets
parallel with the river have a swifter current
than the main channel of the river at the or
binary stage, which is four miles an hour.
That the complete prostration of business
ha fu11u tod IL l,a rHd cd hot
there is not wholesale house in the city of
any consequence, with perhaps few excep-
tions, that is not at the mercy of the waters,
and the same may be said of nearly all the
manufacturing establishments and great
mass of the factories. This, of itself,
throws upon charity an enormous
burden. All the people employed
in these various factories living from hand to
mouth in times of prosperity must be fed and
provided with the necessities of life. The
highest point reached was at noon to day,
when it registered seventy one feet three
quarter inches 1t afterwards fell one
sixteenth of an inch and remained stationary
during the afternoon. afterwards rising to
seventy-one feet three-quarter inches then
declining slowly until it reached seventy fee.
eleven inches at p. m. Since then up to
midnight it had fallen an inch. A
very important movement was inaugurated
on Change to-day. The superintendent
read call signed by the property owners on
the river front for the purpose of devising
ways and means of placing their prop
erty outside the reach of the raging Ohio.
1t was suggested that the lower part of the
city be filled up so it would be above the high
water mark of the present flood.
Mill Greek valley calls for ordinations of
sorrow and wonder on all sides.
It is q broad sheet of water stretching
north as far as the eye can reach. while on
both sides it is lost among the buildings of
the city. Upon its bosom outhouses lumber
and drift are floating in immense quantities.
Gables protrude from the flood here and
there. On the east it extends through the
streets for squares. Houses are inundated,
some of them to the second-story
sheds are overturned. Tops of freight
cars protrude from the submerged railroad
tracks and all kinds of rubbish and refuse are
floating about. The drift down the river
to-eay included three houses. stable filled
with hay from the rafters of which hung
several dressed hogs was seen.
man went out after this and
daringly boarded the structure bring
ing one of the hogs with him. He also
states that in the barn was lot of apples,
potatoes and corn. The distillers in Mill
Greek bottoms have lost heavily by the deep
inundation. Many of their cattle pens
have been lifted from their foundations,
but are held in place by cables.
One of Mad3ux. Hobart d Co.'s pens swung
around and collided with brick fermenting
house and crushed it in. The Union dis
tiIlery cOmpany's pens foated against Gest
street bridge, but was towed back. Walsh
& Co, g pens were lifted from their founda-
tions and sank back. It is believed
some of those will be total wrecks. In Ire
pan and Davis distillery several tub contain
inf sour mash have been overturned j. P.
Gay and Co.'S roofing material, lamp black
and varnish, one story frame factory has
gone to pieces and the stock was destroyed.
At Cumminsville over four hundred head
of cattle recently removed from Dick 0orth's
moved from two feet of water. They were
taken to the fair grounds. Over seven hun
dred families are in inundated dwellings.
At Newport twenty five more buildings
went out into the food to-day. Houses are
sitting in the middle of the street, while
others still are twisted and torn.
Buildings are cracking and render
skif navigation very dangerous Last nights
hurricane almost completed Viewpoints dis
truction. There are fears that the Newport
bridge may go. The water is several feet
deep on the Newport end, reaching several
hundred feet toward the centre.
HARTFORD, Conn, Feb. 14-In response
to the Mayors call about thirty citizens met
In the Common Council chamber at IL
O'Clock to day to take steps to aid the suffer
ers by the western floods. The Mayor did
not favor the idea of few large subscrip-
tions. He desired the public at large to have
a hand in extending aid to the sufferers by
the foods. The following gentlemen with
the Mayor at the head were appointed COM
mittee to draft an appeal to the public: Rev,
Mr.. McCook, DR.. Wainwright, Rev. DR.. Sage
and James G. PATTERSON. The same gentle
men we're also appointed committee of dis
tribut1on On motion of DR.. WAR wright it
was voted by the committee not to cease
their labors until Hartford had raised at least
$1,000 One thousand seven hundred and
sixty three dollars was raised in half
hour.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn Feb. 14-In pursu-
anes of the Mayors call large meeting of
citizens was held this afternoon and over
5 600 raised for the food sufferers. It is
proposed to increase this amount to So, 900.