St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-23
HORRORS OF A FLOOD.
Medicine River, Kansas, Swollen by q
Cloud-Burst, Causes Terrible
Loss Of Life.
Houses Suddenly Carried From Their
Foundations Leave the Occupants
to Watery Graves.
Relief Parties Organized to Secure the
Bodies of the Dead and Aid
the Living.
Perryville, Tenn, Wholly Destroyed
by Fire, the Act of an Incendi-
ary--Other Matters.
Am III-Fated Town.

WICHITA, Kan, April pa special tel
egram, dated yesterday at Medicine Lodge,
fecounts the fearful results of the water
spout or cloud burst, to the residents of the
Medicine river, which seems to be the same
that hlled the NinneScah to overflowing.
The special says that the water rolled
down over the low lands east of
Medicine Lodge City, five to twelve feet
deep, carrying death in its way. Several
whole families are known to be drowned.
Yesterday morning parties who had gone
out to give relief found men, women and
children clinging to trees, with nothing but
their night clothes to protect them, and
some without any clothing whatever, but
still alive. Their cries could be heard above
the rushing waters as early as o'clock in
the morning. Three attempts were made
to rescue parties beyond the river, but each
boat IN turn was Swamped and the occu-
pants only saved themselves by
SWIMMING TO TREES.
Five bodies had been recovered up to the
hour of writing the dispatch, which was
sent over to the first railroad point by mail,
when another body was in sight, but could
not be reached. There were eight movers
wagons camping in the bottoms, and one
old man has recognized the bodies of three
of1his family-his wife and two children.
James Gibbs and his daughter and niece were
washed away with their houses. A Mrs.
Harris and her little girl, II years old, were
found drowned. G. w. Paddock and fam
lily, consisting of wife and four children,
are thought to be all drowned. Frank
Shippler put his wife and child on the roof
and his house went down. He was knocked
off by projecting limb and swan ashore
several miles below, but of the fate of his
wife and child nothing was known.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
The following additional particulars have
just been obtained: The town is situated
between the Medicine river and Elm creek.
Early Tuesday forenoon the flood came
down the streams overfOwing their bot
tom lands to depth of about ten feet In
the Elm creek bottoms dozen houses were
entirely destroyed and many of the occu-
pants drowned, or saved only by climbing
to the branches of trees. In camps
in the bottoms were ten or fifteen
emigrant wagons filed with families,
and not half of these persons have
yet been found. North of here entire fam
lilies were drowned. Others made mirac-
ulous escapes. All of yesterday and last
night the streams were so high that no COM
munication could be held with the East, and
to-day the first dispatches were sent out.
The stores in town were closed yesterday,
and every citizen engaged in the work of
rescuing people by boats and RATS from
their perilous positions in the trees and on
housetops. This work was extremely haz-
ardous, and by nightfall there were still
some isolated prisoners.
A RELIEF PARITY
was out all night picking up these unfor-
tunates. The people in Medicine river
bottoms had left early in the morning and
all escaped with their lives. Hundreds Of
cattle were drowned and great fields Of
crops ruined. Hundreds of dead animals
also line the banks of Elm creek.
The rise started at dark on Monday night
and the rain poured steadily for six hours,
which was followed by great cloud burst
north of the town. Among those known
to be lost are the following: G. w. Had
dock, wife and four children; the bodies
of the wife and three children have been
recovered; Jerry Gibbs and daughter, Mrs.
Harris and daughter; the bodies of the lat
ter two have been recovered; the wife and
four children of Samuel Maddox, bodies of
the wife and two children recovered. The
four wagons containing the mowers"
have not been heard from and it
is thought all the occupants have
perished. No news yet received from the
country below here but it is feared there
has been very serious loss Of life. The
town council speedily engaged relief meas
ures and several thousand dollars have been
subscribed. The bodies thus far recovered
will be buried this afternoon. The district
court has adjourned and the court room has
been turned into morgue. Sun City and
Lake City, situated west of the place, were
inundated, but the damage was not serious.
The village of Elm Mills was flooded, but
with no loss of life.