Connecticut western news., 1888-05-23
THE RAGING MISSISSIPPI.
Alexan dria Submerged-Hous Flooded to the Second Story.

KEoKUK, Iowa, May N.-Ihe proportions which the mighty Mississippi has now assumed banks. For 100 miles south of this city the average width of the great stream is seven miles. It has dashed over and swept away every levee and dike between here and Alton, and has now undisputed possession of territory which two weeks ago was covered with farms, towns and railroads.
 Alexandria, Mo-. five miles south of here is the greatest sufferer by this unprecedented rise. Thousands of people visited the place to-day. There is but one dry spot in the town, and that is not large enough to hold 50 people. Main street is filled with skiffs, rafts, scows, flatboats, and hastily constructed craft of every description. The Baptist church is entered only by boat through the top half of the dou- ble windows. A block further on is the Meth odist church, with the waves dashing in at the front door. The depth of the water varies at from six to sixteen feet, and no matter in what direction you turn, before you is broad ex- panse of water, dotted here, there, and every where with submerged buildings. At one of the lumber yards the small frame office is floating around, and lumber piled in the yards is beginning to topple over. The occupants of all two-stOry buildings have removed to the second floors, where they are practically im- prisoned until the flood subsidies.
 The men and boys of the town spend much of their time in boats, while the women and girls silently view the devastation and desola- tion of the flooded village from the upper win dows. Tie condition of affairs is lamentable. The front doors of the public school building are open, and the water has filled the place to depth of several feet. All around this locality the water is away above the fences. There is good view from this point. No matter in what direction you look, a vast sheet of water, stretching out for miles and miles, meets the eye. People in skiffs are going over fences within the city limits. Chickens and cats are perched on the roofs of houses and barns, where they have found refuge. Hogs and bees are placed on hastily erected plat forms. Hungry dogs are seen on the tops of floating outhouses. Drowned chickens in large numbers are floating about. The Keokuk and Western shops, resembling an island in an inn mense and far-reaching lake, are deserted and quiet.
 On the top of one-story house near the railway track a fat porker and large dog are domiciled in harmony. The Mississippi is eight miles wide at this point, extending clear back to the bluffs. As all the streets of Alexan- dria are navigable for skiffs, hundreds can be seen. A fla. boat can be seen in front of nearly every door in the town, ready for use. People fully 5000 acres of fine farming lands in the Missouri bottoms are submerged, and that the loss to the farmers will be at least $300,00 All live stock has been driven to the bluffs. The foundations of many farmhouses, barns, etc., have been greatly damaged, and it is feared that they may be carried away with the flood. Hogs and other animals are seen float ing about through the country on drlftwood. In Alexandria the ferryboat has been kept busy for several days removing people and stock to Warsaw and other places of safety.
 When the river was rising, and before the worst came, for many days the people worked courageously to prevent an overflow. The Des Moines River is an important factor in the present high stage of water in the vicinity, and the steady and continued rise in the stream has been anything but encouraging. It has risen and reached out till 1t has assumed such proportions as to become dangerous: It is up fn "a rail nGS hn hri6 Inc current Is very swift, and as 1t madly winds it's way to the Mississippi, it surges, boils, and lashes the shores. Great damage has been done to the property of the St. Louis, Keokuk | business and.the destruction of it's roadbed and | tracks will be very heavy. At least 125 miles | of the tracks are covered, and in many local ities it has been undermined and the embank- ments and iron rails washed away, even in places where rock had been used as 8 protec- ion. The Keokuk and Western Railway Con- pany are also heavy losers, and were forced to abandon their track between Keokuk and Wayland, Mo-, and trains run no further east on that line than the last named place.
 From high point in the southern part of | this city and overlooking the lumber districts, | the river before you in the distance has the | appearance of a small sea, as the stiff wind lashes the waves and causes the white caps to | play upon is widened bosom. There is one broad expanse of water, apparently covering the entire lowlands composing that part of the Keokuk which is occupied by the lumbermen on Commercial street. The main thorough fare is impossible, and bridges are constantly and hastily being constructed across it at vari- ous points. In several instances the river has reached clear back to the bluff. A large force of men have been employed for several days in the lumber districts to prevent property from being swept away.
 The rise in 1851 was & few inches higher than the present one, but the destruction of prop erty and the inconvenience to travel and trans portation were nothing to compare with the high water of May, 1Sss Besides the Missouri bottoms already referred to, the Shy bottoms, i containing 125,0O0 acres, are under water. This territory is B miles in length and miles wide. The levee cost S750,G00 and is now so completely wrecked that new one will have to be constructed. The splendid lands made an average acreage yield of 30 bushels of wheat and 75 of corn. They averaged one tenant to every hundred acres, and the men were hard workers, frugal, and honest. The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy track, which runs through the bottoms, was literally tunneled in several places and it will be weeks before trains /. can pass over it.