Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1888-04-28
FIVE PERSONS PERISH.

4 wisconsin Farmer, His Vito and Three
Children Fall Victims TO. tho Late FRESH
et-The River Still Rising.
MILWAUKEE, April 81. The first casualty,
from the floods In the northern part of
this State occurred Thursday night near the.
lJtle village OF Embarras q small station;
on the banks of the Upper Wolf river and;
near the line Of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore
d Western railroad a short distance
from the town lived farmer named
Lathrop, with his wife and three chill
dren Their home was situated close upon
the banks Of the river where it's course
takes sudden bend When the Wolf
river commenced to rise the fam
lily made preparations to leave their.
home and take refuge on the higher
lands, but finding that the river re-
NAMED within it's banks, they decided to
stay in their own house. Thursday the
river commenced to rise rapidly, its waters
the melting snow in the for
ests along its banks In short time it
had overfoWed the land surrounding La.
throp's house, and by evening the strong
current was striking the house, threatening.
to tear it from it's foundations. Lathrop,
fully aware of the danger to which he and
his family We're exposed, resolved to take
them to the town, where they could re-
main until the waters subsidized He
accordingly built a raft as best he
could out of the doors of his home, piecing
them with loose boards His work
was concluded about dusk, and thinking
that the raft was strong enough to bear his
family he embarked them upon it and
pushed away from the house, padding
along with piece OF board. He
had not counted on the strength
of the current, which, when he
reached the midst Of it, whirled him
rapidly down stream He worked hard to
cross the narrow strip Of water which sep
arated him from the dry land, and had
nearly reached the shadows when the
raft suddenly went to pieces. The whole
family were thrown into the water, and,
though they struggled hard, were caught
by the current and carried down
stream Lathrop's body was found some
miles below his home lying in meadow
where the waters had left it Tightly
clasped in his arms was the body of his
youngest child, a little girl, whom he had
evidently seized as the raft parted. None
OF the other bodies have been recovered
AtPrairie du Chen the Mississippi river
still con inues to rise, and already the
Fourth ward is entirely under water and
many other portions of the city are SUBJ
merged. The water in the streets is
from three to four feet deep, and in
many buildings the occupants have been
driven from the first floor. The depth of
the water in the streets forces the people to
use boats, and the streets are filed with
boats, skiffs and RATS, many people
padding around because of the novel
ty of the situation In the morning RATS
and homemade boats, loaded with chill
DIR n, can b, seen making their way to the
school-houses A rise OF three inches more
in the water would submerge the track of
the Chicago, Milwaukee St. PAU road for
o long distance. No great image has been
done yet, as the saw mill yards have been
doomed in, and it is almos5 iml IS BILE for
any of the property to float away.
At Kaukauna a portion Of the bank Of the
Government canal has been washed away,
and gang of men has been hard at work
for some time endeavoring to repair the
damage before the water shall have risen
sufficiently to inundate the surrounding
country. The water has carried away a
portion of the tiume of the American Pulp
Company's mill, and the Kaukauna Lumber
Manufacturing Companys works have
been shut down.
At Portage the Wisconsin river is neither
rising nor falling, but continues to flow
over into the Fox river valley in consider
able quantities. The flats of Caledonia are
flooded, and there is no communication
with the west side of the river except by
boats No cattle were drowned as far as is
known, they having been driven to the
bluffs before the floods became dangerous