New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-20
SUFFERERS BY THE FLOOD.
DEsTITUTIoN ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
PEOPLE HUDDLED TOGETHER on LITTLE sPoiS
WHICH THE WATERS HAVE NOT REACHED
tBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TgrBUSE

PEOPLE HUDDLED TOGETHER on LITTLE SPOTS
WHICH THE WATERS HAVE NOT REACHED.
tBr TELEGRAPH TO the TEIBUSE]
Chicago, May l9-Dispatthes from the foodeo
districts along tho Mississippi continue to bring
In stories Of great suffering ana misfortune. III
is said that nearly 1000 families have been
driven out Of the bottoms between louisiana
and Keokuk. Along the banks of the islands
and the two shores outside the levees have lived
hundreds of people, who found precarious sub
sistence from fishing and hunting raising small
crops or caring for stock In the Indian Grove
Lake district it is known that 90 families have
fed to the bluffs, and in the Sny district, the
population has been many times what it was
above Quincy. The immediate wants Of these
destitute people will be provided for by the sys-
tematic relief work undertaken at Quincy. The
bluffs in the sny country are still occupied by
men, women and children who are in distress
ard cannot get away from their perilous situa-
ti0n without help. 1t will be difficult to reach
seme Of them, and far more difficult to get to
the stock occupying the top of the levees. On
one farm in the Indian Grove district there are
forty-thrcc persons occupying the barns and corn
cribs and living upon the bounty OF those upon
whom they are forcibly quartered
The mills and manufactures on tho levee at
Quincy have all shut down, and it IS not eX-
pected that there will be any damage other than
the loss that naturally results from the stoppage
Of business The river will not destroy any
manufactured stock raw materials at this point:
The main damage to Quincy is in the loss or
trade which results from the inability Of the
railroads to cross the river at this point or run
over the bottom north and south. An effort to
have the "Q.' Railroad Company, which owns
three Of these lines, charter boat to carry
freight to point where it could be shipped ,,D 0y
rail unsuccessful. Manufacturers and jobblng
houses all have umerss quantities of goods packed
which cannot be moved.
Colonel s. p. Bartlett State Fish Commissioner,
one of the committee sent south Of Quincy, re-.
turned and reports the overflow more general
than that in 1881. At Fall Creek, nine miles
below Quincy, they found three families cared
for by one man with small means Of support.
little further on were a man and woman with
several children, without shoes and stockings
and nothing to subsist upon being absolutely destl-
tute. Two Of the farmers near at hand were caring
for some refugees One Of these farmers was
a man earning 81 25 day, who had with him
three men, three women, and eleven children.
On the road to Seehorn five miles below, were
found number Of people campcd In tents One
man was in fence corner, with four pigs in q
wagon, n box full Of chickens and about ten
bushels of corn.
corn and 200 acres OF wheat, and good prospects
in every way, but now, here Is my outfit"
Below Seehorn, Colonel Bartlett and his compa1-
ions found man and his sister without anything TO
eat They also found man destitute; he sald !.
/ have no wife, but here is a man who has a
woman. Give them what you can, and I'll get
on alone" The man and wife had nothing what
ever but were made comfortable. The committee
exhausted the supplies taken before they passed
the Adams County hne and returned to replenish
the stock and carry down in the morning the
things most needed by those in distress. young
woman was supplied with shoes and stockings,
as were q number OF men and boys. The people
manifested their gratitude In words and tears,
but were wonderfully brave during their exposure,
and were uniformly desirous that more unfortunate
ones should be helped before they were supplied.
The heroism Of the whole community, out In the
bleak wind, with homes swept away and property
engulfed, is remarkable example of fortitude
and self-deuiaL
From Adams County south the comm istee heard
Of women and children in wagons on the highway,
within the submerged district, living IN the
upper stories Of houses They are almost destl-
tute, and must be rescued with boats or die
EFFORTS TO RELIEVE THE SUFFERERS.
PEOPLE HUDDLED TOGETHER on LITTLE SPOTS
WHICH THE WATERS HAVE NOT REACHED
Quincy, H., May 10" Tho Quincy whig" organized
three expeditions to the over1owcd districts and OBJ
taincd minute particulars Of tho condition Of the
refugees camped tho highlands and bluffs north and
south Of the city. In the Indian Grove District, 13o
families are homeless, the majority OF whom arc par
TALLY sheltered In barns and other buildings on farms
not inundated. A number, however, remain In the
submerged They all suffering to some ex-
tent but the attention and OF neghbor has thus
far prevented actual want These more fortunate
people, however, cannot stand the strain upon their
limited resources. In the Sny District, south of
Quincy all dry places occupied by persons in fonts
or under hastily constructed sheds, in wagons, and
with covering but the most scanty clothing Women
and children are In sore need Of clothing and food.
Even those who had nothing but a wagon, few pigs
and chickens, declared that they would be able to get
along and urged the relief committee from Quincy to
go further with the small amount OF supplies they were
able to carry with them. Tho women In many In
stances were without shoes or stockings. Children
were in garb fit only for the hottest weather in COM
Portable homes and tho had only meagrc outfits.
some Of them showed the effects Of exposure and toll
in endeavoring to the levee and thus their
stock and crops. All came away from the devastated
homes in pocptous flight thankful that they and their
families not swalowtd UP by the tOrronts which
poured through the crevassos. How many Of these
distressed people there In the sny Valley cannot
be told 1t Will DO with tho greatest difficulty that
sOmo OF them can be reached. Tho roads, the hills
and the little hamlcts thrOngcd with them, but the
waste Of waters has cut of access to several Of the
communities most In need Of help. One OF the most
important results Of the trip is found in the
report Of the inspection Of the dam
ago to railroad property on tho Illinois
side of tho river which has not heretofore attracted
marked attention. Tho Burlington and the Wabash
roads, at West Hannibal washed out for thousand
yards more and tho tracks covered with water
tho entire distance in the sny district Communication
ndbhDdl ana the East is cntlffly cut OH
cannot be restored for many days. The branches OF
the Quincy leading to Hannibal and Louisiana arc
washed out for miles, bridges and culverts boing en-;
urely carried away. Hundreds OF farm houses and
other buildings were swept away and demolished.
ST. Louis, Mo-, Nav 19.-Thc Mississippi River at this
point has been steadily but slowly rising for number
OF days past but is stu six feet below the danger line
AS determined BY the United statcs Signal Service. The
breaking OF the Sny levoe, near Hannibal and Quincy,
has relieved tho main ohnsncl OF the river Of much
water. and unless the Missouri should pour out flood
on the present rise there Will not be much damage
done hero.
Little Rock, Ark. May 1o-Two bridges on the
St Louis and San Francisco road south OF the Boston
mountains, wore badly damaged by the washing away
Of the approaches, 80 weakening tho structures to
prevent trains passing. On the Valley Route, below
Fort Smith, bridge IS badly damaged over Frog
Bayou. Considerable damage IS reported by wash
outs TO the new road between the Arkansas line and
Fort Gibson