The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-05-03
SUBSCRIPTION: sl.oo Per Year.
CHAOS REIGNS.

TNAs A0NAeA OF GOAEA XOA the X0DA a
RxSvNNsO ENxxA - ASNeA ~ SNS AN-
prORoN OF the SaNENNNe Boomer, and NN
! stead OfPaeng Of Praise, LsmeBtstiOB
and Curses FIJI the Air Chaos RelRnq
| and MuItitudes are Returning to CIViu-
zatfOn.
ARKANSAS CRY, Ark, April g. Chaos
veNgNs not only IN OSkNhopNa but in the
\ SNNNe NSNNNNeSY SNNNSSS, vYnA TSSNSONA
! is prostrated, and communications are en-
! tirely cut off, The Western Union, wit
its crush Of train disDatchfne; would moi
touch a message Of any other character
in the Tertiary, though the earth SWaI- J
lowed a town site. Guthriels g back seems
broken, and there is a furious stampede to
get out. People there are wild from the
deprivations that lack of shelter, water |
and food impose upon them. 70 these
distresses are added the misfortunes of
tempest, heat and the absence of means
of flight. When your correspondent
reached Willow Springs from the Dia-
mond Bar ranch he learned from the dis
patches that neither the north nor thS
south-bound passenger trains shortly duo
| had been heard from. An hour Of waiting
passed when a train Of twenty cattle
| cars crept up from the south. The cars
were locked, but upon the roofs, the
| buffers, amid the coal on the tender, on
| the pilot and gangway Of the locomotive,
/ and packed in and upon the caboose was
a dense and miserable throng of men.
| The train from Guthrie had started with
| its strange load at six O'Clock in the even
ing. 1t was useless to attempt to enforce
! the laws restrictive of railroad travel.
| The people were fleeing practically for
! their lives. They had added to long pa-
riOds of privation the suffering Of seven
teen hours without food or protection
from the cold. No train had passed them,
in Aoh hoI Iafk
bowling mob in Guthrie, baffled in its
efforts to join in the flight. The useless
ness of proceeding to Guthrie was ap-
parent, and the correspondent secured a
footing for one foot, and returned to this
point with the laggard train.
Some experiences are pitiful. A terri
BILE storm Tuesday night raised the
miseries Of Guthrie almost to a horror.
A violent wind arose as the sun sank, and
filled the air with sitting red alkah dust
that strews the plains. A deluge of rain
followed, aud throughout the night beat
upon the thousands of shelterless. The
railroad is utterly incompetent in the
| emergency, and is delivering baggage
| and express too slowly to be of use to the
unprotected. The fugitives cheer with
| Joy as they alight here, and rush to the
hydrants and eating g-houses. Curses are
| heaped upon the region and the Govern
| execrated without stint for the theft OF
| the land, and the railroad is denounced
for its feeble service. Guthrie is without
form. The original streets have disap-
peared, and new sections are be-
| ing plowed every hour. Values
| have fallen to practically nothing,
| and confidence is at a low ebb.
Those who are not going home announce
! their intentions of moving upon the
| Cherokee Strip, and report that hundreds
of boomers in wagons have already done
so. Scores of men surrounded their
claims to lots in Guthrie without an ef
/ fort to preserve or dispose of them. The
south abound passenger train arrived
| after time crowded with pilgrims for
Guthrie, and few could be dissuaded by
the lamentations of the fugitives. 1t is
impossible to predict what the next few
days will develop at Guthrie.
General Merritt's report of the numbers
in Oklahoma is incOmprehensible. The
estimate here is that fully 10 900 people
are now in Guthrie and more than $4,000
in the Territory. Nearly twice many
as he allows for the whole Territory left
this place alone and are still pouring in.