St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-23
HELP OR We PERISH.
Citizens Of Bayou Sara Over
whelmed by the Flood
and Rain.
An Urgent Appeal for Boats
to Save People From
Drowning.
Several Breaks in Old Nor
gansea Levee. Supposed
to Be Safe.
Louisianans Take to the
Trees to Escape the Rush
ing Waters.

New ORLEANS, April %. About 8
o'clock this afternoon Gov. Nichols re-
ceived dispatch from Martin GlynD,
president of the police jury of Pointe
Coupee parish, dated Bayou Sara, say
ing:
We have been overwhelmed by storm and
rain. Crevasses numerous along the 'front.'
Upper (Old) Morgansea has broken. Send a
boat at once to save the people, or there may
be great loss of life.
Gov. Nichols at once made arrange
ments with the owners of the steamer
Arthur Lambert and barges, then at
Baton Rouge, and the boat started i'm
mediateIy for Pointe Coupee with sew
eral barges to render assistance. Other
boats will be sent up tonight. The
fight of the people at POinte COuDee,
which has been waged day and night
against the tremendous floods pouring
down the Mississippi, to save Morgan
sea levee, has been in vain. Up to
couple of days ago it was confidently
expected that the ieveeS would be held,
but the terrible wind and rain storm
which has prevailed for two days came
as an unexpected obstacle to the thou
sands who have been laboring on the
big earthen bulWarkS 10 save their
homes and their lives. No information
is Obtainabie as yet as to the extent of
the break. Those familiar with the
locality think that the
Crevasse Has Occurred
about three-quarters of mile above
the new Morgansea, where crevasse
Oc cured some years agorand where the
levee is from ten to thirteen feet high.
There are" says Col. James, "a num-
Der of ridges along there extending
back into the country from the river
that will, in my opinion, keep the
crevasse water away from the new
levee. and if the ends of the broken
levee be at once protected the damage
from this crevaSse will not be as great
as that of 1SS4.' The water from this
break may not reach the new work, but
with the present stage of the water and
the inauSpielouS conditions of the
weather the chances are even against
this hope. The Morgansea crevasse of
1884 was more than three-quarters
of a mile wide, and the water
from it and Waterloo involved the peo-
pie in the loss of millions of dollars.
The new levee, which was built in 1887,
during the administration of Gov. Nc
Emery, was about 5000 feet in length,
and from IL to 20 feet in height. This
levee is still standing. Gov. Nichols
was interviewed this evening. He was
much concerned for the safety of the
people in the Pointe Coupee section,
and stated that Capt. Jackson, preSi-
dent of the International TranspOrta-
tiOn company, had placed two steamers,
with barges, at his disposal. He had
accepted them. and they are now Ell
route for Morgansea. He stated that ne
had al so telegraphed to Col. WheelOck
and Capt. John A. Grant, of the Texas
IL Pacific railroad, revuesting them to
place the steamer Wheelock III the
same service. Gov. Nichols then said:
considering the extreme
Emergency of the Occasion
and the dire calamity of the Morgansea
break, L have telegraphed Senator Glib
son that such great disaster was suffi-
cient to cause us to appeal to the gov
ernment for aid. | asked him to act as
promptly as possible" The Texas IL
Pacific railroad officials in this city are
in great fear of overflow. Their lines
traverse the Morgansea country, Up to
the present time, however, they have |
only been advised of three crevasSeS |
along their line. One of these is three |
miles below Bayou Sara, on the Pointe
Coupee side; another is eight miles be- |
low MorganSea and the new Texas land |
ings. A break occurred this morning |
in the leyee near Gardere, ten miles be-
low Baton Rouge, left bank. At last |
accounts the crevasse was twenty-five !
feet wide and seven feetdeep. The ere |
vases on the Pointe Coupee front will |
Submerge large section of that parish, |
and back water Will probably affect |
West Baton Rouge and IVerville. Adj |
vices from West Melville state that the |
rainfall in the past fOrty-eight hours |
was six and half inches. Two Gre |
vases occurred in the Atchfalya levees
to-day, one five miles above town,
eighty feet wide, the other at Old |
Churchville, forty feet wide. The
water is running over the levee at a
dozen places in that vicinity. The first
break IN the leyees at NatcheZ, Miss,
occurred to-day. A protection levee in !
front of VidaIia broke, submerging a
number of houses. This morning the |
Lake ConcOrdia leyee gave way. At. 5 |
p. N. the break is $50 feet wide, the |
water going through like mill race.
This break Will flood the lower portion
of Concordia parish and cannot fail to
be disastrous. The lake water. which
had encroached upon the outskirts of
this city, is gradually receding. But |
little damage was done. The washoutS |
along the Louisville & Nashville rail- |
road have been repaired, and trains are |
passing as usual.