The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-04-11
Greenville in Danger of Becom.
ing Inundated From the
Catfish Point Break.
Water Spreading With Aston
ishing Speed Over Cultiva-
e%dandImprov Lands.

wide and increasing. The water reached
Greenville early this morning, and Wash
ington avenue. the main business street. is
now one sheet of water from the corner of
Poplar street to the race track, and the
water is making its way over the side
walks into the stores. A great
many people had to vacate their
residences to seek higher quarters on &C
count of the sudden rise. All the bitches
and other channels leading to the southern
high portion of the town are being damned
up to preserve the ridge situated between
Washington and Central avenues from
being flooded, as this spot will per-
haps in a few days be the only
available piece Of land where the many
horses, mules, cattle, ETC., could be congre-
gated and kept out of the water until the
flood falls. Parties who arrived here to-day
from Greenwood-+he greater part of
their journey being made in a
skiff-describe the situation in the
Sun1ower lowlands as a terrible sight to
be looked upon. At an astonishing speed,
the water is spreading over the vast i'm
proved and cultivated lands and forests of
our planters, many of whom would have
been, at the end of another week or so,
THROUGH WITH THEIR PLANTING.
Houses of all descriptions and fences in
long sections are easily carried away by the
household object is seen floating down the
Bogue Phalia swamps. Stock and worldly
effects that can be transported are now be-
ing hurried to the front by those who have
not taken precautionary steps. In
the neighborhood of Skipwith tents are
bakly needed by the colored people. The
levee there presents, to a person with kindly
feelings and sober thoughts, a terrible
sight, which must grow greater in the
future if substantial aid and speedy relief
do not come. At every step the colored
laborer, his family and his all,
are found almost destitute, arrayed in gar
ments that have seen their best days and af-
ford them but little comfort and no protec-
ton from the bowling winds. For shelter
they have nothing but the canopy of heav-
en-. If no assistance comes to these peo-
pie many will die from exposure. Food
will soon be needed, and, it not provided,
great suffering will be the consequence. The
government o Ulcers have don a great deal
Of good in that section, but as there are
OC1lCI 1OCdlltlCS WUlCu dIc uOW w
SIGNS OF APPROACHING DISTRESS,
their means have to be divided. Capt.
Hider left this morning from Skipwith
with two barges to help Capt. Tollinger get
out the people at Catfish Point. where as
~sistance is badly needed. In the vicin-
ity of Winterville a great many cattle are
dying from a disease called hollow horn.
At Mound LandinA seven miles below Cat
Fish point, the river fell two feet to-day,
40 doubt owing to the large break which
is said to discharge a vol ume of water in
such a vertical way, which has rarely been
witnessed at any break of this nature. The
Lake Washington country and its highest
points in the banks of the beautiful
lake are also rapidly disappearing out of
sight, a thing which has not been known
since 1854. The outlook is not hopeful for
the planting OF the OVERT owed region before
May. Just as soon as the water subsidies suf-
iciently they will, we suppose, temporarily
close the break SO that the crop may be
protected against any rurther rise this sea-
son. Returning to 1882 for comparison, the
high water this year is nearly a month
later. This is discouraging. though
the situation has it's hopeful fea-
ture, too. Lake Bolivar crevasse in 1882
let in perhaps as much water as all of these
we have now Riverton near as much as all
of them, while the river had to fall below
81 feet before Lake Bolivar
QUIT FEEDING THE FLOOD
over the fields. Offutt's and Huntington's
sumable, at 40; Easton at 80: but there is a
menac and danger so long as the present
height is Appropriated. In 1882 there was
a most disastrous second flood be-
ginning May 7. The newly planted
crops were drowned out. Despite the.
numberless outlets the river rose to within
a foot and a half of the previous height and
broke the levee May 26 at Clark's front.
This rise, which was mainly from the Ar
kansas river, did not go off until late in
June. and on many plantations no cotton
was raised. There is this consolation,
that if the levees have gone to pieces
in spots, it took the highest water on record
TO do it. The highest point has not been
reached at Cairo. but in the duration OF the
uood heights-the true test-189O takes pre-
cedence over all recent years; no year of
which we have any record but 1882 COM
pares with it. For illustration, water
passed above 46 at Cairo this year March
8 and will not, it is safe to say, go below
that stage before April Is. Forty-three
days o such a stage at Cairo is unprece-
denied. In 1882 it wa reached Feb. 20 and
passed below March 81. or lasted twenty
nine days. The average for the Arkansas is
about the same for the two years, sr' .rere
vas
A PHENOMENA LOO
out of the White river this year. The con-
dition ofupper rivers is not hopeful. Cairo
Is still standing above forty-eight feet, and
there is a rise out of the Arkansas which
will probably check the fall here. As soon
as news of the break at Catfish
Point reached Arkansas City, Ark,
the government steamers Speed
and Graham took several barges to that
point and brought away about $50 people
and their effects, also a lot of stock, etc.
Capt. Tollinger. ofthe government service,
is on the ground doing everything he can to
save life and %propertv. Those who wish to