Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-03-14
FIRE AND WATER.
NEW ORLEANS VISITED BY THESE Oe-
sTRuCTIVE ELEMENTS.
The Levec Breaks and mandates '"'s
Portion Of the Plnce-Thc Fire
Fiend at Work.
tBy telegraph to the Dispstca.l

|
! dav the river was three inches above tne
| high-water mark Of 1874, and still rislnei;
| At POvdrag street the water commehI ou
running over the leyce at all the low
places in the vicinity. and they were SOU sou
! flooded. On the lowest SIDE OF ChnaI
/ street. near Harbor station, the wsteI
| covers the levee up 10 the Louisville anu
Nashville dep6t. At Brcnyille strees
| much of the leyee is under water. ana
/ at Cont street the entire ievee
/ covered with water. The streets ABOUT the
! Sugar Exchange are flooded, and the e1-
/ change Is reached by temporary, plank
walks. The water is flowing down the gu.-
! ters III Brcntviile, Cont; and other 49,
| below Canal street. Although the wa'el -
/ running over the levees there hetn t pe ~
aplrehension. as between the buikheais
! OF the wharves thick planks are driven mo
/ the ground behind which IS me ieveT we, on' .
! ture. This affords protection that VIII noV
! give way, and no great damage ~ Hhc'J 40
result from the water running o''I. =
! Cloet street the water is running over tle
/ bank in quite a stream, iiOodlEg the sut-
| tiers and adjacent streets. ,r. 4.
! The river continues rising stcadiY. ~
! 39O p. n. the cuage was sixteen feet ana
! eight trnths. which IS six inches ABOVE 'he
| high water mark Of former years. large
| part Of the CITY below Canal street Is nearly
| autmerged. The water at the custom
| home is over the sidewalks and coming up
ravidly. On the Decatur-street SIDE me
| water fills the street and il IL beginnihg 70
! cncroaoh on the sidewalk. The water IS
I flowing out Canal street and the lndlca-
! tiOns are that the entire business portion
| 81 the CITY will be covered with water De-
fore morning.
$50 =. X-The levee at this point he's
! broken. and portion Of he city upon the
| river front ia entirely submerged:
! 4 large fire. is raging. One Of the largest
| tallow-factories here, with Soule's brewery
and several other large buildings are on
! FIRE. There is q bonded warehouse next
| door on one side Oh the fire. and on tho
Other eide one of the largest oi-mius IN
| the South.
Tho citv Is lower than the river. The
water IL al through the streetsnnd ~ being
pumped ont at the back part % tho olty
! into Lake Ponchartrain. The fall OF water
nav exceed the capacity Of the pumps ana
| food the whole b8ck Of the town. hut they
are making ell possible efforts to check the
overflow.
The river here ut "a. VI. was 1903 feet;
at 2.45 IL was reported by the harbOr sia-
ton Mt IL feet 9inches, and ut 900 they r.,
ported Che water at II feet. but II renamed
at that point but short while, when II
recedcd 10 lG feet inches, where 1t seemed
TO make a stand. This was inches above
the record Of other years, and the water
went over the levecs all along the city
front and at every depression or low place
aud soon flooded the streets and sidewalks
Of a large section of the city. Up town AZ
the head of Jackson. Washington, ana
Sara streets the waves washed over
| the levce and submerged the streets
and sidewalks. Tho same thing hap
pened at other points down to Poy-
dras street. Hero tho water spread out
over the broad space occupied by the Nor
Gan road, filed up low places and then be-
Gan to flow down POydra5 street and out
INTO the cross streets on either side, cover
ing the sidewalks on the Poydras street as
far as st. Charles street and ming the gut
tors back 10 the drainage canals IN
the rear Of the city. On Grayier
street the water flowed freely, COM
pletelv covering the street in places.
1t the head Of Cana! street the water was
running over the levee but very Httle,
but from Custom-HJuse street to Cont the
water came over the levees freely, and
completely submerged the streets. and IN
many places the sidewalks and lower floors
Of the business houses, IRON the norm
side of Canal 10 Hospital street, distance
of fourteen blocks, and from the river 20
Rampant street. distance OF eight blocks.
From Rampart street the water flows Oh
! in the gutters OF strcet-drains TO the dram
age canals in the rear of the city. Below
Elysian-Fields street the water u also pass
inc over the leyee in many places. On the
north side Of Canal street the side
walk in front Of the TOurO building was
overlooked. Hills jewelry-store was in
vaded bv water and other busnesS-placoS
suffered in like manner. The greatest
damage was That sustained by merchants
who had sugar in the old bonded ware
bouse on Old Leyee street. At $3.50 j. NJ:
the gauge reading at the head Of Canal
street was sixteen feet eight inches, show
ing that tho river has renamed about Sta
ti0narv since L. VI. This overflow seems
to have taken most people 10y surprise,
tIouob oil who had business on the
levee made preparations Tor IL 70
the extent Of removing their goods
10 safe quarters. Since Yesterday eve
ming the lcyces across the rlver
have been in danger, and water is coming
over from the line of the DAVIS crcyasso
above the city 60 the lower line, distance
ot some fifteen miles. In many instances
the water flows back for ten squares.
LARGE forces have been at work raising the
loyecs with sacks filled with earth. The
Southern and Crescent oi'-mils were being
washed under by the water and the
floors were torn away and entertainments
huilt underneath. A break occurred at
the Hatch place, near llarYey's canal, but
II only reached a width OF four feet when
il was discovered and promptly closed.
II IA still a dangerous spot, as the le-
wee Is very weak there. The leyee at
Sharp's place, five miles above Gretna,
where there was O serious crevasse some
years ago. Is again creating anxiety, as u
shows siCus of weakening. and force Will
work all night 10 strengthen 1t. HE Com
uany canal cmpties INTO theriYer Just above
Tho city limits on tLcnghi hand, and Is the
avenue hv which boats reach BayOu Bara-
Il fiClt IA
below. The water has reached the top of
the locks. and they Will not be opened any
more for the present, us tho letting in of
the river might lead to damaging results.
From Canal Street ferry TO Morgan de-
pot. the principal portion OF Algiers,
a distance of three quarters OF mile,
the situation at one time was very threat
euiug. About noon the water commenced
washing over the leyee along It's whole
length. and III short space OF time tho
entire front aud street for ten blocks back
were flooded. Yard-Mastor Mcguire of
the Morgan road, and the city forces won't
10 worl, Al once and IN four hours threw
M An entire new levce. That stopped the
flow temporarily, but the water was al
ready kuec-dcep on Front street The
southern Pacific and Texas Pacific tracks
are both across the river, but travel Is still
uninterrupted. owing to the good work
done.
Just below Algeirs is the Orleans levee,
which commands large section of tho
country. The new levee was constructed
only a few days ago. but the river has been
climbing up, and to-day the warning signal
was again given. The water was SIX inches
deep over the levee crest. Men and mate
rial were promptly furnished and gallant
effort is being made TO stay the flood. The
swell caused by the ocean steamers serious
!, interfered with the work at the levees
several DAYS ago. washing some OF the new
work into the road. and the Mayor has asked
the Government to issue proclamation to
Inc steamships TO show due regard tor the
safety of the levees. The City Council met
tonight and adopted a resolution appro-
priatiug $4,000. or Us much as shall he
necessary, for work on the levees during
the danger period. ~.
The river at other points: Baton Rouge,
rose six inches; Bayou Sara. rose nine
tenths of q foot; Natchez, rose SIX tenthsj
Greenyille. Miss, rose two inches; ana
below Arkansas City the water Is running
over the levees. Ii continues t. ram.
Donaldsonvlle, La, rose seven inches;
plaquemine, La, rose six inches; Lake
Proyidence-raiu last night and all day
rnsa an INCH and a half