Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-05-01
WOE IN THE SOUTH.
The Desolation Wrought by the
Great Floods.
Terrible scenes Of Suffering Hundreds Of
Refugees Rescued and Taken to High
Ground-The Destruction in Pointe
Coupee Parish Complete.
WIDE-sPREAD RrIx.

]
rival was godsend to the people whose
lives are in jeopardy. for she has not
only already saved large amount Of
/ property but number Of lives.
\ The real condition of things in the
oyeriowed districts is just coming to
light. No pen is equal to the task Of
I picturing the devastation of the coun-
/ try OF the desolation of the PEG
/ pie The entire front Of Pointe
4 Coupee is under water. Most of
1 the levees have gone. The water
back Of the levees is so deep now
/ that hundreds Of lives are in jeopardy.
The small stretches Of levee still stand
ing are crowded with men, women and
children, side by side with horses,
mules and COWS. In an old raised GIN
house 500 negroes were found huddled
/ together The condition Of the unfort-
innate blacks was pitiable
The creyasse at Allendale win over
fow thirty Of the finest plantations on
/ the river. 1t will reach the Teche
[ country several days in advance of the
Morganza water and Colonel Rivers
I says when this water Joins with. the
/ Morganza Ii uia Hood the entire Atch-
afalaya, Lafourche and Teche coun-
tries. Thedamage is incalculable. The
distress tn the oyerfiowed district can
not be told
/ Tho Texas & Pacific boat Z. Il.
1 Wheelock succeed in saving 200 people
! from the back country around Nor
ganza. Ruin and desolation meet the
/ eye on every side in Pointe Coupee
I parish. The destruction is complete
I Not a plantation is left above water,
not leyee unbroken, while hundreds
OF families are homeless. Thousands Of
cattle have been drowned, and from re-
ports received from the interior it is
quite probable human life has been sac
rifced 10 the food.
Standing on the deck Of the relief
steamer Daeotah as she passed down
the full extent of the disaster could be
seen. Grouped together on little knobs
/ between broken levees, through which
I the water rushed with ungovernable
/ fury, were scores Of people, both white
and black, some with babies in their
+ arms Many of them had nothing left in
the world except the clothes they wore on
their backs. Whenever the Dacotah
discovered a scene like this the stage
was swung out and the stricken ones
taken aboard. Equally as sad a scene
was that Of the poor dumb cattle stand
ing ia the water and actually starving
Many 81 them had not tasted food in
days.
4 family named Luke, who lived sew
erai mile, above Bayou sara we're res
cued Monday morning. There were lif-
/ teen people in The family Monday
morning they we're pros porous, being
+ the owners 81 4 large plantation.
well-equipped store and over 100 head OF
stock To-day nothing remains above
water but the caves Of the house. A
f crevasse sixty feet wide broke directly
4 in front Of She house at noon on Mon
day and the family had barely time to
reach the levee before six feet Of water
f covered the place. The crevasse is now
400 feet wide. There are hundreds Of
such Incidents.
The Dacotah is a busy boat. After
discharging her lumber and other ma
terial at Grand Bay she proceeded d.
rectly to Old River and rescued 200 head
of cattle that had been in the swamp for
four days Coming down. stock and
/ people were picked up everywhere, and
when the Dacotah reached Bayou Sara
she had 1000 head of cattle and nearly
500 people on board. They were landed
and the boat Immediately left on re-
turn voyage.
BATON RoUeE, La, April 26.-The
steamer Daeotah. Captain Mitchell, ar
rived Friday from the overlooked dis
trict and put off 500 or 600 people and
large quantity of stock The people
We're mostly negroes. The Dacotah on
Thursday went up as far as New Texas
Landing, resc ling people and stock
along the route. The boat trans
ported about 1900 people to this side,
and could have brought many more, but
the people said that the river was fall
ing and they preferred to stay and take
the chances. Captain Mitchell said
that the break in the Old Morganza was
600 feet wide, while the break in Grand
/ leyee, just below. was 900 feet wide
and washing rapidly, the soil being of
sandy nature, As these levees are
three miles in length only small por-
ton Of them have yet been destroyed.
VIcRsBURG, Miss, April 2s-The
saw-mili and gin houses Of Christ Law
renee, situated three and one-half
miles from Rolling Fork, Sharkey Coun-
ty, burned Saturday night Fifty or
more negroes having taken refuse in
the buildings from the floods ssven
were drowned in attempting to escape.
DALLAS. Tex, April rs The most
destructive flood ever known in the
history OF Northern Texas is now pass
ing through the Trinity river The
4 great rain on Friday raised every tribu-
tary far ont of the banks and the river
rose rapidly, and at 10 o'clock sunday
morning passed the highest water
mark in fifty years. In front
Of this city ID is two miles
wide, extending to the foot Of Flanders
heights west. and 70 Oak cliff south of
the city On the north al residences
from 100 yards below Cochran street are
submerged, some to the second floor and
others To the attic. Back water extends