The Russellville Democrat., 1890-04-03
THE RAGING WATERS.
Greenville Citizens Battling Against Great odds-Noble Conduct of the People Night and Day the Work of Increasing the Leyee's Strength Goes On.

Night ana Day the Work or tnCre@StuE z
 the Leyee's Strength Goes On.
 GREESvILLE, Mss, March 30.--To l what extent the breaks above Greenville
 have widened in the last twenty-four hours is not known, as the telegraph 1 lines have been washed down, but there
 is no question but what they have widened, as the back water against the protection levee. ne-teis. ss this city. has
 been -s sesie,.s 2; rapidly in the past twenty l four hours, which has caused much
 anxiety among the citizens of Green 1 vile.
 A large force of laborers and citizens
 were at work all of last night raising
 the levee higher and making it stronger
 if possible to keep back the flood which now threatens to invade the city. The
 rising water seems to keep pace with l the enlargement, and since early noon
 hundreds of men and boys have been at
 work aiding in every possible manner
 in keeping the water from running over
 and breaking through the levee.
 At one time this afternoon break did | occur, cansing the water to rush through
 in manner that made many give up the fight, but few heroic and deter
 mined men plunged into the water up
 to their necks, with sacks of earth and l plank, and in short time won the battle | against natures forces.
 The scene for an hour was one never
 to be forgotten. Planks were carried nearly half mile on the shoulders of
 men and boys who were on the grounds to witness the scene. Loose and sacked earth was carried to the place in every conceivable manner, and in about two
 hours this place was repaired and con sidered safe. The water has risen about
 six inches in the last twenty-four hours and is still rising, and with the tremend- ous outpour of water from the three
 breaks above, there is no telling where
 it will stop. The levee has very nar-
 row base, and being built of fresh earth, it is not strong one. The water now standing against it is four feet deep, which is a great pressure against so frail a structure.
 | The opinion of some who are we'll | ptobCQ anu BdfC q hhOWlCdSC VI biC olt- uation, is that the water will be two feet higher. If this be true, it is very | doubtful whether this 1evee can be built high and strong enough to meet this rise. In fact it will take work and the | closest watching to keep the present
 water out of the city. The sipe water on the inside has covered the ground
 for some distance, making it difficult to | get earth to build with. Should this | levee give way at the present stage of the water, it would only partly inun- | date Greenville, but with much of a rise on top of the present water with the | levee down, it will certainly make | things very wet and uncomfortable in | this heretofore dry town so far as water | is concerned.
 The levy is only about mile in | length. With fair weather and the de- termined effort which is being made, perhaps we may yet be victorious. No news from the back country has been received except that the water is spreading fast all over the country. The river has fallen six inches since the | break occurred, but only one-tenth in the last twenty-four hours. Tonight it | is threatening rain, which will be dam aging to our surroundings. If this back | levee will be intact in the morning some concentrated action on the part of the | people will be made to build this levee so | that it will keep this water and any possible rise we may have from coming | in.
 VIcKsBURe, Mss, March 3o.--Latest tidings from the Mississippi levees re- port no change, except that the water is | steadily advancing southward from Skip with crevasse, and the towns of Mayors vile, Filters and Hayes are being sur rounded and must go under in short | time.
 News has just reached here that | the bank is caving rapidly in front of Bedford Levee, Madison Parish, the
 caving being now within 75 feet of the
 levee. Work began there to-day, and the new levee may be finished before the old one goes into the river. The | leyee inspectors elsewhere in Louisiana | report no change.
 | Trains have been abandoned between | Greenville and Rolling Fork, and in fact all trains on the Riverside division, and
 between Coahoma and Benoit, sixty-five miles, This leaves Greenville without communication with the outside world
 except by river.
 Six inches more of water will send the | vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Rail- road under between Tullulah and Lake One. The water is rising slowly, but | it is very unlikely that the road can run
 trains more than week longer, and
 additional crevasses may stop operations
 at any time.
 Mir. F. w. McCabe, contractor for bridges for the New Orleans & North
 western Railroad, until lately in process
 of construction between Vidalia and Winnsboro, La., arrived this evening
 been stopped and the construction com
 pany now has it's teams and men in Ray vile. The water rose five feet in Dry
 Bayou six miles from Rayville. in the twenty-four hours ending this morning, and is now within a half mil of town.
 Grading has been stopped some days, but would have been resumed Monday but for the sndden influx of water The transfer steamer Marion, used by the
 Mississippi Valley Railroad to transfer
 trains between Huntington and Arr kansa City, passed down at o'clock this evening and will transfer trains at Nita Crevasse, beginning Tuesday next. The Arkansas City branch being abandoned, she Is useless there.
 Greenville is now on an island. Last
 night the town was in the greatest dan ger of overflow, with little hope of keep ing out the water. To-day the situa- tion is unimproved, though the leyees are still standing.
 A dispatch from Tullulah, La, says