The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1891-07-02
A DOWNPOUR IN IOWA
WASHES OUT MANY MILES OF
TRACK.

Inca cu'able nam-;c to Prcp.rty-BuilJ-
ings Wbtrictl Away and Tre, . rent and
Broken Like csds- Hundreds of Fam
flies Hem loss and in Danger Of Starva-
fion-Ec lrt cnsiing stories Ct Eye-Wit-
neSse<.
Northwestern Iowa has been visited
by the heaviest rainfall in twenty years
An eye witresS OF the rercnt foods i'm
!! tho vicinity of Cherokee, states that it
is necessary for one to see to have tho
least idea of the great amount of dam
age donc "Nhv." he exclaimed, at is
simply terribly wonderful the way that
immense body of water swept things be-
fore it. Houses W, re but bubbles on
its crest. | was at Cherokee when tho
| cloud burst came. and in less time than
it takes to tell it fcod was upon tho
town. Houses were seen to tremb.e.
swing half around, ard then carried
along by the torrents. Trees were brnt
and broken like reeds and not n thing
| could stop the terrific onward rush OF
the water, and all this occurred before
the people could possibly realize what
had happened. The most remarkable
feature of the disaster is that any of the
p~oplc in the track of the flood escaped
with their lives. As far as ] know no
lives were lost at Cherokee and the inn
| mediate vicinity"
The storm rendered between 300 and
400 families homeless in and about
Cherokee. These are being ca cd for in
| the Masonic. Grand Army of the Rcpub-
| lie and Knights of Pythlas halls at
Cherokee The Illinois Cent? al lost
| l2..7111 feet of roadbcd and 9s5 feet OF
pilng. This does not include the bridge
| taken out over the Sioux River. Tho
amount of damage will reach $3.50, 900
| As the waters rec de the carcasses OF
| Gait e are landed and to-day the stencil
| from them Ecrmcates the air. 1t is es-
| timatcd that hundreds of he ad of stock
have been lest. Two. miles of track Of
| the main line of the linoiS Central has
been wash d ont between Cherokee and
| Sioux City, and 1t will take week to
repair the damace. Tho Onawa and
Sioux Fall branches of the same road
are in a worse way. AMI it will
! be about ten days before traffic can he
resumed. Both wire connect ions are
| still broken. The Sioux River is sub
| siding. but it is still forty feet deep, and
| covers a quarter of a mile of country.
| The average depth of the river when in
| its channel is about four feet The
work of clearing away the debris is now
| in p;ozress, aud aid is eing rendered
| the unfortunate inhabitants. The town
| of Movillc is still flooded and not one cf
| the 200 inhabitants is able to occupy his
| house, and all are camping ont. There
is only $50 pounds of tour i'm the town.
The town is almost completely cut oI
| from succOr. Hundreds of horses and
| other live stock out in the fields in the
valley were fcarfulIy lacerated by the
| barbed wires carried down by the swol.
| len torrent, in which the beasts become
entanglcd.
The damage at Cherokee is estimated
at over S50o,0o0. The river fell about
ten feet. but was stll twenty feet above
low water mark. At ordinary stage OF
water the river is only about 200 feet
wide, while it is row loo feet
The engineer of the relief train which
| was the first to gp from Fort lodge to
Cherokee after the big storm, has return
ed to this city, saws Waterloo special.
1t took them eight hours to run from
| Aurelia to Cherokee. and many times
thev were compelled to stop on account
| of the rain, which came down in torrents.
| From Storm Lake to Cherokee the
| country rescmb!ed one vast lake almost
a, far as the eye could reach in every
direction Only water was visible. while
debris of destroyed buildings, bodies OF
| horses and cattle and other farm animals
| foated past Cherokee in large numbers.
Most of them were still struggling to
escape, but the rush of the torrents pre-
vented their reaching dry land.
The farmers along the line suffered
very much. One farmer living south of
| Cherokee stated that over 200 cate are
missing from his pasture, and he expects
| oil hn 70 in l,o
! small towns have had Their stores under
mined. the Easements filled with water,
and in many instances the water has
come on the first floors and damaged
their goods extensively. At Cherokee
scvcBty-five t. one hundred houses are
d ,stroyed AMI many of them have been
| swept away. The gravel train which
| was in the p t at Cherokee is buried out
OF sight. the cnly portion of it that is
visible being the top OF the smokestack
OF the steam shovel.
Superintendent Gileas reports that the
damage to the Illinois Central track al
ready in sight will foot up $500, 600. and
but title is yet known of the condition
of two branches from Cherokee. The
water fell about ten feet at Cherokee,
aud many occupants OF houses in the
flooded district were able to regain en-
trance to day. The ruin wrought made
many heart sick. Where the houses
were not destro! ed their contents are all
covered with thick, black mud, running
them. Three hundred poor people in
Cherokee are being fed and clothed by
the relief committee. and a dispatch
from there says outside aid will have tc
be asked.
A. W. Thesher, a mail-clerk on Mil"
waukee and 81. Paul train that was
water bound, at Hornick, thus relates
his experience: "Between Hornick and
| Hedges Siding the track is out in many
places, and so great was the force of the
water that the rails were carried far
from the roadbed. l got hungry, as did
all the passengers. Our rations were
rather slim, and so I made up my mind
to come to Sioux City. l put my letter
mail In pouch together with my cloth
ing and started to wade. l waded
through fully mile and half OF water
between Hornick and Hedges, and in
many places it was up to my neck Al
Hedges l caught construction train
and rode into Sioux City.
THE low lands are covered with water
as far as you can see. Field after field
is submerged, and all over the flats the
water is from one to four feet deep III
the first floors Of houses. The farmers
have moved out to the high ground in
nearly all instances.
II saw farmers wading in the water up
to their waists pushing RATS, on which
were loaded their families and household
goods, ahead of them to the high land