Los Angeles herald., 1891-03-02
AWPULDEVASTATION
The Floods Fearful Ravages
in Arizona.
The ella Valley Swept Bare AS
a Desert.
Many Lives Reported Lost at Yuma
and Elsewhere.
Thousands of Indians Rendered Desti-
tute by the Flooding of the
Reservations.
Associated Press Dispatches.

Reservations.
Associated Press Dispatches.
DENVER, Colo, March Ia Yuma,
Arizona, special says Over 250 houses
are in ruins from the flood, and 1400
people are homeless. Not single busi-
ness house remains standing, and it is
feared hundreds OF lives have been lost
in the Gila valley. The river above
town is seven miles wide, and below
town in places the water covers the
country in one grand lake fifty miles
across. The town has provisions sufi-
cient for eight days more, and the
Southern Pacific hotel is feeding one
thousand people daily. Reports from
Jakuno, fifteen miles above here, are to
the effect that the flood drove the people
into the tree tops, and many be-
coming exhausted from cold and hunger,
dropped into the water and were
drowned. Reports from reliable sources
put the loss OF life in the valley any
where from thirty up to one hundred.
All along the valley for 200 miles every
thing is desolate. Houses and barns,
stock and fences have been carried away
by the flood, leaving the country bare
as desert. Eighty miles south of here,
where 5000 Cocopah Indians live, the
country is flooded for eighty miles square,
and as there are no hills for refuge, it is
reported that over one hundred of them
have been drowned. The valley of the
Colorado is one vast sea of water. The
loss in this county foots up over 81, ,Q00,-
600. Old Yuma will probably never be
rebuilt. The town will go higher up
on the hills.
LOSS OF LIFE EXAGGERATED.
SAN FRANcIsco, March 1.-General
Manager Towne, of the Southern Pa.
cifc, tonight discredited the rumor that
one hundred lives had been. lost at
Yuma by the second flood. He stated
to the Associated Press that he had
been in communication with Yuma up
to 7:3O o'clock, San Francisco time, and
received no such. report, and surely
would haua.-4haas Al.s~e -s-ss--.. dfsortofs
So FAR no lives have been lost
at Yuma, except one Mexican, who was
drowned last week. In the upper Gila
valley, however, ranches may have
Dctu llOOOCO anu OOuiC pCOPiC 0iOWhCo.
Mr.. Towne gave the railroad situation
as following: Twenty-Five miles of track
west of Yuma are under water. Tomor-
row 700 men will commence the work of
repair, bringing in the track which has
floated off on the ties, and repairing the
road bed. Unless another flood occurs
the road win be open in ten days.
THE SITUATION UNCHANGED.
YUMA, Ariz,, March 1.-The situation
is unchanged, except that the river has
fallen to almost the level of the water
before the flood. News from the valleys
says that everything is under water, and
much destruction to property will re-
suit. The Gila river changed its course
in several places. At Gila City the
railroad track is covered for miles by
water ten feet deep. Reports of loss OF
life are received, but nothing positive is
known.
The statement made Of the great loss
of life is untrue and absolutely incorrect.
One man is known to have been
drowned. The death of others is re-
ported, but not confirmed. News from
Mohawk valley, just received, is that
many thousand dollars worth of valua-
BILE property has been destroyed,
and although dozens of narrow
escapes are reported, no lives
are believed to have been lost. The set
tiers in the Gila valley have lost large
numbers of live stock, and are nearly
without shelter. The Yuma Indians
lost everything they owned by the over
flow. Unless the Yuma Indians are
assisted they will suffer for food. Later
and fuller news is expected from up the
Gila valley tonight. The Colorado and
Gila rivers are now falling. The weather
is clear and cool.
SECOND FLOOD IN SALT RIVER.
SAN Francisco, March IA Chroni-
Gle special from Maricopa, Ariz., by mail
from Phoenix, February 9th, says; A
second rise occurred in Salt river yester-
day, several inches higher than the last.
No material damage was done to Pho-
nix or Tempe, but the Mormon settle
ment of Lehi, on the south bank
of Salt river, was nearly destroyed.
The Gila river rose twenty-five feet in
a few hours. The bridge at Florence is
washed away, and the town is supposed
to be under water. The town is built
of adobe, SO the loss is great: Thirty
miles of the Southern Pacific track,
WcSt vi MdIlCOpi, hIC uuuCI WdJcTs
THE TIA JUANA DISASTER,
SAN DIEGO, March News from Tia
Juana shows the disaster there greater
than at first reported. The people
housed in the schoolhouse are al
most naked. Neighboring farmers
have used up all their surplus food and
the county now takes charge of the i'm
mediate necessities. A stream 1000 feet
wide by 16 feet deep, is flowing
through International avenue. The
current is so swift that row boats can
not be used to aid the people. Nothing
is left in the village. Debris covers the
town to depth OF six or more feet. The
people will rebuild on the high land
back of the old site in the spring. Three
lives were lost. The steamer Santa
Maria arrived this evening, with the
first mail for San Diego since last Sun
day.
DELAYED PASSENGERS. i
NEEDLES, March 1.-Nine coaches,
filled with California passengers, delay
ed by washouts on the Southern Pacific,
arrived this afternoon, via Deming and
Albuquerque, over the Atlantic and
Pacific railroad. Most OF the passen-
gers are destined for Southern Califor-