The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1892-05-26
DEATH-DEALING FLOOD
FEARFUL CALAMITY At SIOUX
CITY.
a Cloud Burst Claims Upward Of Thirty
Victims and Inflicts 0i. 600. .OeO Damage
An 1Rsigniacant Stream SwsBisa to =
Mighty Top1ent. ..-

Victims and Inllicts $1,000. .OeO Damage
An lnsigni6cant Stream Swaisa to =
Mighty Torrent. ..
Death ON Its Crcse.
"Wednesday morning the most fearful
flood ever kfiOtsn In Iowa stzuck Sioux
City. 1t was the rcsalt of a clOudbuiss
in fhs valley of the Floyd River. The
loss Of life L. appalling, hot its exact
extent is not yet known. Fifteen bodies
have already been recovered, and it is
feared the victims will be at least doablo
s!!st number.
Rept~t< Of the missing sh w fully 100
persons atS not yet accounted for.
Most OF them ats children. and Il is
thought that the majority Of them have
wandered away in their serror and are.
being sheltered by strangers.
The valley Of the Floyd, from tho
manufacturing Suburb Of Leeds down to
the Missouri, is from one to two mfles
wide, a low fiat, end includes the lnanu-'
featuring and industffAa districts Of the
city, the railroad yard M, shopA. and
the horses Of . large part OF the labor
ing c!s@ses OF the city. The water camc
down witt: rush and in an ho'U the
valley was a rSsring sea from rive< to
bluff. The river Continued to rise, CON-
ing up Third and Fourth streets in the
Missouri bottom at the rste Of two
blocks an hour and reaching across
most Of the business part Of town.
The people were taken by surprise SnH
unable to make q move to escape. One
rider in q sulky was met by the wave as
It caf6s up Fourth street and Was
drowned. Many fed but half dressed.
Others were ufsware Of the danger and
their first warning was when they were
snatched by the rescuers, placed in
wagons and hurried to places OF safety.
There were many helpers, btit most or
them, having no boats. were prHeriess-
Early In the day woman was seen
wading in the strt an, holding a Guild
above her head. A rescuing party welt
for her in a boat, but the current car
rfed them by, and the woman and child
were seen to disappear under a mass Of
rubbish and were drowned. Nellie West.
and man named Polly and three chill
dren were also drowned, and when last
seen the mother was wildly waving q
piece Of carpet out OF a second-story
window as the house floated away. Ono
old lady was found sitting asttide the
roof of a house up to the caves in water
and was rescued.
A house containing a man. woman,
ind large family of children fioated
down the center Of the stream. 1t struck
bridge and went under. The rescuers
made for the spot and the woman was
rescued after four attempts. Cheer on
cheer went up from the throats Of the
watchers on the road. A house with
seven occupants floated down, and Q
large made several unsuccessful at
tempts and finally saved all Of then.
One man was seen swimming ashore
with q woman and child on his back.
The woman was chilled and frightened,
and dropped the infant. One woman
gave birth to q girl baby, and both will
survive the terrible day; /
A rescuing crew Of two men, whose
names could not be learned, saved sew
eral families and finally, in order to get
a family out. cut into the roof Of .
house. They got the family of three, a
man, wife, and child. and started for
tho shore. The boat capsized in the
middle Of the stream and all five were
drowned. Twenty-one bodies were seen
to pass under the structure Of the ele-
waited railroad in q space Of two hours
after the flood came. To add to the
horror the rising water Stacked lime in
the Qaeal & Co. lumber yards. Pieces
of this huge raft Of blazing lumber float
ed down the stream, setting fire to
houses in their path. /
The first note Of warning was a tele-'
gram received from Hinton, twelve
miles up the valley, saying that q four
teen-foct rise was coming. 1ntellt-
gence was sent to the police station.
and Chief Hawman was notified. He
sent at once for an engine, loaded .
boat, and started up the Illinois Central
tracks for Leeds. The wave was struck
when but short distance up, and the
boat was launched at once.
From one house three children were
taken, but the mother could not be res
c,ied and perished. From another house
seven people were taken who had
crawled into the attic. Five people
were removed from tree. The debris
piled up so that it would bear the wcick
Of a man and greatly hfndered the work.
When the word came Captain of
Police Wicks AMI q posse made haste
for the fiat and warned as many ~
could be reached before the flood cane.
Many would not listen to words
Of warning, saying they had seen high
water before. They stayed and were
drowned. Others were saved, with lit
tie OF their belongings.
The water rose four feet in one hour
and half, and from o'clock continued
to rise steadily, but not so rapidly.
Probably 1000 inhabitants OF the city
live on the low ground which is over
flowed. So rapid was the rise Of the
tide that great numbers were unable 10
escape and the work Of rescue engaged
every energy Of the people.
IN al <b<, Gro NJ xr,oc co,,pd-'
ed to call out more workers. All the
boats from the boat houses on the Sioux
River were brought in and used to savo
life and property. d.
At 1 O'Clock p. m. the water hal
reached to jennings store on Fourth
street. The Hotel Fcw vile and the Boston
Investment Company's building were
surrounded. The Union depot was cut
off at o'clock.
1t is estimated that 5000 people have
been driven from their homes. All busi-
ness is suspended. Before noon the
houses opened for the flood sufferers.
At noon 375 people had registered for re-
lief and the applications had then only
Just been begun. The scenes along the
verge of the waters were pitiful. There
was neither gaslight- nor electric light,
as both plants were under water. "
/ The water was slowly receding at
night. A citizens meeting at the COURT
house organized to provide several thou
sand people with shelter. The damage
to property will reach 1000. 600. The
loss Of the Sioux City and Northern
Railroad will exceed $2OO, ,OO0. Miles OF
| cedar block paving were washed out.
Two Fhilanthr0pists.
First NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. have