The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1892-06-02
RECORD OF FOUR FLOODS.
High Water Of This Season Compared
with That Of 1914, 1881 and 1853.


As the present food in the Mississippi
APPEARS to have reached its culEan alton
-uniess it Should receive accession from
the usual June rise in the Missouri.
some account Of the record OF previous
floods in the same stream may be OF in
tcrest.
There have been three previous floods
since the settlement Of the country.
which are w. II remembered by persons
now living. and In which the rise reached
about the same point as the present.
These were in lo44, 1851 and 1858. and
tic limit al owe the. low water mark at
st. Louis in those years was as follows
1874. .Ns feet 1853. 1863 feat
1851. .s65 feet 1892. ...........se fee'
1t will be seen from these figures that
tho fiaetd of 1892 has not reached point
equa! tr those OF 1851 and 1858. though
within fraction Of each, but still falls
short of each by several inches. and "
that of 1874 by nearly six feet. The
present flood has been sufficient to cover
About the same area in Illinois as the
previous ones. in spite Of the increased
height and strength Of levees. exceI'e at
East st. Louis, where the levee con-
struction has been effective in protect
Ing n portion + the town. Owing to the
vastly increased area under cultivation.
both on the Mississippi and Missouri.
the loss from the destruction Of trop-.
and the CARRYING away Of houses ahts
other property viii lie greatly increased
over that of former years.
The statistics given show that the
nooi OF 1874 is entitled to rank as the
;nost memorable as to height. Llke ALI
~ ftpxap slf
succession Of spring rains followed hx
an uncxamplcd June rise in the Missouri
caused hy the melting Of heavy SHOWS in
the Rocky Mountains. Previous to this
date little if any progress had been
made in the constructor OF the !evfc
system above the mou>h OF the ONO,
and consequently the stream was no,
confined to comparatively narrow
channel as now. As conseq, ence.
after it began to overflow its banks Y
greater volume of water WIS required to
cause a Moderate rsc at St, Louis,
where the river, by overi!owing the
American Bottom, spread 10 a width ok
eight to ten miles. Yet it then reached
height of nearly forty-seveu feet
above low water, covering the Wbole
of what is called The Levce" or
Frort street, where now the lever raii-'
road bridge crosses the river. and aood-
ing the business houses on that sic ct
to depth OF several feet. As the city
has since been extended TO the bottom
lands, both above and below the old
city, some idea may be formed of the
increase of the area exposed 10 the raw
ages of the present floods. he whole
of the American Bottom opposite St.
Louis. extending from Alton 10 Chester.
nd f.af fap, 1GzG:
wide by ninety miles in length, was
completely submerged with the excep-
ton of few mounds and ridges. SO that
steamboats, reached the Illinois bluffs
from eight to ten miles from ST. Louis
1t has since become one of the most
highly cultivated and productive sec
tions of the State, and the loss in the
destruction of some crops and in delay
ing the planting of others, to say moth
ing of other property, is almost meal
culable.
OF course all these foods, with others
which occurred at later periods. inflicted
immense damage upon the lower Missis-
sipp, where the levee system was not
as complete as it is now. A food in
1882 devasted nearly tQ0,O00 acres irs
the States of Arkansas. Mississippi. and
Louisi ana and compelled the furnishing
of rations hy the Government to 13e, 900
homeless people, with tents for shelter
ing large numbers. The loss in Louisi-
ana alone was estimated at $4,000, ,0a0-
Another fool i'll February and March.
1890. which was chiefly confined to the
lower Mississippi, coming from the
Arkansas and Red Rivers, was also very
disastrous. The number of "crevasses'
threaks in leveesl during the present
flood has been very great, and heavy
loss is inevitable.
Floods in 1876 and 1850 caused heavy
loss to the farmers on bottom lands in
Illinois between Warsaw and Quincy.
and between Quincy and the mouth of
the Illinois, in consequence of the
breaking of newly constructed levees.
which protected large area Of recently
reclaimed farming lands. There were q
few losses of life. many narrow escapes.
and the destruction of growing crops.
was almost complete. The rise at Quincy
in 1851 was 22.S feet, in 1876 - feet.
and in 1880 II feet. So far this region
has escaped serious disaster. but the
Des Moines River has burst its bounds
near its mouth and wrought havoc among
the rich farms in the rear OF Alexandria,
Ill.
Doubtless the most memorable and
disastrous floods in this country have
been those occurring in the Ohio, usu-
ally at the time Of some sudden breaking
up of the ice in the winter or early
spring. The following are the limits
| above low water reached i'm Cincinnati
i'm different years: 1884, 64 feet 4 inches;
1S47, 63 feet inches; 1862. 81 feet 1
| inches; 1882. S. feet inches, and 1883
(the highest ever known, 6e feet
inches. The latter destroyed a number
of lives, millions of property and de-
vastatcd several prominent cities,
Shawneetown, ILL.,, being among the
number.