Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-01-02
FLOOD RUIN.
Four Hundred Miles of the Usage
Valley Devastated
A TER0IBL STATE AROUND ELDOR,
The Flood Has Taken All That laid In ihe
LOwland,-- >rnry the Entire Town
Of Tuscumbia Partially Tn
der Water.

JEFFERso, CRY. Mo-, Dee, 6.-The
news from the Gasconnde and 0sarc
rivers yesterday was more encourag.
Ing. Al Bagnell u fall Of q inches in
the Usage Is reported. while the Gas.
conade is falling rapidly. News con.
firmed reports of farmers rendered
destitute by the ilooi, and the condi.
ton of some is deploraLle in the cx.
IRENE, Many lost not only their crop>
and cattle, but were stripped of house.
hold goods and provisions MS we'll.
There is no way Of estimating the loss ,
but If Is very heavy The tie and tim
Der men have suffered severely. one
contractor in the vicinity of Linn
creek Is reported to have lost about
100000 ties, Along the Morcau river
through this county the bottoms were
swept clean. An estimate Of the corn
loss in the Usage valley puts it at about
~ 900, 900.
A large per cent OF the corn crop
was in the fields and all is lost. One
estimate places the corn loss at ". 500.
600 alone This may be excessive but
when the other losses are determined,
such as live stock, hay, fencing, dam
age to wheat, buildings, etc, the loss
will run up into the millions. The en-.
tire Usage valley for 400 miles is n
scene Of desolatiou and ruin, great suf
fering necessarily resulting, as hun.
dreds Of families have lost everything.
Within the space Of six days one Of the
richest valleys in the state has been
transformed into q scene of distress
without paral ell In the history Of the
state. The MORGAN valley Is also Il
scene Of practical ruin, but the farmers
in that section will probably he able
to take care Of themselves without
much assistance 1t will be some days
yet before the full story Of the food
can be told
A TERRIBLE STATE AROUND ElDDR
ELDoR, Mo-, Dee, II To the farm
ers who live along the banks Of the
Osage river in central Missouri this
Christmas brought only woe and
gloom. The unprecedented rise In the
river Of IS feet in three days has spread
all over this section and many farmers
have lost everything they possess
Some OF them had their corn in shocks,
others in cribs The food has taken
all that lay In the lowands. Not only
have many Of the farmers lost their
crops, bnt their stock and buildings Ms
well. At Bagnell, the end OF the Lebu-
non branch Of the Missouri Pacific, the
river is three miles wide and no train
has been able to get within mile and
a half Of the town for four days That
town aud this Is shut off entirely from
teleqraphic communication with the
outside world.
At Tuscumbia, the county seat OF
Miller, terrible condition exists
Nearly the entire town Is partially
under water Only the roofs OF many
buildings, the post office among them,
can be seen, A large Touring mill, the
printing Office Of the Eye Opener and
several small stores and residences ure
entirely submerged.
Twenty cars loaded with railroad
ties are standing on side tracks at
Bagnell and there are thousands of
ties floating about in the river and
backwater The loss to property IN
this immediate section is estimated at
sl,000.0l0 The river Is higher even
than during the famous food Of 1874,
The suffering OF the people whose land
has been devastated will undoubtedly
DO terrible this winter.