The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-04-29
ANOTHER AWFUL
FLOOD DISASTER
Wall OF Water Wipes Ont Guthrie,
Oklahoma, Destroying Everything.
WIDE EDEvAsTATIoNINvALLEY
People Speneing the Night 10 Trees and On
House Tops--ChSOs rre,aiis-fsrtisI
List Of the Dead.

The list Of dead.
ANNA KAISER
FRANK MYERS.
@. OWENS.
j. II. CALHOUN, wife and child.
CHARLIE RUFFNER and wife.
RASTUS McGILL.
LENA BURKE.
MRS. WATT.
MRS. LESLIE McGILL and FIVE chill
dren. 4.
JOHN METZ.
MRS. MONTGOMERY.
MRS CUMMINGS.
jim LESLIE.
MRS. DUMAS.
Guthrie. o. T.. April 2s-For miles
tonight the Canadian valley is a dreary
waste and her people are overcas, with
gloom.
AZ sunrise this morning a mighty wall
OF water. from six to eight feet high und
mile wide. broke upon West Guthrie
without warning. crushing houses.
sweeping away property and drowning
people by ehe scorer. Every moveable
thing was swept before the wave. which
passed on into the valley with resist
less force. wreaking terrible destruc-
ton to life and properly wherever IL
reached Dozens of human lives ARE
known 10 have been sacrificed-how
many may not be known for weeks
hundreds OF houses were wrecked In
the twinkling Of an eye: for miles farms
were completely ruined bridges and
tracks We're washed out and railway
traffic In every direction is left at
standstil The mos; complete chaos
has prevailed all day The efforts of
the rescuing parties have in many case
proved vain. Many people tioated down
stream before they could be relched
and their fate is unknown; others will
pass the night in trees in midstreagn.
or perchsd on the housetops. I. Is i'm
possible TO estimate the dead. The prop
erty loss is placed at something hear
"a million dollars. Fully two-thlrds OF
the victims were colored people. Busl-
ness has been suspended all day In Guth-
rie. the stores and banks being closed
As thorough an organization for reliet
as is possible has been made. but all
aid has been necessarily retarded by the
confused condition of things.
Tonight forty or fifty people could be
seen clinging To trees and roofs Of
buildings. but could not be reached and
will have TO spend the night where tney
are The fate of many others, who
are known to have been carried down
stream. will not be known until day
break, and perhaps not then. The river
Is going down rapidly tonight. II Is
impossible to even approximately estl-
mate the loss OF life.
Whan the darkness settled over the
city tonight the widest stories were
aflOat. Many We're claiming that all OF
fifty lives had been lost. and not IN
freqently men Were heard claiming that
two hundred had perished. Those
wilder estimates are unquestionably ex-
aggerated. but the eXaggeration is not
20 be wondered at If the frightful incl
dents Of the disaster are but consider
ed. Lives were lost in the flood in every
direction. i'm plain view of those VINO
were carrying ON the work of rescue,
and of many who stood helpless al the
edge of the raging waters. Men, won-
en- and children struggled in the torrent,
side by side with horses, cattle and
swine, one perishing here, another there,
and in other places several disappearing
together.
At dark tonight but two bodies had
been recovered. They are those of Anna
Kaiser. a school teacher, and Frank
Myers. Others known to have been
drowned are C. owens, J. II. Calhoun.
wife and child; Charlie Ruffner and
wife, Rastus McGin Lena Burke. Mrs.
Watt, Mrs. Leslie McGill and five chill
dren, John Metz, Mrs, Montgomery,
Mrs Cummings and Mrs. Dumas.
II is believed that loss Of life has also
occurred south of Guthrie, along the
Cottonwood river Four thousand dol
lars was raised in Guthrie this after
noon for the relief Of the sufferers.