The herald., 1897-04-01
Adds to Terror in Flooded
Districts
THE WEAKENED LEvEES YIELD
A DOZEN SMALL TOWNS NOW
UNDER WATER
The Loss Of Human Life Is Small but
the Pecuniary Damage
Is Awful
Associated Press Special wire.


MEMPHIS, Tenn, March 31.--A heavy
rainfall, accompanied by a strong gale
from the west. is adding to the terror of
the flood situation. One hundred and
fifty miles below Memphis, in the Mis-
eissippi delta, there are four breaks, and
each is letting in a stream as large as
the Ohio at Cincinnati, or the Hudson a
Albany, and this tremendous outflow
has caused drop of only one-tenth Of
an inch at Vicksburg.
The rain and wind will probaly cause
more breaks. The river is now like an
inland sea, and this afternoon tele-
gram from a point below Rosedale,
Miss, announced that great waves were
pounding against the levee, and at FREE
quent intervals the water tore itself
loose from the main channel and dashed
over the embankment. This being true,
there will be in all probability more
crevasses before morning. All the forces
of nature are against the people. The
rainfall increases and the wind intensi-
fed the danger. On the Arkansas side
the levee from Helena to Arkansas City
tonight is full of holes as the outer wall
of a fortification after siege. There is
a break at Westover, which occurred at
an early hour this morning. A thous-
and men were at work on the Ievees
when the crash came. For a moment
thin thread of water begin to trickle
from the inner embankment wall. Ex-
perienced levee men saw the danger and
cried out the word of warning and the
Iaborers rushe1 back. but in five minutes
a gap fifty feet wide and six feet deep
was torn in the wall of earth. The break
grew until ii Is now several hundred
feet wide. This crevasse is ten miles be-
low Helena and the water rushing
through it will destroy dozen splendid
plantations and may back up to Helena.
The Laconia Circle country, a few
miles below Westover, Is under water.
This circle is surrounded by a levee.
The levee in the rear went to pieces at
late hour on Monday, and the water
rushed in and spread itself over 10000
acres of the most fertile land in Arkan-
sas. cut up into plantations giving sup
port to no less than 5000 people.
Tonight Gunnison. Rosedale and other
small towns are under water The whole
country. as predicted last night, wifi be
inundated The water is spreading over
the territory from Perthshire, Miss, TO
a point twenty miles north of vicksburg,
and back from the river thirty or forty
miles. Already the loss of cattle has
been enormous. The corn that was
planted and growing is under water, and
the preparations for cotton planting
were we'll under way. The ploughed
earth will be swept into the Yazoo and
thence into the Mississippi. 1t is DIFF
ficult to estimate the loss. A thickly
settled country containing an area of
about 1000 square miles, settled with
farm houses. negro cabins and small viii
lagos will be flooded. Labor will become
demorallzed, and laborers cannot be Sc
cured in sufficient numbers to cultivate
the properties when the water subsidies
The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley rail-
road will have $50 miles of track under
water before the foods over.
The loss of human life so far has been
small. Not a half dozen people have
been drowned in the delta, and probably
a. dozen on the Arkansas side south of
Helena. The upper floods which have
prevailed in the st. Francis basin for
two weeks claimed probably no more
than fifty victims. all colored.
GOVERNMENT AID.
WASHINGTON March 31.-A tele-
gram came to General Wilson. chief of
engineers this morning from Colonel
Gillespie. president of the Mississippi
river commission, stating that the COM
mission was at New Orleans waiting the
approval of the joint resolution in or
der to proceed at once with the work of
protecting the levees and the property
along the river. This state of affairs
being made known at the White House.
the resolution, which had been pro forma
referred to the treasury department,
was signed at once by Secretary Porter
and laid before the president. who stop
ped the line of visitors long enough to
silk his signature. The committee will
be Notified and the relief work will go
on.
Captain Newcomer, the engineer Of
acer in charge at Memphis, has tele-
graphed General Wilson unt er date of
yesterday: "Three crevasse reported
in lbwer Yazoo levee distrj It, one ut
Deerfeld, northern side of lake Lee,
Sunday night. One opposite Island Mill
Monday afternoon. and one at Stop
LANDING Choctaw Rendl this mornin er -