The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-03-20
In GREAT PERIL.
Floods nndangsr Many Lives 81
the South.
ONLY TWO REPORTED LOST 50 FAR,
Hundreds Of Persons, However, Aroi
Said to he in Imminent Danger
OF Drowning - Ruin by II
Broken Levees. y

memphis, 1euu., 10oA GA LII Nv AssA ~
reported with reliability there have been
but two drQwnings in the food, both
being negroes, in the vicinity Of Marion,
Ark. Stories Of rescue by the half dozen
or more steamers engaged in the work.
and vessels arriving from above and be.
low have, however, added highly thrill.
ing features to the situation. From
refugees arriving from back OF Marion
it was learned that hundreds Of people
in that section were In the water and
without means Of escape. According.
ly light draught steamer was pushed
in that direction us far as possible and
skiffs penetrated even further. The res
suit was the rescue OF scores of suffer-
ers On Presidents island, below here,
a large number were found in the In
terror and brought from the water. On
Island Forty, above, report came that
there were between 50 and 100 people
in between three and four feet of wa
ter, and steamer was dispatched to
their relief.
The break in the 1evee near Nodena,
Ark, Saturday has wrought havoc In
Mississippi county, which is virtually
at the mercy of the raging torrent.
The levee is widening and no power,
on earth can stop the creyasse. Six
hundred people have been brought to-
Memphis from Crittenden county, most
of them from Marion, Ark. Many were
In a state of starvation when they ar
rived.
The steamer Minnehaha has returned
from trip to island Forty, 1--WE miles
north of Mound City, where several
families were found The women were
in water up to their waists, and two
Of them were holding babies in their
urn.s. At Marion there is not dry
ground enough for dozen people to
stand upon, except on the railroad
track. /;
The steamers Mary Morton and WI
r. Nisbet, from above, brought tidings
of desolation and distress all along the
river for 100 miles or more. The lat
ter's officers declared that there were
certainly hundreds Of people for whom
there was no prospect of relief. Every
piece Of ground along the river above
water was crowded with people and live
stock, and in one instance their place
Of refuge was a saw6ust mound which
was being steadily swept away from
under them. A special from Florence,
Ala. reports the Tennessee river BOOM
ing and rising half an inch per hour.
The Yazoo river at Greenwood, Miss, Il
at food tide, with the Tallahatchie and
Yallabusta are pouring great volumes
intoit. All of this goes into the Mississippi
to increase its floods. Helena (Ark.) res
ports the Mississippi two feet four
inches below the highest mark. rising
and with rain all day. That corre'
spondent also reports an expected Ievee
break at Modoc, near there. Reinforced
government crews are now engaged in
stacking" 1t.
Watching the Levee.
Charlottesville, Mo-, March II. Ths
water is rising here at the rate OF near
" an inch per hour. Work on the levee
is being kept up night and day. 1T Os-
ceola, Ark, the leves broke Monday, and
the foods are doing great damage in
that section. At Tyler, 10 miles below
here, ten families were driven from
their homes and are camped on a save
dust pile.
At Cottonwood, nine miles be-
low, the water is nearly a foot deep in
business houses and dwellings,.
At Gayoso, six miles below here. the
water is all over the town and from
three to twelve inches deep in tho
houses. Prisoners had to be removed
from the Jail to the courthouse to escape