The times., 1897-04-11
TERROR AND DISASTER.

! souri,, 1000 square miles of Arkansas,
| 1000 square miles OF Mississippi, and
| $4,000 square miles OF Loui siana, an area
| of country as big as Massachusetts, YER
| mont, Rhode Island. and Connecticut put
| together, might be flooded by the swol-
! len, ma jestic tide of the Father of Waters
4 AS q matter of fact. scores of counties were
| flooded, hundreds OF lives were lost and
| thousands put in danger, and millions of
| dollars worth OF property was destroyed.
! If the cotton crop of Louisiana alone had
| been made failure, $75,0oo,o0O would
| have been sacrificed.
| AS early as the 20th of March hardly
/ a single one OF the dozen railroads cen
| tering at Memphis was able to move out
| its trains. Near the city 26o-foot break
| in the Ievee had flooded five counties,
| and atleast 5000 refugees had been brought
| to town by the relief steamers. Every
| regular boat, every craft OF any kind that
| could be pressed into service, brought in
| it's loads of starving and ragged men and
| women, who, grateful enough to find their
| lives safe, had not yet thought of their
| lost houses and crops and herds. The farm
| ers and their families the negroes and their
| women and pickaninnies, COWS, dogs, heHs,
| all had fled to such small elevations as
| could be reached in time; or some perchcd
| still in the tops of trees or roasted on the
| roofs of houses floating dangerously down.
| the stream, waiting for the passing steamer.
! Men and women, black and white all
| worked y-therivereaptains,t the crews,
| the farmers and the farm hands, the people
| of Memphis and of the other towns One
| black fellow swan 200 yards with O.
| white wonlan on his back anu saved her
All the while sacks by Thousand and timber
| by the thousand feet were shipped back to
| the points of greatest danger down the
river They were to stop, o. to prevent
the terrible creyasSes.
Word came up from Helena in Arkansas
that if the water rose six inches more the
town was doomed The delayed district
about Memphis, 5000 miles in area, ex-
tended seventy y-five miles TO the north
and ninety miles TO the south. Whole Coun-
ties were under water, there were nine
crevasses al ready in district of fifteen
miles, and 10000 people had homes in
the flooded district. A thousand anxious
people greeted every arriving relief steam
er; excursions for rescue and for sight
seeing went out, 800 persons at time
There were no railroad communications
in skiffs, or in some cases by the means OF
handcars on the submerged railroad beds.
The situation along the leyees grew more
intense every moment. If the river should
wear a orevasse, or If 1T should flow over
the top OF the cvee, there would be losses
of life in a hundred places. The snakes
climbing to the tree tops, and the rats
climbing out of their holes In the streets
hut
ties had more serious things to think Of
and with the settlers themselves it was
a case OF life or death.
All along the levees shotgun patrols had
already been established. II meant death
to La nd, or TO try TO land, at any of these
places the embankments might stand the
additional strain. but the guards meant to
take no chances. The people Of Fort Pill
low, now on the verge ofstarvation, were
desperate, and meat. meal, and molasses
were sent TO them. Cattle dIed-nothing
could be done for them, nor for the hungry
negroes who gorged themselves almost to
death after they hadbeen taken to Memphis.
The rescued negroes would not always
work, either; 81 90 day was offered to
100 of them, but barely thirty stepped
forward; they preferred Ia visit the soup
houses at regular intervals, and to take
their chances fer the future At one time
l,200 of them might have been found in
one OF these places. The darkies dispotted
themselves further in many new clothes
. the wome n especially, who were almost
beside themselves in their gay and III
assorted Colors.
Wild stories continued to come in from
down the river. There was fine hunting
and more hunting than the law allowed
Deer. panthers. and even bear, were driven
from their seclusiou into the open OF the
levees; there was no one to interfere with
those who loved sport well enough to kill
them. Along the Kansas, Fort Scott,
and Memphis Railroad 500 tIogs had rooted
holes in the embankmcnt by the river in
search OF food. This endangered the
trains, and they were driven into a neigh
boring roundhouse and locked up. one
hardy steamboat captain came i'll with a
queer record OF his di scoveries. His
paper had run out away down the river,
and he had resorted to the bosoom OF a
shirt that had been found in a bundle
among the baggage Later it became
necessary for the captain to wear this
shirt, and he did so; but this did not inter
fere with his submission of clear and
complete list of persons lost and rescued.
He was able to discard the bOrro wed shirt
in Memphis.
All the while the sacks for filling at the
levees were rushed down to the danger
points as fast as possible. One load Of
100000 went down. The Government
tug ltasoa, Captain Fitch, was of the
greatest service Early in the excite |
ment Captain Fitch had spent, or had
arranged to spend, $4,000, without any
authorization; but he knew that this was |
necessary, that it would be fatal to de- |
lay, and that the Government could prob
ably be depended on in time to pay the
money There were few convcniences
for cooking on board the Itasca, except |
for the crew; but it was an obliging crew,
and the hands helped the crowd of starv-
ing refugees to bake pigs on shoveIs over |
the fires under the boilers
As the waters gradually subsidized, or |
showed signs of doing so, the scenes of !,
the greatest danger were transferred fur
ther down the river. Nothing but the sand |
bags strewn along atintervais saved thirty |
seven miles of the track of the Iron Noun /
tain Railroad. In all the eighty-five miles |
from Memphis to Helena were only two |
dry spots where houses stood. Above Hell
ena the lighthouse keeper had been driven /
up into a treetop, bot there he stayed, his |
dog and gun on the scaffolding by his |
side. with nothing but q poor apology for |
q lantern waving any approaching craft /
away from the levees on Pain of death. |
At Birds Point was another fait thful gen I
tleman, with conditions fairly normal, |
performing his aTduous and important du-