The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-17
FEARFUL WORK BY A FLOOD.
VALLEY OF THE LOWER MIssIS-
SIPPI AN INLAND SEA.

Spread over Wide stretch of
COuntry-Twenty-FI Negroes he
ported Drowned in Bushy Bayou.
Every Home Abandoned For Miles
and Miles West of Memphis-Thc
Water Rising an Inch Per Hour
at CRruthersvinc.
Memphis. Tenn. March 16-The valley
of the lower Mississippi Is a vast inland
sea. Death, desolatlon and distress is
spreading from as far north as Birds
Point, Mo. to the country below Helena,
Ark.
The heavy rainfall of the past fortnight
In the Ohio valley and the consequent
floods are the immediate causes of the
frightful swelling in the Mississippi in the
vicinity of Cairo and south of there.
The break in the levee near Nodena,
Ark, Saturday, has wrought havoc in
Mississippi county, which is virtually at
the mercy of the raging torrent. Many
persons are thought to have perished in
this vicinity.
Twenty-Five negroes are reported drown
ed In Bushy Bayou, For miles and miles,
west of Memphis, every home has been
abandoned.
One planter, ]. L. Butler, tells a terri
BILE story of the destruction of farm
houses, property and cattle but he re-
ports only one drowning. Mr.. Butler.
however. fears that the loss of life Will
be great.
The break in the levee is widening, and
no power on earth can stop the crevasse
Six hundred people have been brought to
Memphis from Crttenden county. most
of them from Marion, Ark.
Many were In a state OF starvation.
when they arrived. The steamer Minne-
haha has returned from a trip to Island
Forty, five 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
arms
Charlottesville, Mo, March 16-The
water is rising here at the rate of nearly
an inch per hour. Work on the levee is
being kept up night and day.
At Osceola, Ark, the levee broke yes
terday, and the foods are doing great
damage in that section.
ten families were driven from their homes
and are camped on a sawdust pile.
At Cottonwood, nine miles below the
water Is nearly a foot deep in business
houses and dwellings.
At Gayoso. six miles above here, the
water is all over the town, and from three
to twelve inches deep in the houses. The
prisoners had to be removed from the Jail
to the court house to escape the water.
Cairo. ILL.,, March 16.-The gauge this
morning marks within two inches of fifty
feet. The levees are intact and can stand
several feet of a rise. At Birds Point,
Mo-, the Cotton Belt and Iron Mountain
railroads are under water If the floods
continue for twenty-four hours, trains on
these roads will be abandoned.
Memphis, Tenn, March 16, II p. m.-So
far as reported with reliability tonight,
there have been but two drownings In the
flood, 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 below have, however, added highly
thrilling features to the situation. From
refugees arriving from back Of Marion, Il
was learned that hundreds of people In
that section We're In the water and with
u
draught steamer was pushed In that direc-
ton as far as possible and sklffs pene-
trated even further The result was the
rescue of scores of sufferers. On Presi-
dents Island, below here, a large number
were found i'm the water and brought out.
on Island Forty, above, a report came
that there were between fifty and a hun
dred people in between three and four feet
of water, and a steamer was dispatched TO
their relief.
The steamers Mary Morton and w. +.
Nlsbet from above brought tidngs OF
desolation and distress along the river
for hundred miles or more. The latters
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 in
stance their place of refuge was a saw
dust mound, which was being steadily
swept away from under them.
The Yazoo river, at Greenwood Miss. Is
at flood tide, with the Talahatchie and
Yailabusha pouring great volumes into II.
All of this goes into the Mississippi TO in
crease it's foods.
Helena, Ark, reports the Mississippi 2
feet inches below the highest mark rising,
and with rain all last night and to-day.
That correspondent also reports an ex-
pected levee break at Afodoc, near there.
Reinforced government crews are now en-
gagged I'm "sacking' IT,