The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-30
GUTHRIE FLOOD RECEDES.
OYER 100 HoMEs GONE AND THREE
TIMES As MANY WRECKED.

rive Hundred People Homeiees-Mnny RE-
ported TO ne lost wero Found in Trees or
in Houses which LODGED Down Stream
The Number OF Lives Loat IL ob or no.
GUTHRIE, Oklahoma. April 29.-Tho great
Guthrie flood is q thing Of the past, tho waters
have all receded, and where yesterday flowed
ten feot of water as far as II could reach tho
ground is almost dry. The great piles OF wreck
age, the shattered buildings, and the scene OF
general devastation tonight seems moro the
work OF a mighty tornado than Of a flood.
All night the water won't down fast. and by
daylight tho river was within its banks and
people were beginning to reconnoitre their dis
mantlcd homes or look disconsolately at the
w~ave-swept spot where they once resided. BY
noon hundreds Of workmen were at work rostor-
ing houses, drays wero moving the things the
flood did not destroy or carry of, and people
were again creating homes.
A trip through every section of the flooded
district shows over one hundred homes entirely
gone, three times rs many wrecked or damaged,
n dozen business houses wrecked. and twice as
many stocks Of goods mixed. The loss Ia fully
800 300. Five hundred people are homeless
and twice rs many have lost their clothing.
household goods, and personal effects.
With the receding of the water and the COM
ing of dawn began the eager search for the
missing, and many were the joyful meetings OF
friends and relatives with those supposed to
have been lost. Many of those reported last
night as positively drowned were found In
trees, on high places, and In houses lodged down
stream, and 1t soon became apparent that tho
number OF drowned did not exceed twenty-five
or thirty.
The ESCAPES made by survivors are remark
able, and incidents of the flood are as thrilling
as narrowing tales of war. People swan IN
credible distances. women and children chung to
floating wreckage, tumbled over and over or
climbed trees Of great height, and the rescue
parties brnved dangers which proclaimed every
man a hero.
One Of the most remarkable escapes was that
OF Mrs. Rachel Mckinney, aged IS. She climbed
upon an arbor. where she held on for three
hours. was knocked off by driftwood. went I'M
der the water twice, floated an eighth of a mile,
ing the window glass with her hands. climbed in
and lay on the floor until rescued at night.
Daniel Smallwood swan half a mile. holding
his crippled wife. George Owens. a butcher. was
drowned while rescuing others. Mrs. Fannie
Putin was struck by a log and drowned. John
Miles persisted while trying to save his children.
yer, Mrs. Dennis, and an unknown man, and
wife are among those positively reported dis
covered tonight, but there are many Others who
were carried away into the Cimarron and will
Thieves and pillagers are looting tho wreck
age along the river and entering many Of the
put out everywhere, and II the guilty parties are
caught there Is likely to be a lynching. The re-
ceding water in the Cimarron has left an i'm
mense pile of wreckage at the railway bridge,
two miles north of here, and the watchers there
are positive that there are many bodies caught
or buried there, declaring that several have
a smooth;faced white man were recovered this
evening, but have not been identified.