The herald., 1897-02-25
FLOODED RIVERS FALLING
But Tremendous Damage Has
Been Done
OHIO CITIES UNDER WATER
Churches Sheltering Sufferers Fed by
Public Charity
Losses In the MonongaheIa Valley Hount Into
the Millions and Thousands Of Peo-
pie Made Homeless
Associated Press Special Wire

ASSOCIATED FreSS special wire
CINCINNATI, Feb. 24.-At o'clock to-
night the river was 5S5 feet and was
rising rapidly, 11a inches an hour. Ev-
erywhere in the Ohio valley near here
the weather is clear and coSl. Above
Wheeling the Ohio river Is falling at
all points. In the region of the sources
of the flood the streams have been going
down for twelve hours and the danger
| is past. No less than 81, 900, 900 loss and
| damage to lumbermen and farmers is
| the rough estimate for the Monongahela
| valley.
On the Ohio there was more or less loss
and damage to railroads all the way down
| to Portsmouth. More or less damage to
some business houses was suffered in
| Steubenville, Parkersburg, Gallipolis,
| Huntington, Catlettsburg, Ironton,
Hanging Rock, Portsmouth, Aberdeen,
Maysville and several smaller towns,
either in actual loss or the inconvenience
of moving goods. Tonight in Ports
mouth alone over 1900 persons have been
| driven from their homes. Much the same
| sort of suffering exists in the other cit
| les and towns mentioned, but Ports
| mouth is the greatest. School houses,
town halls churches and all other avail
| able buildings are used for lodging those
sufferers and public charity feeds them.
| AT Newport KY, opposite here, $50
| poor families are driven from their
homes, but they are we'll sheltered. In
| East Cincinnati about an equal number
of families have been temporarily driven
| from their dwellings. Coney Island, an
up-river summer resort, is under water
| deep enough to float the largest river
steamer. In Ludlow, KY, below Coving
| ton the streets are deep under water.
| At Portsmouth washouts have stopped
the use of two railroads, the Norfolk
and Western and the Cincinnati, Ports
| mouth and Virginia. All railroads here
| in Cincinnati are running from the de-
pots except those using the Grand Cen
trail, and they now start from Eighth
street. 1t is now believed here that the
rise will not go much over sixty feet.
| Up Mill Creek valley one of the saddest
sights is the utter destruction Of vast
! areas of hotbeds where innumerabl
vegetable gardeners earn living.
| Every foot of rise from now on adds
vastly to the discomfort and loss that
must ensue to families driven to upper
| stories or out of their houses.
PORTSMOUTH'S PLIGHT.
| PORTSMOUTH, O., Feb. 24-It is ex-
pected by noon that half the city will
| be under water. About a thousand
| families have been compelled to move.
| Many houses are completely covered.
Some have floated away.
| THE CRISIS PASSED.
| PITTSBURG, Feb. 24.-The great flood
has done it's worst and the waters are
now receding. The cold wave broke
the back Of the flood. Reports from all
points between Pittsburg and the head
waters Indicate that the danger has
passed. The river in this vicinity has
reached the highest stage at any time
since 1884. The Monongahela registered
80 feet 6 inches, Allegheny 30 feet 9
inches. At 10 o'clock this morning the
water had fallen foot since midnight
Hardly a point in the Mongahela river
from Fairmont to Pittsburg escaped
damage. Mills built supposedly out Of
harms way were submerged. The
| damage is not less than 81, 800, 900 in Mo-
nongahela valley. From the headwaters
of the Youghiogheny also came torrent
that brought destruction to valuable
property.
| The railroads were unable, to move
! trains. Trolley lines were badly
wrecked. Beneath several feet of de-
| bris there are million dollars worth
| Of valuable machinery. Poor people
who lived in the small houses along the
river banks have been made utterly
| homeless.
| In McKeesport the damage will ex-
ceed $500000. In this city the water COW
cred Duquesne way from Ninth street
to the point. On the north side Of the AL
legheny over 5000 people were cooped up
in second stories of their homes all night
as prisoners, the only means of escape
being by boat. Many Allegheny manu-
featuring concerns have been rendered
| idle.
FLOOD VICTIMS.
| LOUISVILLE XIV Feb 24-ThA
Ohio river has reached a stage of 26.4
feet on the falls and the rise now at the
rate of but one inch an hour. Shipping
| people suffer the most.
Three drownings are reported, the
| victims being:
Elder Morton, a Mormon missionary
+, at Pikeville.
Henry Tolcomb, a young school teach
| er at London, and an aged woman at
Pineville.
ChILE'S NAVY