Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-03-23
IN GREAT PERIL.
Floods Hndanger Many Lives In
the South.
ONLY TWO REPORTED LOST so FAN
Hundreds Of Persons, However, Are
said to be In Imminent Danger
OF Drowning Ruin By
Broken Levees.

Memphis, Tenn, March H.-So far az
reported with reliability 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 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 as far as possible and
skiffs penetrated even further. The re-
suit was the rescue of scores Of suffer-
Crs. On Presidents island, below here,
q large number were found in the in
terror and brought from the water. On
Island Forty, above, report came that
there were between 80 and 100 people
In between three and four feet Of wa
ter, and steamer was dispatched to
their relief.
The break in the ievee 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 crevasse. Six
hundred people have been brought to
Memphis from Crittenden county, most
of them from Marion, Ark. Many were
In state of starvation when they ar
rived.
FT,f.- k,1 hns o$pry.V n
from trip to Island Forty, Ave 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
orms. At Marion there 10 not dry
ground enough for dozen people to
stand upon, except on the railroad
track.
The steamers Mary Morton and w.
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 sawdust 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, is
at flood tide, with the Tallahatchie and
Yallabusta are pouring great volumes
intoit. All of this goes into the Mississippi
to increase its floods. Helena (Ark.) re-
ports the Mississippi two feet four
inches below the highest mark, rising
and with rain all day. That CORE
spondent also reports an expected levee
break at Modoc. near there. Reinforced
government creTsaIfe now engaged in
stacking" 1t.
| watching the Levee.
Charlottesville. Mo-, March II. = The
water is rising here at the rate Of near.
| ly an inch per hour. Work on the levee
is being kept up night and day. At Os.
ceola, Ark, the levee broke Monday, and
the floods are doing great damage il
that section. At Tyler, 10 miles below
4 here, ten families were driven from
4 their homes and are camped on . saw
dust pile.
i AT Cottonwood, nine miles be
low, the water is nearly foot deep il
business houses and dwellings,.
AT Gayoso, six miles below here, thu
water is all over the town and from
three to twelve inches deep in tn
houses. Prisoners had to be remove,
from the Jail to the courthouse to escap