The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-04-01
iRE DANGER INCREASING.
Instruction Ha ,as Over the Towns
Along the Mississippi.
p,lNFALL AND STRONG WEST WINDS.
nrenks Have Occurred and Cree
vssscs Are Inerc""inS =" width.
narrow Escape mt WcstoNcr.

u.u,h,s Tenn, March STA heavy
..,,,.,l. accompanied by a strong gale from
n, west, is adding to the horror OF the
4 s,od situation. $50 miles below Memphis
+ q ,he Mississippi delta. Four breaks are
..ch letting In stream as large as the
oho river at Cincinnati or the Hudson at
,th.nv and this tremendous outflow has
caused fall of only one tenth at Vicks-
hurr Immediately below the last break.
M rain and wind will probably cause
,,ore breaks The river is now like an
.n,.nd sea and this afternoon brief tele-
ram from, point below Rosedale. Miss.
announced that great waves were pounding
.va,nst the levees and that at frequent III
..,,s,, the water tore itself loose from the
.,.,r channel and dashed over the en-
.ankment. This being true there viii in all
human probability be moro crevasses be-
lore morning.
All, The forces OF nature are against the
.eonle. The rainfall increases ana the WIND
,n,ensifies the danger. IL the Winds were
srom thu east It would mean little, but the
uale is blowing from the west. oh
ina Arkansas side the ieVee from lieieha
10 Arkansas City tonight is az full oil hoies
"a the outer wall of fertilization after
.,eee. There is a break at MISSIONER. which
occurred at an early hour this morning.
A thousaud men were at work when the
.rsvb came, For a moment thin thread
Of water began TO trickle from the inner
will OF the embankment. Experienced
,evee men saw the danger and cried out Il
word OF warning and the laborers rushed
hack and In five minutes gap bity Scet
wide and six feet deep was torn III the wall
al earth. The break spread until 1t Is now
several hundred feet wide. This crevasse
Il ten miles below Helena and the water
rushing through 1t will destroy dozen
splendid plantations and may back up to
Helena. Breaks will probably occur on
the Arkansas shore
The La Criex circle country, few miles
below Westover. is under water This
circle is surrounded by levee. The levee
In the rear or west side went to pieces at
late hour Monday and the water rushed
In and spread itself over 10000 acres of the
most fertile land n Arkansas, cut up into
plantations and giving support TO no less
than 5000 people.
Tonight Gunnison. Miss, Rosedalo and a
dozen other small towns are under water.
The whole country az predicted last night
will be inundated. The water is spreading
over the territory from Perthshre. Miss.
TO point ten miles north of Vicksburg and
back from the river thirty or forty miles.
Already the loss OF cattle has been enor-
nous. Tho corn that WAS planted and
growing is under water and the prepara-
lions for cotton planting were well under
wsv
The plowed earth will be swept into tho
laIoo and thence into the Mississippi 1t
u difficult to estimate the loss. A thickly
betlied country. containing an area Of
apout sVVoo square miles, dotted with
farm Dcuses. negro cabins and small VIII
lagos VIII be flooded. Labor will become
demoraiized and negroes can not be Sc
cured In sufficient numbers to cultivate
~. crops when the water subsidies. The
iaaoo and Mississippi Valley railway will
pave 100 miles of track under water be-
iore the flood Is over.
me loss OF human life so far has been
.mAh Not hell a dozen people have been
ofowned In the delta and probably dozen
% the Ark nsas side south of Helena.
~ upper floods which have prevailed in
we ST. Francis basin for two weeks have
claimed probably 10 more than fifty Vic
Tina all colored
Greenvile, Miss, is still safe. Water =
2 kosedale, coming from the Porthshire |
Dtesk, while Gunnison is badly flooded.
!, ihis night. with the wind and rain. may. |
however, bring forth the supreme catas-
lrophe with the breaking of the leyee i'm
medlately in front " the town. Those |
.owns behind the levees are Helena. Fri
rs Point, Rosedale and Greenville.
slight rise in the river at Memphis is |
..nnounced by the official bulletin issued
Y The local office. The rise amounts 10 |
ny one-tenth of an inch. The bureau
"saiots no continuation of this rise. but
.slationary condition for the next twenty
'ur hours. The gauge registers 3e 2 feet
= transferable fall is reported at Cairo.
.,! Gt points below Vicksburg the river is
using with increased rapidly.