The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-04-02
OVERLOOKING the Valleys of Several
states and Rushing Great Volumes
of Water
HEAVY RAINS In MISSOURI
RAISE THE STREAMS AND FLOOD
THE SUBURBS OF ST. LOUIS.
Two Lives Lost Near Webster-AII the
Railroads West and south TrOu-
bled with

ST. LOUIS, April 1.-The river here has
risen two feet in the last twenty-four hours
and seems bent upon confuting the predic-
tions of the Weather Bureau. A Washing
ton dispatch says the Mississippi at st.
Louis will reach twenty-six feet in two
days time. The river shows rs feet on the
gauge now and is ticking off the divisions
which separate it from q feet at the rate
of an inch an hour. The danger point here
is 80 feet. and from the news which comes
from the headwaters ii is the general opin>
ion that this point will be reached. St.
Louis itself will suffer little from such a
stage of water. but across the river. in East
St. Louis. there is likely TO be trouble.
Twenty-eight feet of water has caused a
flood there. In 1891 the river at ST. Louis
went to a little over 30 feet. East st. Louis
was flooded. and on this side of the river
a dyke had TO be built on North Broadway
to keep back the water.
The heavy rain of yesterday and last
night was general throughout this State
and the Mississippi valley. This downpour.
with light rains and melting SHOWS in the
West and Northwest. will cause a steady
rise in the upper Mississippi and Missouri
rivers. Within two days the upper Missis-
sippi is expected TO reach a higher stage
illd ldSl Ntth dIQ III CduSt duulllOudl
flooding on the bottom lands. The river
Desperes has broken all previous records
and flooded a large portion Of the city linn
it's southwest of Forest Park. The country
Whereabouts looks like an immense lake.
The worst of the flood extends as far west
as Glendale Station. From Towards Sta
ton westward for half a mile the tracks OF
the st. Louis & San Francisco Railway are
nOyarad with Wafor on1 trains of tho rood
are using the Missouri Pacific tracks. which
are about one foot above water. The Chei-
tenham brick works and Laciede friedrich
works. the East st. Louis smelling and
refining works and a number OF other con-
Germs are under water and the different
buildings about the yards can only be
on Sublette avenue were flooded TO the sec
ond story. and the police, with boats, res
cued about twenty people from them.
George w. Tate. aged seventy. and Nellie
Tate, aged six years. were drowned near
Webster. a suburb, last night. TIL mans
body has been recovered. but that of the
cottage, with several others. was swept
away by the flood. Ten houses on the
banks of the River Desperes. near North
Benton. were submerged and the inhab-
itants barely escaped with their lives. At
C~heltenham, a suburb near Forest Park,
several people were rescued by the police
I'm boats. The river. which winds through
Forest Park. overlooked into the deer pad
dock. drowning seven deer; Acres of park
ldiiu are III water diu IL swirl current
is doing much damage to shrubbery and
roadways.
Railroad traffic has not been so democrat
lied all winter as il was this morning. The
officials of the Iron Mountain road lost
track of all their trains between here and
Texarkana this morning. but later learned
they were delayed by washotits. No trains
went out from St. Louis over the road this
morning and it was said at the Union Sta
ton that none would probably be dis
patched before tomorrow. The Frisco is
also tied up. All Missouri, Kansas &
Texas trains are from six to eight hours
late and are running slowly. Trains on
the Baltimore & SouthweStern are from one
10 six hours late.
Telegram after telegram came TO the
Weather Bureau to-day from observers in
Missouri and Iowa and each showed that
one of the heaviest rains of the winter had
been general all over this section. Then
came reports of the rapid rise of all
streams tributary TO the great rivers, and
finally that the Mississippi was swelling at
an alarming rate One report says that
the Mississippi at Herman, Mo-, had risen
20 feet