The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-04-07
REPORT ON THE FLOOD
o,o,erty of $4,000 People Has
Been Destroyed.
nuns IN MEMPHIS SECTION ONLY.

,,,t Prepared by the Citizens He-
ec,,,nnitte which They VIII Present
. president Mckinley - Fifty Towns
r.der water and Hundreds of Thou
81. Of Growing Crops Buned-1he
Mo,t Devastating Flood Ever known.
vosbineton. April 7.--Messrs. r. c !
Graves and j. S. Menken, representing |
tho citizens relief committee of Mem
.hie Tenn. organized for the purpose
80 relieving the people OF the flooded
oorntry tributary to that city, have ar
riyed in this city. They have prepared
the following statement which they viii
submit 10 the president:
"From Marion, Ark, north of Mem
nbie 10 Greenville Miss, there are now
At least fifty towns and villages under
wafer and territory extending from
,oo miles north of Memphis to 200 miles
south and five to forty miles wide Is
submerged and devastated by the lloor.
hundreds of thousands OF acres of Guilt
yoted soil with growing crops are in
cluded i'm this submerged territory and
there are from $4,000 to $4,000 people
whose property has been destroyed. and
whose business has been suspended
tberebv. The amount Of damage to
nronerty is incalculable. In addition to
the growing crops. which have been de-
stroved. thousands of head of working
stock and of cattle have been drowned
and starved,
Small Farmers Are Destitute.
"The great majority of the sufferers
are small farmers, mostly negroes, Who'
with the present crop destroyed ana
their working stock and farm tools
swept away. are left utterly destitute
and unprepared to begin work again,
even after the floods have subsidized. Ihe
extent Of the suffering has grown be-
vond the capacity Of the local authorl-
ties and of private local charities TO re-
Iieye The citizens relief committee OF
Memphis are now caring for from b'OO'
IN 1000 refugees from the flooded as
trict. and they are still arriving by boa
loads every day. In addition to TINS
large supplies 81 provisions are beini
sent To various points in Arkansas anC
Mississippi, where it is possible for th'
refugees to be cared for on highe
ground and i'm relief barges. The ut
most that can be done by these effort
is to measurably and temporarily re
heve the present suffering. The com
mittee have found it very difficult AM
very costly to reach a great portion o
the sufferers living in the INTERIOR Wh
can only be reached by skiffs operating
with light draft steamers, that ca
leave the main river.
Memphis the Place of Refuge.
Memphis being the only point on my
ground for about 200 miles north an
south. it necessarily has become III
place of refuge for all seeking to oscar
the flood i'm that locality. This HOOD is III
greatest and most destructive that ia
ever devastated the Mississippi Valle'
the water being 2ia feet higher IMAM III
highest stage that it had ever reache
before. The relief committees are mo
.oughly organized for the purpose OF ui
tributing supplies to the people OF u
tributary territory. and are Wiling
do everything i'm their power To ll'
end. but they have now almost reac"'
the end Of their resources ana reluc
antly confess their inability to cope WI
the situation without obtaining rem
from the government.
Carmack, who represents the Menlpu
district i'm the house, also signs
statement and says his information
wire and letter from the overflow Oh
trict is entirely in accord win III
made by the committee.