The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-04-20

IN LOWER MISSISSIPPI FLOOD
SITUATION AT HAND.

Water at Top of Levees.and Still Rising.
Beating Against the Embankments With
Great Force, and in some Places Pour
ing Over Them The. Levees in PrecAri-
Gus Condition for Miies-Mzjor Sanger
Of the Inspector.General's Once, Gives
an Account Of His Tour of Inspection.
Memphis, April 16.-Advices from
Natchez and other points below Vicks-
burg, indicate that the supreme test
in the flood situation is at hand. The
swift current, which is rising steadily,
is beating against the levees with such
force as to cause the gravest appre-
hension at many places. At Natchez
the river is near the top of the ievee
n everything possible is being done
to fight back the rising waters. All
kinds of rumors la been current to-
day regarding wholesale loss of life on
Davis island, but diligent telegraphic
inquiry fails to confirm the story. 1t is
known that three negroes were drowned
on the island, but outside of these fatal
tiles no further loss Of life is known to
ave occurred.
At Vicksburg the river is rising at
the rate of four-tenths of a foot daily.
The swift volume Of water pouring out
of the Yazoo into the Mississippi at a
point twelve miles north Of V~iciksburg
will continue for several days. The
levees between Bedford Store, four
miles south of Delta, La, to Duckport,
six miles above, are in a ]precarious
condition tonight and every man n
boy available is at work strengthening
the embankment. AT some points in
this stretch of levee, the water is
washing over and the greatest alarm is
fo1f A mora ohoprfI.l faolirp oxictc in
the delta tonight.
At Greenville, the back water from
Stops Landing creyasSe, which has
been rising in the flooded part of the
! town during the last three days., is sta
f, tionary n will begin to fall tomorrow.
Rosedale, Friar's Point, Helena and
other places report an encouraging i'm
provement in the situation. The river
declined one-tenth of a foot at Green
vile today and the fall of two-tenths
of a foot reported at Cairo gives hope
that the water will recede in time to
make a good crop.
AT Memphis, the river is stationary.
| Captain Mccoy, Of the steamer Bluff.
arrived in port from st. Louis and
| brings a very encouraging account of
the Improvement in the condition of
the overlooked territory above Mem
| phis. He says that the waters have
receded sufficiently to allow steamboats,
L W Gin q OH pioS1o. ~ 10 q lAo
improvement, and the outlook On the
upper river cheerful.
Washington, April 16.-Major Sanger,
Of the inspector generals department,
arrived in Washington this morning,
being the first Of the officers sent out
by Secretary Alger to the flooded dis
tricts to return to this city. He is pre-
pairing a written report of his opera
tons but meanwhile he explained YER
bally to the president and Secretary
Alger just what had been done by him
under his Instructions to ascertain the
condition of the flood sufferers and ar
range for their relief.
Chartering a steambOt at Memphis,
with the best captain that could be
found, a man who, the major said, was
of the greatest help n willing to go
anywhere to relieve Distress, he took
aboard two weeks supplies Of a char
acter suggested by the Memphis COM
mittee. and started down the river, ac-
companied by Colonel Rogers. chair
man of the Arkansas levee board, who
was thoroughly familiar with the coun-
try to be visited. 1t was found that the
Memphis people had already establish
ed stations for the relief Of the refu-
gees in many places throughout the
St. Francis district, in addition to the
big camp they had pitched in west
Memphis. All of these were visited and
in addition, Major Sanger established
stations at other points where they
seemed to be needed. The relief "a
ran up the ST. Francis river, up the
L'Anguille river and across country
over cotton fields and farms in every
direction where it was supposed peO-
pie were to be found in need of help,
acting largely upOn advices of the local
relief committees along the route.
Returning to the main river, a visit
was made to the Flower lake
x,-1 ~ $500 &o To- 70
a width Of 1900 feet. Major Sanger
says that country overflowed from this
break, some Of the richest bottom
lands in the south, is under water rang-
ing in depth from two to twenty-five
feet.
AS stations were established egrOes
were sent out in canoes throughout the
flooded districts to notify the people
where they might come. Major San
gor says the inhabitants of the flooded
section are bearing their infliction with
extraordinary patience, clinging close
ly to their half submerged cabins and
undergoing hardships in the hope of
better times. He says that il the va
tiers recede by the goth of May all will
be we'll with them and that with econ
omy and careful distribution the funds
already appropriated will be sufficient
for the maintenance Of the absolutely
destitute; but if the water holds up
and it is not possible to make a crop
this summer the distress h a will re-
suit will be terrible.
Vicksburg, Miss, April 16.-The
Queen and Crescent route train dis
patchers at II o'clock tonight reported
that Biggs levee. in Madison parish,
broke at 10 o'clock and that the break
was 100 feet wide in twenty minutes.
The break is four and a half miles
south of Delta, La. and n half mile
above the upper end of Reds levee. The
news was sent to Delta at once. the
operator here being aroused out of bed
and the message Of warning sent along
the line of the railroad westward. The
levee is a very large one, and has been
engaging the special attention Of the
levee authorities for weeks. Several
hundred convicts have ben employed
upon it in addition to other laborers
and so greatly had it been strength
ened hat only today the belief was
confidently expressed by men living be-
hind it that it would hold. The disas-
ter will be a great me-.