The Irish standard., 1897-04-10

thereby. The amount OF damage to props
erty Is incalculable. In addition to thu
growing crops which have been destroy<d1
thousands Of head Of working stock and
of cattle have been drowned and gtarve6l
The great majority Of the sufferers are
small farmers. mostly negroes. who. With
the present crop destroyed and their work.
ing stock and farm tools swept away, are
left utterly destitute and unprepared to BET
GIN work again, even after the foods have
Relief Badly Needed.
serhs extent Of the suffering has grown
beyond tho capacity Of the local authors
tiles and Of private local charities to ri
leve. The citizens relief committee %
Memphis IN now caring for from 0,000 10
1900 refugees from the flooded district, ana
they arc stu arriving by boatloads every
day. In addition to this, large supplies Q1
provisions ore being sent to various point4
inArkansaSa and Mississippi, where 1t IL po49
sible for the refugees to be cared for on
higher ground and in relief barges. TIA
utmost that can be done by these efforta
IL to measurably and temporarily relieve
the present suffering. The committee have
found It very difficult and very costly to
reach great portion of the sufferers hV
ing In the interior, who can only be reachea
by skifRs operating with light-draft steaul3
ers that can leave the main river. Menu
.phis being the only point on high ground
Tor about 200 miles north and south, II
necessarily has become the place Of refuge
Tor all seeking to escape the food In that
locality: |
sThis nood IL the greatest and most De-
str,ictive that has ever devastated th@
'Mississippi valley, the water being ~
Rect higher than the highest stage It hat
ever reached before. The relief committee
ia thoroughly organized for the purpose Of
distributing supplies to the people Of tne
~ Go rnv411{
everything In its power to that end, bue
# has now almost reached the end Of IA
resources. and reluctantly confesses its I'M
ability to cope with the situation withou)
obtaining relief from the government"
May Send No Message.
Washington, April 7.-President Me-
Kinley may abandon his idea OF sendA
ing q special message to congress to-
day asking for legislation for the relief
of the Mississippi food sufferers. Such
action, it is thought, is rendered unnec1
tessary by the passage by the senate d
the Bate resolution diverting for thy
relief of the food sufferers the uneaN
pended balance of the appropriately
made from time to time to meet con.
tinqencies in connection with cholera
and other epidemics. Mr.. Mckinley
sent for Secretary A]ger late Tuesday
afternoon and had q consultation with
him on the subject. Since the senate
had already initiated such legislation
as he would propose in his message the
question was as to whether action by
him was not rendered unnecessary. All
the data in connection with the amount
of money the passage of the Bate reeo@ul
ton would place at the disposal Of thy
surgeon-general for distribution wal
not before him Tuesday afternoon end
no final decision was reached as to thu
message. Should he send in messaga
it II probable that he will recommend
a specific appropriation of either $780,
900 or 100000, and it is possible, in th3
event he does not send to congress toaE
NAL message, that he will transmit th1
information in his possession.
Father and Son Drowned.
RedAeld, s. d., April 7.--HenrN
struive and two sons were drowned
21onday on Gus Bulls farm, six miles
south of Frankfort, in this county. Thid
makes six deaths from drowning With
in two weeks. A farmer north of hefG
named Lundstro1n lost a dozen cattl4
and seven head Of horses. The floodd
exceed anything ever witnessed in this
county. The water in the rivers 81
eight feet higher than the highest
water mark heretofore. I
Entire quarter sections are submerged
and there is great loss Of stacked gratn1
horses and cattle. Not one wagoH
bridge is left in Sphinx county. Rail-
road travel has been suspended since
one week ago. Many farmers have susi
tanned irreparable losses.
situation Appalling.
st. Paul, Mimi, April IA Fargo
IN. d. special to the Dispatch says}
The situation IL appalling. While tho
Red river rose only three inches Monday
night the Big Coulee west Of this oity
took a second squirt and went up II
inches flooding the entire west side Of
town and driving hundreds Of people,
from their homes. There is much snt
fering among poor families who have
been practically destitute ell winter and
this last blow 10 most serious. A RELIEF
committee operated Jointly by the oitH
council and county commissioners Ell
tablished headquarters Tuesday mor41
Ing and will take care Of the poor. il
showed Tuesday morning for twN
hours. Sections Of the city that no
one ever dreamed could be reached bN
flood are now under water.
Asks for 100000. !
jackson, Miss, April THE governor
has telegraphed Secretary Alger as1e7
Ing for an appropriation of 100000
from congress, which he says will close
the crevasscs in this state, give employ:
ment to all the needy and allow people
to work land in 80 days.