The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-04-07
Mississippi Flood Scenes.

MlSSlSSlppl flOOd scenes.
Did the reader ever travel on Mis-
sissippi river steamboat from st. Louis
to New Orleans during an overflow?
If so, he has seen condition of waste
| and desolation that sickcncd the heart
and one that deies the imagination to
accurately describe. 1t is long line
of blackness and despair, with the sur
face of the muddy waters covered with
floating timbers, wrecked houses. ed
dies Of swollen dead animals, with an
occasional lifeless human being mixed
with the debris. From foothill to
foothill there is nothing but black
sea of water, There is an occasional
mound to be seen, and on these are
sometimes to be found grouped
shivering, trembling animals, wild and
tame.
I took a skiff one morning at Gold
Dust Landing, and was rowed out in
+ the black waters four miles toward the
hills. Upon little promontory OF
half-acre size we saw cattle. hogs,
sheep, coons, rabbits, dee: and one
bear, standing together, trembling
with fear as they watched the fast ris-
ing waters that must soon envelop
them. They did not frighten at our
approach, but appeared as though
glad to see us, walking far out into
the water as if appealing for help.
Every man in the boat had gun, but
none dared to use it, each apparently
waiting for the other to speak. But
as we rowed away, looking for help
less family reported to be in that vi
cinity, deputy speriff remarked that
he thought some men were humane at
ter all, and nobody disputed him.
If the flood that came in 1892, when
it's warning had been sent forward
more than month in advance, de-
stroyed growing crops and property to
the value of over $50, 900, 900, what
must be the extent of damage this
year, when the rivers south are already
higher than they we're in 1892? And
then the war department advises that
the waters will continue to rise indeh-
nitely. From St. Louis to Cairo all OF
that immense basin that was created
by the earthquake so years ago is deep
enough to swim steamboat. This
section embraces remarkably big
part of the wheat fields of southern
Illinois and Missouri. The submerg-
cd farms may be entirely useless for
the remainder of the year. It takes
growing wheat long time to recover
from food, however short the period
may be that it has suffered. So it the
Missouri and Illinois valleys are not
instantly drained the fall wheat crop
there is gone.
But it is south of Cairo and clear
down to New Orleans where the real
! damage is now being done. That is
the part of the country that lies un.
protected, where millions Of acres of
fertile fields and hundreds of homes
belonging to the laboring people are
absolutely at the mercy of the re-
morseloss waters. The lowlands are
so much more productive than the hill
country that the highlands have al
most been abandoned of late years, the
farmers going to the bottoms" to
raise their produce. Until Memphis
is reached there are no levees to speak
of. There are a few, of course, but
they are as chaff in storm when a
big flood comes. They seem to ex-
cite the rivers wrath all the more.
Tennessee is but little affected even at
the highest stages of the river. The
banks on the left are high and are
supported by rocky hills that creep up
almost to the rivers edge. Thus the
volume of water is thrown with all it's
terrible force to the unprotected sides
of Arkansas territory, backing up the
smaller rivers and streams, causing
them to overflow lakes, thus creating
an inland sea, that adds new territory
to its cruel waste hour by hour until
the entire surplus waters of the north
have gone to join the salty waves of
the southern seas.
And how cruelty coquettish this
Mississippi river has been, changing
town sites, creating new channels,
robbing the soil of one plantation to
give to another. Vicksburg is high
and dry, three miles away from the
river, whereas few years ago the bus
mess part of the town sat snugly on
its banks. Look at Greenville. Ten
years ago the city was two miles fur
ther westward than it now lies. 1t has
been driven back gradually until if it
retreats much further it will jam her
self up against lake that sometimes
get mad herself. Thus the poor town
is as if between the devil and the deep
sea. There's Natchez. You remem-
ber "Natchez Under the Hill?" Well,
there is no under the hill' now. It's
a steep declivity from the town to the
river. Passengers leaving the steam
boats there have to climb up gang
plauks, just as if they were going up
a tree. And there is Memphis, that,
according to the way the river is act
ing thereabout at present, may be
made to view the "Father of Waters"
from afar. No one can tell this year
where the main channel Of the Missis-
sippi is to be the next.
In most towns there is an ordinance
against the running Of cars within the
city limits at greater speed than III
miles an hour. Look at cable car
running along on the north side some
where and you will have a good idea
Of the velocity Of the Mississippi when
it is at high food. Going down the
river in May, 1892, [ sat near negro
| one night on the hurricane roof on
an "Anchor liner" The darkness
was appalling, being occasionally lit
up by vivid flashes of lightning. The
thunders were roaring as if panied
by the quivering electrical darts:
There was plainly heard the caving of
banks, mingled with the swishing
sounds of the seething waters. There
was no dry land within 60 miles OF us.
The boat was scarcely allowing her big
wheels to rcvolve, but was cautiously
picking her way through the floating
timbcrs.
His Threat.