Birmingham state herald., 1897-04-13
WORST IF FLOOD DANGERS Thought To Be Over Says Sec
 retary Alger. @ REPORTS FROM OFFICERS
 ,sls From Along the Stricken Districts Bring Fa- vorable News. sl QUESTION OF FOOD FOR CATTLE Satisfactorily Arranged and They Will Be Cared For-Army Ratons To Be Dis 2 placed Bv More Substantial
 Stuff For the Sufferers.
QUESTION OF FOOD FOR CATTLE

za1 Washington, April 12.-Secretary Alger thinks the worst of the flood dangers have passed in the Mississippi valley, and with the force the war department now has in the field, cooperating, as 1t is, with the local relief committees, thS re is small danger that great suffering VIII be permitted to- go unchecked and unfe- Heved. The question of feeding the live stock of the people driven from thelr homes by the water has been solved. When it was first proposed to authorize the officers to buy forage fer the animals it was held that the act or congress would nor permit .hat to be done, ana the officials were about to ask congress to amend the original joint resolution, when the treasury au uthorities decided that the resolution i.seFf contained the necessary authorization. This was fortunate, Tor Capt. Davis, at Memphis, Saturday nsnt telegraphed tha. 1t seemed apsolutely necessary to purchase forage TOT tne stock in addition to food, ana the per mission to do so was at once given hilh. Another decision that may do sometnlhg to relieve the government aulholIiss of undue pressure upon their resources was also made by Secretary Algef upoH the recommendation of Capt. Davis. rms was to reduce the rations suppfled to the simplest proportions, while making sure that they should still be suihclent for actual needs The army rali5i mr,t VII, be discarded, and in it's place the hungry will get nothing but pork, corn meal ana molasses. Capt. Davis report on the subject was contained in the following telegram to the war department;
 ssFMemphis April 11-Conditons as 10 the flood here the same as in Capt. FItchs telegram of the 8th. Water subsldlng sligh ly and slowly. Steamer J. H. liar bin hired to take Maj. Sanger on l1lspec- tion tour to St. Francis river and carry relief Have shipped on acquisition for the relief committee, 300 pounds or porks 600 pounds of corn meal 250 gallons of mo1asses, in charge of Lieut.; Carnanan, for distribution in that district. steam CT sailed at ' this morning. Civilian re- lief committee is to be reorganized. It is difficult to obtain accurate information as to the number of destitute at any point. In purchasing supplies we nave figured on plantation rations, consisting daily per person of seven ounces or pork, twenty-seven and three-seventh ounces of corn meal and one-half pint of mo- 1asses.
 (Signed DAVIS.
 This was supported by the following telegram which was turned over to the war department by Representative Catchings as recipient:
 Empress on the secretary of war the advisability of sending only meat, meal, flour. corn and oats to flood sufferers here They are cheaper and go further than the regular army rations. This should only be distributed through gov ernment officials.
 "W. M TONE"
 The following report of the situation at Moorhead, Mlnn., came from Maj: Sanno, just before leaving for Grand
 "NToorehead Ninn April H. "Adjutant General, Washington:.
 Had a conference with the relief com mittee at which George N. Lamphere. be- sides the mayor and city attorney, being present. Seventy-iive families, consist ing of S25 souls, fave been flooded out, and are being cared for by the commit tee. These people mostly owned and oc- cupied small dwellings in the flooded dis trict and are now qLarterd in public buildings or among friends Fifty houses have f1oated off some distance, and twenty-five more are water soaked to the roof. The committee estimate It will cost S50,00 to replace and repair the Dwellings before they can be made hab!table and would prefer that the government as- sistance should be in this direction, pro vided the appropriation will admit of 1t. . With the exception of some fifteen me chanics, all the people flooded out are common laborers and 1t IS my under standing the government relief contem, plates the issue Of rations. To this end l T2cO1n1nfllu I,0UO TdtiOIls dS ueiD6 Aii- sufficient to carry them through the next thirty days Rations can be purchased here as reasonably as elsewhere, and l am satisfied that George N. Lamphere would be proper person to take charge of the matter. The river Is falling and no further trouble is expected here"
 Telegrams from other officers on in speotton duty show that there is more desolation than was supposed Tn upper ArkansaS and Missouri.
 The first of the detailed reports of ir- spacting officers came to Secretary Alger today from Lieut.. Whitney, as follows:
 "Memphis, April 12.-As result of per sonal inspection of part of the Mem phis-Cairo district. north of Ashport, Tenn. ninety miles by river, found eighteen crevasses in the levees varying in width from 30 to 1000 feet and widen ing some. The increased damage. to the levees will be considerable unless the end of the breaks are heavily capped. No fresh crevasses are anticipated now. The flood is completely over the United States 1evee at Ashport and south for fifteen miles, except in few of the high places I have reported latest details as to To- cation, exten. and condition to the en- gineer officer in charge of this district. The water at maximum was three CT four feet higher on the gauge than ever known before. It has been falling ten to twelve inches every twenty-four hours and is now about on standsiill. higher than any previous flood. Stock is suf- fering terribly. The ready resources Of the district are exhausted. The condi- tion in Mississippi county, Tennessee. is representative, nineteenth of its eighty square miles are covered with water three to seven feet deep. About 15 per cent. of this was under cultivation. Many cab dns are washed away or torn np. Those standing are filled with people and res cued stock on raised floors and rafts. Out of 150000 population, 6.000 are de- pendent and needy. Four lives are re- ported lost by drowning. The conditions in Crittenden county are even worse and the suffering Is rapidly increasing. due to prolonged high water. Most of the refugees are collected on high grounds