Evening star., 1897-03-19
LATE NEWS BY WIRE
Reports Continue of Loss of Life in
the Flooded District.
GOVERNMENT LENDS ITS AID
Fresh Breaks in the Mississippi
levees.
SUCCORING THE DISTRESSED

MEMPHIS. Tenn, March 19.-Hugh Nc
Weigh. secretary OF the St. Francis levee
board Of Arkansas, received a telegram
from ]. j. Williams of Charlottesville, Mo-.
president of the ST. Francis levee board of
Missouri. simply giving the information
that the main lsvee had been cut Wednes-
day night below the city. Capt Pharr of
this city is the engineer for both boards
and the telegram was addressed to him.
but the captain vas out of the city. being
now on the upper works.
j. L. Mcclellan, received a telegram from
a friend in Charlottesville stating that
there was hole in the levee one mile be
low the city. but neither of the messages
gave any information as to why or how the
job was done. nor the amount of damage
that X would do.
More Reports of LOSS of Life.
MEMPHIS. Tenn, March 19-Rumors of
a sensational nature are afloat today as to
the breaking of levees above and below
this city. and of the consequent serious
damage to property and stock. So far
these reports have not been verified in full
but sufficient is known to warrant .hc
statement that before nightfaIl An adii-
ticnal 30 square miles of territory will be
submerged.
The points where the levees are alleged
to have failed are remote from telegraph
thentsc information. In the territory COW
cred by the relief steamers under super
vision of the citizens relief committee of
Memphissthe appalling facts came to light
this morning. Drownings of negroes, nell.
women and children. are officially reported.
until the list now numbers half a hundred.
The relief committee thus far have ample
funds TO feed and clothe all the afflicted
row in the city. but the work is necessarily
slow because of the difficulty in controi.-
ing the ignorant refugees and preventing
them from spreading over the city solicit
ing aims off individuals.
kilograms from points sixty-five miles
south of this place ask for steamers to
rescue people left by the last trip of boats
Two steamers We're dispatched POST haste.
and are expected to return at midnight
with several hundred persons and lot of
stock. if the time can be spared to resc lie
the latter The government is aiding the
city in the work of rescue
A dispatch from Washington authorized
government engineers to lend time and
service to further the protection of life and
property. The gauge this morning reads
57.1. a rise of 03 In eighteen hours.
LITTLE ROCK. Ark. March 10.-Over
six inches of rain has fallen in the past
week. and there are no sig1.s of an abate-
ment of the downDour. The rainfall yes
terday was IL inches The continuous
rains have been general all ever the Ar
kansas river valley and that stream has
begun TO boom. A rapid rise set In yes
-
river rose three feet, the stage at the
latter hour registering eighteen feet. The
darger point is twenty-one feet, and there
is serious cause for alarm among the peo-
pie living in the lowlands. The river
continues TO rise rapidly and stage OF
twenty-one feet will probably be reached
today. All the smaller streams are over
flowed and a number of bridges have been
washed away in this vicinity and damage
dcre.
Seventeen Lives Lost.
ST. LOUIS. No. March 19.-Advices from
charlottesville, No, town on the Mis-
souri, river bank in the extreme southern
part of the state. are 10 the effect that
levee fifty miles below that place is re-
ported to have broken and that seventeen
lives have been lost Efforts are being
made 10 verify the report. The pressure
on the levee is very great. All weak spots
are being strengthened but the work is
handicapped by rain. as the earth used in
repairs IS turned into mud. Many fami-
lies living on the river bank in the county
nave abandoned their houses and taken
refuge in Caruthersyille. large amount
or stock has been lost on the Tennessee
SIDE or the river. all the entire bottom be-
ing inundated The levee near Cottonwood
about eight miles from Caruthersvilie is
expected TO break at almost any hour and
overflow that part of the country
PADCCAH, KY. March 49, - Padu-
can Is botn surrounded and invaded by
water Every incn of low land in Nc
CrIcken county is covered Every stream
IN West Kentucky is out of its banks
streets hooded. swamped. houses wrecked
FENCES swept away and roads rendered i'm
passaole. No lives have yet been lost but
every Eour may bring news Of drowning
and fatal disaster. The loss to pronertT
within radius of five miles around the
nood-ridden town already amounts to thou
sarcs. The river Eow stands nearly forty-
IEr nru r..
Idly p
Weather Bureau Bulletin.
The weather bureau mas issued The fol-
lowing bulletin:
ne stages of water reported this morn
ins in the rivers of the Ohio and lower
Mississippi valleys together with the heavy
rainfails that have occurred in those r.,
s.ons during the past forty eight hours
and which are likely to continue TODAY
render IL highly probable that the floods In
the lower Mississippi during the next ten
days or two weeks w,n in many places
equal or exceed in magnitude and destruc-
tlFeness thoS0 OF any previous wears sr3
additional wtrning is given to th,a r,si
dents OF the threatened districts In Arkan-
sGs, Louisiana and western Mississippi to
remove from the region of danger Folio "
ing are some OF the stages Din feet and
teLtnsJ reported this morning and their
kelght above the danger line viz: Cairo
90: lo4 Memphis. 31l; Al. Helena
Ark. AZ; 1O.I. Vicksburg 435: 23. Nen
Orleans. l4-5. which is Is below the dan
ger line.
The following heavy rainfalls lin inches
ahd tenths) occurred during the past forty
eight hours. viz: Memphis. ~: Florence
Ala. 6S; Nashville. 16: Louisville %
cincinnati, IL. Chattanooga. Ia; Knoxville
10: Cairo. Is: Little Rock, 81; Fort Smith
Is: Indianapolis. IL.
f!ood conditions due TO excessive rain
iails VIII also probably occur in the rivers
OF Alabama.
ample warnings of the expected rise have
been given. under Instructions from this
O!ice. by the local weather bureau officials
III the threatened regions and widely dis
sefnlnated throughout tn. territory exposed
to danger.
other great floods ia tue lower Missis-
sipDi during which levees were broken and
considerable sections OF country inundated
occurred In 1852. 1874. 1852. 1854 and Is.sD
Following are the highest stages record
ed during the flood Of 1S.b, which was the
last great Hood preceding This. viz: Cairo.
4s-s: Memphis. 1856: VIcksbury, 4g1: New
Orleans. 40. The highest stages recorded
IN any previous years Were: Cairo 81 in
49,: Memphis. 3J.6. III 1880: VicksIl,rg
Jl.I. in lS62; New Orleans, lT9 In lS.3
ATLANTA SELECTED.