Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-04-30
HARDLY TWENTY
Lives Lost by the Rush Of the
Flood at Guthrie.
MANY OF THE MISSING TURN UP

All Right Except for . Very Had Might
Rescue Work systematically Performed
Gets Everybody Out Of Danger-Prop-
svty Loss Not So Largo as Reported; Es-
timated at e1oO, ,OO0-six Corpses Found
In One Pile Of Drift.
Guthrie. o. T., Aprh 30.-In the food
stricken valley Of the Cottonwood river
yesterday was O day Of heroic efforts
towards the rescue Of those unfortunates
whose lives were still endangered, and
for the relief OF the hundreds Of desti-
tute and hungry. Last night 1t seemed
q certainty that the loss Of life in
Wednesdays deluge will not exceed
twenty. All yesterday missing people,
supposed to have been drowned. were
found clinging to bushes or driftwood
down the stream on the west bluffs, or
scattered In farm houses for miles. Dur
Ing the greater part OF Wednesday the
roaSins torrent OF water cut OF COM
munication with the submerged district.
and In the excitement the dead list was
swelled to hundreds. The negroes who
lived In the stricken portion Of the town
had In their terror given up their miss
Ing friends or relatives as lost, and it
was the general belief that scores had
perished In their homes or in tornado
cellars; but when daylight came yester-
day morning the flood had subsided and
examinations of the houses and cellars
failed to confirm the reported heavy loss
Of life.
Dozens Clinging to Trees.
Daylight found dozens of people still
cling1ng to trees. overturned houses or
umbcrs, In the perilous positions which
they had sustained all during the weary
night. For miles along the scene OF de-
vastation 1900 people, homeless. half Ill
from exposure and hunger, passed a
miserable night. and morning found
most OF them too weak TO give much
assistance either to themselves or 9TH
ers. The scene In the food-swept dis
trict was one of desolation. The river
fell rapidly during the night, and when
the sun rose the extent Of the damage
done to property could be seen. The
river Is still bank full, but the water
has receded from most of the inundated
district. There was a confused mass of
debris and overturned and demolished
houses scattered over the valley where
Wednesday night was a sea of water.
The banks were Uttered with the dead
carcasses Of horses. cattle. hogs and
chickens.
whole blocks Stripped of Buildings.
Whole blocks where stood a home in
nearly every lot Wednesday, were
stripped bare; huge trees, tOrn-up by
their roots. were scattered everywhere;
great gulches had been washed out Of
the streets. gardens were devastated.
fruit trees leveled. lawns and iower-
beds cleared Off level as a table. and
fences esApAetsly gone. With the first
iay of daylight the work of rescue and
relief was taken UP with q vengeance
ana kept UP with tireless energy till
i.Ightfall made II impossible to continue
During Wednesday night men had been
put to work In lumber yards construct.
ing boats. and dawn yesterday wit
messed a dozen crafts darting out from
all directions to the rescue OF the un-
fcrtunates People who had missing ones
tegnn searching everywhere Tor theil
bodies. Many OF those who had only
lost property went up and down tht
stream trying to recover some OF IL.