New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-01

,,r MISSISSIPPI RIVER BURSTING
THROUGH THE LEVEES.
cRrvAsSEs ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LOSS
rrHE FERT1LE Iowr.ANDs OF ARKANSAS


~rur rERr1LE 1OwtANDs OF ARKANSAS
AND M1ssIssiPPI-THE LOSS OF LIFE.
,,nphis. Tenn. March 31.-A heavy rainfall.
'onranied by a strong gale from the west Is
,,,rs to the gravity Of the food situation in
- Mississippi Delta. There are four breaks,
"A each is letting in a stream large as the
n,,o River at Cincinnati or the Hudson at AL
NV This tremendous outflow has caused a
s.u ~ only one-tenth at Vicksburg immed-
.,.lv below the last break. The rain and wind
c,l probably cause more breaks. The river is
NOM like an inland sea, and this afternoon a
telegram from a point below Rosedale. Miss.
announced that the waves were pounding
osa,rs, the evee This being true there will
"a in all probability more crevasses before morn
,,s All The forces of nature are against the
,oon,e The rainfall and wind intensity the
dagger. II TIE wind were from the east it would
rean little but the gale is blowing from the
west.
on the Arkansas side the levee from Helena
~ Arkansas City is as full Of holes the outer
wall Of fertilization after siege There Is a
br4ak at Westover which occurred at an early
hour this morning. a thousand men were at
work on the levee when the crash came. First
a thin thread Of water began TO trickle from
the inner wall or the ennpdnhlllenl. experienced
,evee men saw the danger and cried ont a
warning. and the laborers rushed back but in
ave minutes a gap fifty feet wide and six feet
deep was torn in the wall OF earth The break
grew ,.Ll ii is now several hundred feet wide.
This clovasse is ten miles below Helena and the
water rising through it will destroy a dozen
splendid plantations on and back up TO Helena.
other breaks will probably occur on the Arkan-
sas side.
The Laconia circle country. few miles below
Westover. is under water. This circle is sur
rounded by a levee The levee in the rear went
10 pieces Monday and the water rushed in and
spread itself over 10000 acres of the most fer
tile land in Arkansas. and cut up into planta-
rons giving support 70 no less than 1000
people.
Tonight Gunnison, Miss. Rosedale and a dozen
other small towns are under water and the pros
poets are that the whole country VIII be mum
dated The water is spreading over the terri
tCrv from Perthshire. Miss. 10 point ten miles
north Of Vicksburg. and back from the river
thirty or forty miles. Already the loss or cattle
has been enormous Corn that had been planted
and was growing is under water. ana pIepdId-
tone for cotton planting were well under way
The ploughed earth will be swept into the azoo
and thence into the Mississippi 1t is dlfncult 10
estimate the loss. thickly settled country 90; vG.
tainirg a area Of 600 square miles dotted WIN
farmhouses negro cabins and small villages, VIII
be flooded. Labor will bee ONE dc moralized, ana
negroes cannot be secure In sufficient numbers
70 cultivate the crops when the water subsldes;;
The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad VIII
have 15O miles OF track under water before ihe
food is over. ,
The loss Of human life 50 far has been small
Not half dozen peopla have been drowned in the
Delta, and probably dozen on the Arkansas slde
south Of Helena. The upper floods which nave
prevailed in the St Francis basin for two weeks
claimed probably fifty victims all colored
d Greenvlle, Miss is still safe. Water is in Rose
dale. coming from the Perthshire break, while
iGunnison is badly flooded. This might with the
wind and rain. however bring forth the supreme
catastrophe, the breaking Of a levee Immediately
in front OF a town. Those directly behind the
levees are Helena, Friar's Point, Rosedale and
Greenville.
4 SLIGHT rise in the river at Memphis is an
nounced to-day by the official bulletin submitted
hv the local office Of the United States Weather
Bureau. This rise amounts to but one-tenth OF
an iDcn. i is not considered as significant OF any
increase in the volume Of water 70 be expected
here The bureau predicts no continuation OF
this rise hut a stationary condition for the next
tVenty-four hours. The gauge registers 500
feet A considerable fall is reported at Cairo.
At points below Nicksburg the river is rising with
increased rapidity.