The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-04-01
Carrying Live stock. Farm Buildings
and Thousands of Acres of Rich Soil
Towards the Gulf of Mexico.
HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND
BEATING AGAINST MANY MILES OF
EARTHEN EMDANkMENTS,
And Causing apprehension of Further
Disaster-An Army of WOrkmen
Routed by the Mighty River.

MEMPHIS Tenn. March 31-A heavy
rainfall. accompanied by a strong gale
from the west is adding to the horror of
the flood situation $50 miles below Mem
phis in the YaZoo delta section of the Mis-
sissippi. There are four breaks. and each
is letting in stream large the river
at Cincinnati or the Hudson at Albany, and
this tremendous outflow has caused n fall
of only one-tenth at Vcksburg, Immediate
ly below the last break. The rain and
wind will probably cause more breaks. The
river is now like an inland sea and this
afternoon brief telegram from point
below Rosedale, Miss, announced that
great waves were pounding against the
levee ana that at frequent intervals the
water tore itself loose from the main cham
mel and dashed over the embankment. This
being true, there will be. in all probability,
| more crevasses before morning. All the
forces of nature against the people
The rainfall increases and the wind in
tensifies the danger If the wind were
from the east it would mean little, but the
gale is blowing from the west
on the Arkansas side the levee from
| Helena to Arkansas City tonight is as
| full of holes as the outer wall of a fortifi-
| cation after a siege. There is d break at
| Westover, which occurred at an early hour
| this morning A thousand at
| work on the levees when the crash came.
| For a moment thin thread Of water
| began to trickle from the inner wall of
| the embankment. Experienced levee men
| saw the danger and cried out word of
warning and the laborers rushed back but
| in five minutes a gap fifty feet wide and
| six feet deep was torn in the wall of earth.
| The break grew until IL is now several
hundred feet wide. This crevasse is ten
| miles below Helena and the water rushing
| through 1t will destroy a dozen splendid
plantations and may back up to Helena.
| Other breaks will probably occur on the
| Arkansas shore.
| The Laconia Circle country, few miles
| below Westover, is under water. This cir
| Gle is surrounded by levee. The levee in
| the rear went TO pieces at late hour on
| Monday and the water rushed in and
| spread itself over 10000 acres of the most
fertile land in Arkansas. cut up into plan
| tations. giving support to less than 5000
people.
| Tonight Gunnison Miss, Rosedale and
| a dozen other small towns are under
i water The whole country, as predicted
| last night will be inundated. The water
| is spreading over the territory from Perth
| shire Miss, to a point ten miles north of
| Vicksburg and back from the river thirty
| or forty miles Already the loss of cattle
| has been enormous. The corn that was
| planted and growing is under water and
! the preparations for cotton planting were
we'll under way. The ploughed earth will
| he swept into the YaZoo, and thence into
the Mississippi. 1t is difficult to estimate
| the loss A thickly settled country con-
| tanning an area of about 1900 square miles,
| dotted with farmhouses, negro cabins and
| small villages will be flooded. Labor will
become demoralized and negroes cannot be
| secured in sufficient numbers to cultivate
| the crops when the water subsidies. The
| Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad will
have $50 miles of track under water before
| the food is over.
| The loss of human life so far has been
small. Not a half dozen people have been
drowned in the delta and probably a dozen
| on the Arkansas side south of Helena. The
upper floods. which have prevailed in the
| ST. Francis basin for two weeks. claimed
probably no more than fifty victims, all
| colored.
| Greenyille. Miss, is still safe. Water is
in Rosedale. coming from the Perthshire
| break. while Gunnison is badly flooded
| InlS nlgnl Will tho WIN" '" i"i iii"'
| however bring forth the supreme catas-
| trophe the breaking of a levee immediate
" in front of a town. Those directly be-
| hind the levees Helena, Friar's Point
| Rosedale and Greenville.
A slight rise in the river at Memphis is
announced by the official bulletin ISSUED
| bv the local office Of the United States
| Weather Bureau. This rise amounts tc
| but one-tenth of an inch. 1t is not con-
| sidered as significant of any increase in
| the volume of water TO be expected here
The bureau predicts no continuation o1
| this rise, but a stationary condition fOl
the next twenty-four hours. The gauge
| registers 36.3 feet. a considerable fall is
reported at Cairo. AT points below Vcks-
burg the river is rising with increased
| rapdity