Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1898-04-09
SWEPT BY A MIGHTY FLOOD
ILLINOIS VILLAGE WIPED OUT

+ ILLINOIS VILLAGE WIPED OUT
HiS Levee Brole and Many of In
habitnnts Are Reported browne.
-hacked-Up Flood in the Ohit
: Found an ODening-Victims Hat,
No Warming.
Louisville, April :;.-A special to tht
5 Courier journal from Evansville. Ind.
says:
At 6 o'clock this afternoon the levee a
Shawneetown, H., broke a mile above
town, and from all information obtainab bl,
here it is learned that a large part of the
place has been destroyed and perhaps 4
large number of citizens have beer
drowned.
Shawneetown is 2:5 miles above Evans
Vile on the Ohio river. 1t is situated in
Il valley of extremely low land with hills
sf1,ting it in the rear and with % foot
levee running from hill TO hill. The town
is in much the same position as Il forti-
fled city and when the levee gave away
mile above town and under the pres
sure OF the high water, the river shot
through 20-foot opening and struck the
place like a hurricane. Houses We're
turned and tossed about like boxes The
people We're not warned and for that rea-
SIN many were caught Those at home
sought refuge in second stories and
housetops. Those in the streets were car
ried before the avalanche of water and
probably majority We're drowned.
Citizens came from the place by skifs
! to telephone several miles away and
asked for aid from Evansville They said
that more han 200 people We're drowned
! They had reason to believe the number
would reach 500 to 1000 The water stands
from 20 to so feet deep all over the town.
| There are. OF course. no fires or lights
in the place and total darkness envelopes
| the desolate city. Consequently it was
impossible for them to have anything like
definite information. The men immedi-
ately left the telephone and no further
communication has been had No tele-
|
and outside communication appears i'm
possible
About II o'clock two steamboats, and
couple Of tugs started for Shawneetown
under full head of steam and it is ex-
pected some of them will arrive there
by a. m. They carry large supplies Of
food and blankets. quickly collected by
the city officials.
List of Victims Is Growing.
Chicago. April 4.At l2:4O this morning
the operator at the long distance tele-
phone company's office at Mount Vernon
ind, informed the Associated Press that
the estimate on the loss of life at Shaw
neetown was at that hour 200 Mount
Vernon is but 80 miles from Shawnee
town, and the information on which the
estimate is based is believed to be relia-
bic. The operator stated that the com
pany wires to the stricken city failed
soon after i o'clock Yesterday At that
hour it was known the dam was giving
way, but it was not thought that it would
go to pieces quickly enough to cause loss
of life.
BY 8 o'clock it was known in Mount
drowned, the estimate then being 100. 4
relief boat bearing food. blankets and sur
9eonS was started down the river and was
expected to reach Shavneetown before
morning. Gradually the reports of loss OF
life increased. the estimate of stories |
from various points near the scene
OF the ofod, showing clearly that the dis |
astcr was far more disastrous than was
at first believed. People at Mount Vernon
and surrounding towns beseiged the tele-
graph offices, frantically asking for It'd
lngs from friends and relatives in the
Hooded town. No attempt at an accurate
list of the lost was possible, however. and
the crowds stood all night before the bull
Ietn boards, on which We're posted the
meaere reports being received
Water Is Ten Miles Inland.
Chicago, April "a special to the Rec
ord from Cypress Junction, ILL.,, says
Two hundred and fifty persons were
drowned today by the inundation OF
six miles from this place
The lcvee broke at 4 o'clock this after
noon and the Ohio river flowed over the
own many feet deep. Scores of houses
IRE floating about tonight and many per ,
sons are clinging to the Wreckaee in the
nope that rescuers will soon appear with t
'oats to take them to places of safety. All ,
communication with the town is cut off.
Trains can not reach there and telegraph :
wires are down. The first report that !
cached here was that the entire popua- ,
ion had been drowned, but this is not :
confirmed. The levee was built by the
government and was regarded as inprcg- i
labe, hence, the pople had taken no {
precautions against a possible focd t
1t is reported that the water extends t
or 10 miles inland and people are fee |
ng for their lives in all the lovland ham )
cts.
Had Three Thousand People. l
st. Louis, April -Shawneetown has c
population of about 5000 inhabitants and ).
) situated on the west bank of the Ohio
liver. The streets are parallel with the :,
iver. the principal business street being
nut two blocks distant from the river
The levee of the river is about Is feet I
bove the city and the levee bank is about :.
0 feet thick. Situated on this bank and
arel with the river is the Riverside hotel !,
large four-story building, built by Hen
Y Docher. The hotel is generally occ,1- +
lied fully all the year round, being not ,
nly a transient hostelry, but families .
lso reside there. 1t is feared the hotel -
las been washed away.
blocking Spanish Purchases.
London, April J. The Daily Mails :
rome correspondent says: Commander f
'rownson of the United States navy has
ot finally concluded the purchase of any n
Italian warships. learn from reliable /