The herald., 1898-04-04
The Lfv[f BROKE
"A RAGING RIVER SWEPT DOWN
ON THE CITY
ESTIMATES OF DEATHS
VARY FROM TWO HUNDRED TO
A THOUSAND
NOT A MOMENTS WARNING
An Illinois Town Of Three Thousand
Inhabitants Is Swept From the
the Face Of the Earth
NOT A MOMENTS WARNING
Press Special Wire

EVANSVILLE, Ind. April 3.-The levee
al Shawneetown, ILL.,. broke this, evening
and the whole town is flooded from ten to
twenty feet. The levee is In front OF the
| town and the hills are in the rear. It is re-
ported that more that 200 lives are lost. All
wires are down and no particulars can be
had. Evansville has sent two steamboats,
with food and blankets to the scene.
NEWS BY TELEPHONE
CHICAGO, April AT 1880 this morn
ing the operator In 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 Shawnee
town was at that hour 200. Mount Vernon
Is but thirty miles from Shawneetown, and
the information on which the estimate is
based is believed to be reliable. The op-
orator stated that the company's wires to
the stricken city failed soon after o'clock
this afternoon. At that hour it was known
that the dam was giving way, but it was
not thought that 1t would go to pieces
quickly enough to cause the loss of life.
BY o'clock 1t was known in Mount Ver-
uOu ludl Auduy PCOpic ndQ bCCh
the estimate then being 100. A relief boat
bearing food, blankets and surgeons was
started down the river and was expected to
reach Shawneetown before morning. Grad
ually the reports Of loss Of life increased,
the estimates and stories coming from va
rious points near the scene of the flood
showing clearly that the disaster was far
greater than was at first believed. People
at Mount Vernon and surrounding towns
besieged the telegraph Office, frantically
asking for tidings from friends and rela-
tives in the flooded town. No attempt at
an accIrate list of the victims is possible
however. and the crowds stood all might
before the bulletin boards on which were
posted the meager reports being received.
MEAGER DETAILS
LOUISVILLE, KY, April 3.-A special to
the Courier-Journal from Evansville. Ind.
says: At o'clock this evening the levee
at Shawneetown. Ills, broke a mile above
the town, and from all the information
that can be obtained here it is learned that
a great part Of the place has been de-
stroyed and perhaps large number of cit
izens have been drowned. Shawneetownis is
twenty-five miles from Evansville on the
Ohio river. 1t is situated in valley of
extremely law land, with hills skirtipg it
in the rear and with a 25-foot levee running
from hill to hill.
The town is very much in the position of
fortified city, and when the levee gave
way a mile above town, under the pres
sure of the very high water, the water shot
through 2O-foot opening and struck the
place like a hurricane, sweeping everything
before it.
Houses were turned and tossed about like
boxes. The people were not warned of the
break, and for that reason many were
caught. Those at home sought refuge in
second stories and on housetops. Those in
the streets were carried before the ava
lanche of water and probably majority
were drowned.
Citizens came away from the place by
skiffs to a telephone several miles away
and asked for aid from Evansville.
They said that more than 200 people were
drowned and they had reason to believe
1t would reach 500 or more, possibly even
1000.
The water stands from twenty to thirty
feet all over the town. There are, of course.
no fires or lights in the place and total
darkness envelops the desolate city,
Shawneetown. ILL.,, has population of
about 5000 inhabitants, and is situated on
the west bank of the Ohio river. The
streets are parallel with the river, the
principal business street being but two
blocks distant from the water. The level
of the river is about Is feet above the city,
and the levee bank is about twenty feet
thick. Situated on this bank. and level
with the river is the Riverside hotel,
b,,;I 4 5tv,r Ix,tI
The hotel is generally occupied fully all
the year round, being not only transient
hostelry, but families also reside there. 1t
is feared the hotel has been washed away.
When the river Is at its normal stage It
is 1000 feet wide at this point and the citi-
zens have long feared catastrophe such
as occurred today. as tremendous pressure
is, brought to bear on the levee during
freshets.
THE LATEST REPORT ,
CHICAGO, April IA special to the Rec
ord from Cypress Junction, Ills, says: Two
hundred and fifty persons were drowned
today by the inundation Of Shawneetown,
six miles from this place.
The levee broke at o'clock this afternoon
and the Ohio river flowed over the town
many feet deep. 4
Scores Of houses are floating about to-
night and many persons are clinging to the
wreckage in the hope that rescuers will
soon appear with boats to take them to
places of safety.
All communication with the town is cut
OF. Trains cannot reach there and tele.
phone and telegraph wires are down. The
first report that reached here was that the
entire population had been drowned. but
this is not confirmed
The levee was built by the government,
and was regarded as impregnable, hence
the people had taken no precautions
against possible flood.
1t is reported that the flood now extends
for ten miles ,inland-and people are fleeing