The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1898-04-09
SWEPT BY A MIGHTY FLOOD.
ILLINOIS VILLAGE WIPED OUT,
big Levee Broke and Many of In
hnbifants Are Reported Drowned
-Backed-Up Flood I'm the Ohio
Found an opening-Victims Had
No Warming.

Louisville, April S.-A special to the
Courier-Journal from Evansville, Ind,
says:
At o'clock this afternoon the levee at
Shawneetown, H., broke a mile above
town, and from all information obtainable
here it is learned that large part of the
place has been destroyed and perhaps
large number of citizens have been
drowned.
Shawneetown is % miles above Evans
vile on the Ohio river 1t is situated in
valley of extremely low land with hills
skirting it in the rear and with 25-foot
levee running from hill to hill. The town
is in much the same position as a forti-
fed 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 were
turned and tossed about like boxes The
people were not warned and for that rea-
son many We're 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 a majority were drowned.
Citizens came 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.
They had reason to believe the number
would reach 500 to 1000. The water stands
from 20 to 80 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-
graph nor telephone wires are working
and outside communication appears inn
possible
About II o'clock two steamboats, and a
couple of tugs started for Shawneetown
under full head of steam and it is ex-
pected some of them will arrive there
by a. NJ. They carry large supplies of
food and blankets, quickly collected by
the city officials
List of Victims Is Growing.
/ Chicago, April AIT l2:4O this morning
the operator at the longdistance 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 30 miles from Shawnee
town, and the information ON which the
estimate is based is believed to be relia-
BILE. The operator stated that the COM
panys wires to the stricken city failed
soon after 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 o'clock it was known in Mount
drowned, the estimate then being 100. A
relief boat bearing food, blankets and sur
geons was started down the river and was
expected to reach Shawneetown before
morning. Gradually the reports of loss of
life increased, the estimates of stories
coming from various points near the scene
of the ohod, showing clearly that the dis
aster was far more disastrous than was
at first believed. People at Mount Vernon
and surrounding towns beseiged the tele
graph offices, flantically asking for It'd
ings from friends and relatives in the
flooded town. No attempt at an accurate
list of the lost was possible, however, and
the crowds stood all night before the bull
letin boards on which were posted the
meagre 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
Shawneetown, six miles from this place.
The levee broke at o'clock this after
noon and the Ohio river flowed over the
town many feet deep. Scores of houses
are floating about tonight and many per
sons 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 off.
Trains can not reach there and telegraph
wires are down. The first report that
reached here was that the entire popula-
ton had been drowned, but this is not
confirmed The levee was built by the
government and was regarded as impreg-
nable, hence, the pople had taken no
precautions against a possible flood.
1t is reported that the water extends
for 10 miles inland and people are flee
ing for their lives in all the lowland ham
lets.