Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1898-04-06
over A HUNDRED DEAD.
A Terrible Disaster 0vertakes the
Town Of Shawneetown, Ills.
ENGULFED IN A SUDDEN DELUGE
The Bursting or Levee Caught the
People without Warming, Carrying
Many to Death-The People Depend
ent Upon Charity OF Nearby Towns.


People without Warming, Carrying
Many to Death-The People Depend-
ent Upon Charity OF Nearby Towns.
Evansville, Ind, April AT 4:30
o'clock yesterday afternoon the levee
at Shawneetown, Ills, q town of 1000
inhabitants, broke q mile above the
town, and the place was quickly sub
merged. many houses being swept
away and hundred or more persons
drowned.
Shawneetown is 7h miles below Ev-
ansville, on the Ohio river. 1t is sit
uated In valley of extremely low land,
with hills skirting 1t in the rear, and
with a 25 foot levee In front running
from hill to hill. The town is very
much in the position of fortified city,
and when the levee gave wav a mile
above town under the pressure of the
very high river the water shot through
a 20 foot opening and struck the place
like hurricane. sweeping everything
before it.
j. T. Hogan, of Omaha, Ills, left the
scene Of the flood half an hour before
the dixie broke. His brother-in-law,
Sheriff Galloway, of GaHatin county,
whose home was at Shawneetown, had
the same good fortune. The sheriff s
wife and two daughters were swept
away and their bodies have not yet
been recovered. Hogan's story of the
flood shows that the townspeople had
absolutely no warning of the disaster.
about 5 o'clock in the evening" he
said, 'the levee on the north side of
he fnxx of tIa
of Market street, near the court house.
An opening ten feet wide was at first
made, but it quickly spread to 20, and
wall Of water 10 or is feet high
poured through the main street, sweep
ing everything before it. About so
small frame houses along the line of
the levee to the south were crushed
like toys, and none of the occupants
most of whom were poor colored folks
escaped. Those living in the more sub
stantial houses managed to climb to
second and third stories, where they
clung for hours through the chilly
night.
Houses in the western part of the
town did not at once feel the effect of
the flood and residents made hasty
steps for safety, most of them fleeing
to the top of the levee, on the south
side of the town. A large number also
reached the little hills, which are a
mile away, and from there saw their
property crumble in the muddy waters.
When daylight came the streets were
full of water to a depth of IL feet. Only
the most substantial buildings In the
central business district remain stand
ing. The relief work is being carried
out under great difficulties"
Cypress Junction Is almost surround
ed by water, which has overfiowed the
banks of the Wabash and is covering
the entire country. The overflow from
the broken dixie at Shawneetown has
backed up two miles inland, but is to-
day slowly receding. 1t will be impos-
sible to recover any bodies until the
waters recede. In fact the rescuers
are making very little effort in that
direction, but are working to save
those who escaped. The Riverside ho-
tel and court house and the Ridgeway
bank are intact and are used by the
fleeing inhabitants for shelter. The
upper stories are crowded.
. The lower portion Of Carmi, Ills, on
the Wabash river, is entirely flooded.
The water reaches half way to the Sec
ond stories of the houses.
The following Is a partial list of those
who are missing and probably dead:
Colonel Callicutt, Wash Callicutt, Mrs.
Callicutt, Mrs. Galloway and two
daughters, Mrs. Holly, Mrs. Greer, Mrs.
Ed Flake, Mr.. and Mrs. Charles Clay
ton and their four children, Annie
Reinholt, Clarence Reinholt, Mrs. Paul
Phalen and her three children, a
nephew of the Phalens, Mrs. McClain,
Florence Evans, r. S. Hooker, tele-
graph operator; Miss Cora Sherwood,
Frank A. Morrison, Mrs. A. A. Hatha-
way, Ellen and Mary McAllister (col-
ored), Henry King and four children
(colored), Noah Walsh and family,
Mrs. Zach Meier, Paul McAllister, Will
lam Thompson, wife and three chill
dren; M. ]. Harnett, Mr.. Holly, Charles
Cation and son.