Crawford avalanche., 1898-03-31

People Driven from Home.
Flood damage reaching into the millions
of dollars is reported throughout Indiana
and Ohio. Thousands Of families are
homeless and many Of them are dependent
upon charity. Many cities report that the
water is ut the highest stage ever known.
Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania and West
Virginia also report rivers turned into
raging torrents, but in those States the
damage thus far done is comparatively in
significant.
Two railroad wrecks have resulted from
washouts. One was in Ohio, where Bal
timore and Ohio passenger train went
through a bridge near Frazeysburg. The
other and the more serious one was near
Columbus, Ind, where wrecking train
met disaster.
Property loss in Indiana will exceed
$1,000,00O. All the streams are overflow.
ing their banks, houses and railroad
tracks have been washed away, and grow
ing crops have been seriously damaged
Near Greensburg, the loss of two lives Is
reported. Franklin has 200 homeless fam
lilies to care for, while Shelbyville has 800
and Rushvil!e $50. These are simply
sample figures from entire hoosierdom.
At Warsaw the canal gave way and the
business section of the city was threat
ened, while ut Shelbyville the 'levee prov
ed too weak to withstand the raging wat
ers.
Throughout central and southern Ohio
all the railroads are either crippled or
totally disabled. The damage in the State
may amount to 81 100000. Dayton re-
ports the conditions worse than at any
period since 1866, when the central part
Of that populous city was inundated. Del
aware has four business blocks under
water and a much wider territory threat
ened. Canal Dover is cut off from the
outside world, and unless the waters soon
subside many lives will be placed in jeop-
ardy. The list of homeless in GAINESVILLE
foots up to 1000. In Columbus 1000 per-
sons are imprisoned in the upper stories of
dwellings in the western part of the city.
They are surrounded by an artificial lake,
but. as the water there is said to be sub
siding, they will soon be released from
their peculiar Imprisonment.
An idea of the flood conditions in vari-
Gus sections can be CLEANED from condens-
ed press dispatches given below:
Indiana.
The White river is still rising.
The Richmond electric light plant is
drowned out.
Dams at Palestine and Oswego are re-
ported in jeopardy.
The canal north of Warsaw overfiowed,
flooding the entire vicinity.
Between 100 and $50 Rushviile families
have been driven from their homes.
At st. Paul, the Bickhart -four mills
have been washed out and destroyed.
The property loss in Decatur County is
about 500, 900. and two lives have been
lost in. the food.
Several bridges on the Big -Four and
Cambridge railroads are out, as well as
ten miles Of roadbed
The loss to the farming community
around Shclbyvile is estimated at from
100000 to 100000.
Many important towns are temporarily
cut off and trains have been entirely aban-
doned on some roads.
The northeastern section Of Indianapolis
is submerged, and many people have been
driven from their homes or forced to the
second stories.
Between thirty and forty miles of track
of the Louisville division of the Pan
Handle are washed away between Louis
vile and indianapolis.
Indian river and Young's creek have
broken through the levees, flooding the
northern and western parts of Franklin
and sweeping many houses from their
foundations. Two hundred families are
homeless.
Hundreds are homeless at Newark.
At Cincinnati the Ohio will probably
Seach fifty-fiye feet.
Floods have caused n shutdown of near
ly every factory in Hamilton.
ii. c. Ross was killed as bridge col
apsed in Muskingum County.
-Four thousand GAINESVILLE people have
been driven from their homes, and few of
them saved any household effects.
Four squares of Delaware business
houses are under water, and scores of
wagon and foot bridges have been carried
away.
Nearly all railroads in central and south.
ern Ohio are either crippled or totally dis
abled because of washouts or destroyed
bridges.
The Tuscarawas river has broken loose
In one of the biggest floods ever known,
and Canal Dover is entirely cut off from
the outside world.
The levees which protected the west
side of Columbus against ordinary floods
are submerged. Fifteen hundred or 1000
persons were driven to the upper floors
of dwellings situated in an artificial lake.
A bridge over the Wakatomika creek at
FraZeysburg gave way while Baltimore
and Ohio passenger train was crossing,
and the whole train was submerged. Pas
| sengers crawled to the tops of the cars
and were soon taken away by farmers in
skiffs. No one was seriously injured.