The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-04-04

ST. LOUIS, No., April IA special
to the Republic from Girard, H., says:
A telephone message has hcsH re-
celved here from shawneetown,' Ill,
saying that at 4:SO o'clock this after.
noon the leree above the city broke and
the city IS inundated. The water has
backed up for five miles and rushed
down Upon the city like tidal wave.
After the message was received tel
ephone and telegraph communication
with shawneetown was suddenly cut
or. which tends to confirm the report.
Nothing more has been learned. 1t is
rumored that over two hundred lives
were lost, although 1t is believed this es-
Innate Is too large.
Report Confirmed.
CHICAGO, April AT 1880 tonight
the operator In the long distance teie-
phone company's office at Mt Vernon,
Ind, informed the Associated Press
that the estimate on the loss of life at
Shawneetown was, ut that hour, 200.
ut Vernon Is but thirty miles from
ShawneetoM1. and the information OH
which the estimate is based Is believed
TO be reliable.
The operator stated that the conf
pany's wires to the stricken city, failed
soon after 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
At that hour It was known that the
dam was giving way, but It was not
thought it would go 10 pieces quickly
enough to cause loss OF life. BY s
o'clock It was known In Mt Vernon that
many people mad been drowned. the es-
innate then being one hundred.
A relief boat, bearing food, blankets
and surgeons, was started down the
river and was expected to reach Shaw
reetowH before morning. Gradually.
the reports OF loss Of life increased the
estimates, stories coming from various
points near the scene OF the Hood show
ing clearly that the disaster was far
more Serious than at first believed.
People from Mt. Vernon and the sur
rounding country bcsiege1 the tele-
phones and telegraph office, frantic for
tidinss from relatives and friends In the
flooded town. No attempt at an accu-
rate list Of the lost was possible how
ever, and the crowds stood all night
.cItoAt ehI boiibS loII
were posted the meagre reports being
received.
Terrible DcvnGtntion.
LOUISVILLE, KY, April IA spe-
cial to the Courier-Journal from Evans
Vile. Ind, says:
Shawneetown Is seventy-tlve miles
below Evansville on the Ohio river.
Houses were turned and tossed about
like boxes. The people We're no. warn
ed of the break and for that reason
so many were caught. Those at home
sought refuge in second stories and OH
house tops. Those In the streets were
carried before the avalanche OF water
and probably q majority were drowned.
Citizens came from the place by skiffs
to 4 telephone several miles away and
asked for aid from Evansville They
said that more than 200 people We're
drowned and they had reason to be-
l!eve II would reach 600 or even 1000.
The water starr,s from twenty to thirty
feet all over the town.
There are. OF course. no fire or lights
in the place, and total Darkness envel-
ops the desola.ed scene. Consequently
1t was Impossible for them to have any
thing like definite information. The
men quickly left the telephone and ro
communication has since been had with
the place. All telephone and telegraph
wires are now down ard outside COM
mun.catiOn appears to be impossible
A. 10 o'clock tonight two steamboats,
aE4 couple Of tugs started for Shaw
neetown under 4 full head of steam
and It Is expected some OF them will ar
rive there by . O'Clock In the morning.
They carry large supplies of food and
blankets quickly collected by the city
officials.
$50 Lives Lost.
CHICAGO. April "a special 20 the
Record from Cypress Junction, Ills,,
says: Two hundred and fifty persons
were drowned to-day by the inundatlon
OF Shawneetown, six miles from this
place. The north levec broke At 4:20 this
afternoon and the Ohio river flowed over
the town and many feet deep. 81
Scores OF houses are floating about to-
night and many persons are clinSnG to
the wreckage IN the hope ,hat rescuers
Will sOonappear with boats TO take them
to places OF Of safety.
All communication with the town Is cut
of. Trains cannot reach here 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 levce was built by the govern
ment and was regarded as lmpregnablc.
hence the people had taken no precau-
tons against a possible food s.tE Ea