Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-07-13
THE TERRIBLE TEXAS FLOOD.
ONE HUNDRED LIVES KNOWN TO BE LOST
AND DEATH CERTAIN FOR MORE.
THH BRAZ0S VALLEY A WILDERNESS.
Farmers Engaged In Saving their Live Stock
Loss VIII Reach 100000.

HousToN, TEXAS, July GA COR
respondent has just returned from a
voyage through the flood districts.
The half has not been told of tho
the havoc wrought. The disaster is
so appalling that description is not
possible. After this flood will come
sickness undoubtedly, and what a
week ago was the fairest part Of
Texas is now almost God-forsaken
wilderness.
The waters of the Brazos have for
six days covered its valley to a depth
Of from six to thirty feet. Where a
week ago there were on every hand
fields of cotton and corn and thou
sands of acres of watermelons and
cantaloupes, to-day there is slime all
over the vegetation. The carcasses
are found of COWS, mules, pigs, dogs
and cats, mayhap human beings, for
many are missing.
Our party left Bryan at sunrise
yesterday morning, going to the
Navasoto bottoms and to point
about three miles from Millican.
Here we encountered everywhere an
overflow from the Navasoto, which
spread out fully two miles on either
side of the Houston and Texas Cen
tral track. Everything is under
water from two to seventeen feet. It
looked on all sides like a great lake,
and the water was 80 high that for a
vast area it completely submerged
the telegraph and telephone poles
along the line. In truth, portions of
the Navasoto bottoms are even now
a perfect sea, extending four or five
miles wide at certain places.
HUNDREDS OF HOUSES SUBMERGED.
| saw hundreds of houses uhere
totally submerged, and as many
more were swept from their founda-
tions and destroyed. The planters
of the bottoms are still moving their
help and whatever is left of their
stock to places where thoy can be
cared for. They arc nobiy helping
each other, and taking refuge wher-
ever they can, some of them seeking
safety on housetops.
All the planters stated that the
outside world has no conception of
the losses incurred by the destruction
of crops, stock and buildings. Nearly
every planter has built boats and
sent them through the flooded dig
tricts to render assistance to the
people, and, if possible, save some of
their drowning stock.
The flood district has length of
over 500 miles, breadth of proba-
bly, fifty miles, and in all this vast
space damage incalculablo has been
done.
The loss of life will never be fully
known perhaps. The bottoms were
thickly settled, mostly with negro
tenant farmers, and among these has
been the greatest loss of life. To
show the damage done, the following
estimate has been made by men who
are in position to know:
Lives lost, from 100 to 800; loss
to farmers, including crops as well as
live stock, from $5,000,000 to $751;
100000; damage to railroad and
country bridges, from $2,0OO,OOO to
$4,O00,OO0.
These estimates are taken in the
whole area. 1t is known that more
than sixty people have met their
death, and many bodies have been
recc Nred. 1t is not believed that
all of them will over be recovered.
SHERIFF. swEARINGEN TALKS.
At 1.45 o'clock =. NJ. to-day Dep.
uty Sheriff Swearingen, of Austin
county, made the following state.
ment over the long-distance telc.
phone at Sealey:
"Relicf has not reached tho flood
victims in this section. Thirteen
dead bodies have been recovered
near the town of Brookahire, thirteen
miles from here. Forty-five persons
above Sealoy are reported missing
and given up for dead. Seven wore
drowned to-day in 0 boat scvora
miles below Sealey.
"About four hundred persona ak
isolated Oh a small piece of land ir
tho Brazos bottoms three miles from
Brookshirc. Several hundred moro
are surrounded at San PHILIPPE, three
miles from Sealey. Unless reliot
.