Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-06-25
REPORTS EXAGGERATED
LOSS of Life in the Mountain Dis
tricts is Unknown.
CANNOT Be DETERMINED FOR DAYS
Passenger Train Containing Forty
People Engulfed-Telegraphic com-
munication With the Stricken Dis
trict Is Impossible.

Roanoke, June PA passenger
train from the west over the Norfolk
and Western railroad reached here at
$50 o'clock this morning, six hours
late, bringing news from the devasted
coal fields of West Virginia. Among
the passengers were several who
came direct from Vivian, from which
place they We're compelled to walk
eleven miles to Ennis TO enable them
get train. They declare, the num-.
Der of deaths has been exaggerated
and express the opinion that not over
one hundred lives have been lost.
The mountain districts lying back
| from the railroads probaly suffered
heavily and the exact loss of lifeEwill
not be known for several days A
railroad man from Vivian told the As
sociated Press the rain started Friday
night and continued for some time in
moderation. Shortly after midnight
there was a cloudburst over Vivian.
4 Two large stores, a dozen sa,nll houses
and one hundred freight cars We're
soon washed away and wreckea:@A
1 passenger train standing in the yards
with forty passengers aboard was en-
!, quilted in the waters but with the aid
of ropes all passengers escaped to
places of safety. A colored section
hand we
at 8 o'clock Saturday morning.
| Streams are gradually falling. The
bodies of two colored men were seen
at Eckman and three colored and one
white at Empire. Three persons, are
reported drowned near North Fork
Junction.
Lines All Down.
Nearly all bridges and much track
was swept away on the Norfolk and
Western railroad around Vivian All
telegraph lines are down. People who
came from Vivian did not come
through Keystone but state the dam
age done there is not as great as at
first reported, although they cannot
say how many lives We're lost there.
Damage Immense.
The damage done all over the coal
fields is immense. Much valuable ma
chinery has been washed away and
many cars were washed down the riv-
:, er along the Elkhorn valley At Shaw
nee, the Shawnee Coal company lost
all its mules.
Seventeen Dead at Keystone.
Reports from Keystone state the
number of dead there is seventeen ten
Ih9Un hpnn b,lri16 pf nc
who refused1to work for the town at So
per day, are said to be loafing around
waiting for chance to steal from the
debris. Newspapermen have gone to
the coal fields and it is expected that
:, deAnite news will be received today.
One Thousand Men Repairing Damage.
t Williamson, w. Va, June 24,-The
estimated damage from the cloud
burst over Mcdowell and Mingo coun-
!, ties, West Virginia, and Pike county,
Kentucky, is more than half million
dollars. One thousand men are at
, work repairing the tracks of the Nor
folk and Western railroad. The loss
t of life is feared in the interior Of these
counties.
One Thousand Dead.
0 Huntington, w Va, June 24.-Gov.
9 w lilS Is uSlS uidhllS arrangements 10
S get tents and provisions for the strick-
: en- district along the Norfolk and West
t ern railroad. He says he fears the
e death list will exceed one thousand.
S 800 Dead in Richmond.
Richmond, Va, June 24.-Confiict-
ing reports received here place the
loss of life in the Flat Top region from
: the flood, at from two to three hum
: dred. 1t is pretty certain the Key
stone has been washed out but the loss
: of life there is probably oyer-estimat-
t eu.
Children Drown.
} There has been a tremendous flood
q at Charlestown, West Virginia, and
9 several children We're drowned near
q lTazewell.
L Loss is Millions,
New York, June 24-Mayor Land,
, of Bluefield, West Virginia, wires as
= follows: 1T is estimated that two
= hundred lives We're lost in the Elkhorn
flood. The damage to the Norfolk and
Western railroad is estimated half a
e million dollars; to coal companies and
L individuals, two million dollars. There
d lis no communication with any point
1t further down the valley than Elkhorn.
e II am unable to tell whether outside
Q assistance will be needed until further
a 8 10