The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1902-07-24
MANY LOSE ALL THEY HAD.
The Mississippi Floods Cause Immense
Damage.

Damage.
Keokuk, Ia, July 20.-Explora-
tion OF the flooded districts of the
Mississippi river from Keokuk south
shows conditions beyond the realiza-
tion of any but persons of long expe.
rience with the river in its most de-
structive mood There is absolutely
not the slightest chance of stopping
this most costly food in the history
OF the great river above St. Louis.
A Correspondent went over the
worst damaged area to-day in the
steamer Silver Crescent and found ev-
erywhere the greatest crops ever
known under water deep enough to
float a steamboat. Hundreds OF
farmers rich ten days ago are penni-
less and homeless, hundreds watch
ing and praying that the great levees
may hold, which are now their bull
wark against additional millions of
loss and many cases of penury.
Careful estimates OF the territory
covered indicate the loss up to to-
day is about & million dollars, with
every prospect OF . or 3 millions ad-
ditional. Most of this loss is ON the
Missouri side of the river between
Keokuk and Hannibal.
Immense fields are seen in a great
lake as far as the shore line, visible
only with a glass where the high
bluffs bound the bottoms. Islands
dotting the river at its normal stage
have disappeared except for the tops
of trees or fringe or high shore will
lows slightly protruding. Occasion
ally house on piles or stills is seen,
but generally only roofs protrude to
mark the center of farms of corn. On
the edge of the food river corn grad
ually rises on a slope. tassels, tops,
ears, stalks appearing in order. In
, a few OF the half.submerged fields is
shocked wheat in the background,
the remnants of many more washed
to the Gulf of Mexico.
, The river is from five to ten miles
wide. All that territory was practic-
ally covered with corn two weeks ago,
, estimated to make seventy-tive to a
hundred bushels to the acre. Previ-
ous estimates of the loss have been
greatly increased by the prospective
, yield being found much greater than
( ever before, experts telling of many
farms that were good for one hun
dred bushels to the acre before the
food. The loss is total.
The height of the flood is indicated
by an incident at LaGrange. The
steamboat warehouse was well back
from the river bank and sits high. A
strong current and a gale caused the
pilot to make an imperfect landing
and the cornice of the roof of the
warehouse was torn off by the for
ward guards of the Silver Crescent.
The river is rising all the time, six
inches during the day in theimmense
area OF seven hundred square miles,
, and the worst to come by the extern
sion of the flooded area by the water
passing levees which it is now top
ping.
The worst flood so far is on the
Missouri side from keokuk to Louisi-
, ana, with Canton and West Quincy
as centers of the country hurt worse.
On the Illinois side are three continu-
GUS levees for forty miles from War.
saw to Quincy, above the water and
thus far safe, but farmers are afraid
ofcrevasses from musk rat holes, and
every rod of the redoubt is watched
, DAY and night. The breaking OF
these levees would food 175 square
miles in Illinois and destroy from
million dollars to 3 million dollars
worth OF corn. The levees below in
, Quincy are in the same situation, ex-
cept that they are lower and less
= firm.