The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1902-07-24
Farmers in Bottomlands Of Missouri
See Fine Fields Of Corn and
Wheat Swept Away.
BAY ISLAND COMPLETELY DEVASTATED.
Loss by the Hieh Water Will Agsre-
gate Fully $5OO,OOO-Heavy Rains
In Central Iowa Swell the Rivers
of That State to Eloodtide Again
Dam Breaks.

COuu1l1OuS vi Day 1SlduO duO IAS O0es
tom lands between Hannibal and West
Quincy are alarming. Bay Island con-
tains about 10000 acres of cultivated
land, upon which were the finest crops
of wheat and corn, but the entire is
land is now submerged except few
elevated spots, to depth of from one
to six feet.
1t is believed that the entire crop.of
corn is ruined and the wheat, which
was in shock, is total loss. The esti-
mated loss on this island alone is $685.
600. In fact the whole area of land
from the island to West Quincy is one
continuous lake and hardly dry spot
is to be found.
The stage of the river at nine o'clock
was IA feet and six inches, one foot
and six inches above the danger line.
The river has continued to rise slow
ly all day, and, according to the official
report sent out by the weather bu-
reau, there is to be further rise OF
two feet, which will inundate all the
low land in the Mississippi bottom and
will even test the Sni levee.
Farmers have been busy for the past
three days getting their stock off the
bottoms and driving it to the high
lands. They have about abandoned all
their crops and many of the renters
have lost everything.
The damage by the high water cam
not be estimated, but it will proba bly,
reach $50o,oo0. According to telc-
graph reports there were heavy rains
Saturday at Dubuque and Davenport
and it is raining at Hannibal.
Flood Begins in Iowa.
Keokuk, Ia, July 21.-Heavy rains
In central Iowa are sending food
down upon prosperous Missouri farm
ers which will ruin many of them
and cause losses aggregating. at q
conservative estimate So, 100000. There
seems to be no hope for the country
between the Mississippi river and it's
Missouri bluffs between Keokuk and
Hannibal, 300 square miles, mostly Of
corn laid by, with some thousands Of
acres of wheat in the shock. The wa
ter had touched the danger line the
first of the week and had begun to
recede when heavy floods started
again in the Des Moines, Skunk and
Iowa rivers. With stage in the Des
Moines river only three feet below
the tops of the great leyees, the river
began to rise three inches an hour
at it's mouth here Friday, continu-
ing until the factor of safety was
wiped out in the evening. A rise Of
1h feet in a short time at Ottumwa,
and further rise throughout ita
length below the capital city was pre-
vented from running out freely by
a rise of foot and half at Daven-
port, increasing and coming down
rapidly.
Warning Sent.
Friday afternoon the observer Of
the weather bureau at Keokuk, in
charge of this district, sent tele-
graphic warning to all points south
to prepare for danger. The crest is
expected here to-day or Sunday. The
Egyptian levee, which stood the flood
just receding, after strenuous efforts
to hold it, including the destruction
of farmhouses to secure lumber for
strengthening the dixie, is only slight
~ above the water now and the COM
ing flood in the Des Moines will top
it certainly. This lets the water into
hundreds of square miles, including
the town of Alexandria, Mo. The in
habitants there are preparing for an
overflow of the entire town to q
depth of several feet.
The worst feature is the time of
the years The corn crop is all made
and wheat is in the shock, entailing
total loss of the years work. Crops
were never finer and the yield prom
ised immense. Grain men say the
above estimate of value is too low
and put the figures of the loss from
the overflow nearer 100000 be-
tween Keokuk and Hannibal. It is
believed the Illinois levees will hold
and the damage there is likely to be
only $4,000 to $4,000 between Keo-
kuk and Quincy. Heavy rains are re-
ported in southeastern Iowa. Low
land farmers, river men and the
weather bureau observer alike pre-
dict the greatest damage ever known
from uoOu on Jne upper river.
Dam Breaks.
Burlington, Ia, July 21.-Advices
just received report the breaking Of
the Yellow Springs dam, north of here.
Fifteen hundred acres have been sub
merged. The water is the highest in
years. At Columbus Junction the re-
cent rains sent the Iowa and Cedar
rivers up again, running oats that was
being harvested and hundreds of acres
of corn.
DISASTROUS Drought in Mississippi.
Jackson, Miss, July 21.-Twenty
counties in Mississippi are suffering
from the effects of "a disastrous
drought and in over one-half of this
number the corn crop has been utterly
ruined while cotton has been damaged
from 60 to IS per cent. In Tallahatchie
county the destruction of crops is prac-
ticaNy complete and forest fires are
raging.
<. The drought area in Delata is spread
ing and the latest reports state that
in counties where the prospects were
excellent two weeks ago there has haen