Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-26
FLOODS SWEEP SPRINGFIELD
Heavy Rains Make Turtle Greek q River
and Sweep Buildings Away.
MANY HOUSES FLOODED, THREE WRECKED
PaPnliOn IL Also Under water and
Much Damage is Dene to Prop
erty In Both Town and
Country.


Country.
SPRINGFIELD. Neb., May $.-(special
Telegram. )-Springfield suffered the worst
flood this evening in the history of the
town, rain began falling at o'clock ana
In less than two hours the west half of the
town was completely under water. At
O'Clock Turtle creek valley was quarter
OF a mile wide and from three to thirty
feet deep. The residences of T. ]. Wright,
Louis Nichels and Stephen Glasco were
washed from their foundations and went
whirling toward the Gulf of Mexico, while
water stood from three to four feet deep in
the residences of L. ]. Smith, d. +. Min.
turn, 1. l. Crawford, John Lining, George
kirfman. DR.. A. J. Blodgett George Rob.
erts, John Tyo and Mrs. Frank Ball.
All the families were removed to places
of safety, but the damage to household
furniture and outbuildings will be con-
siderable. One half mile south the Sarpy
county fair grounds are completely de-
stroyed, tho judges stands, the grand
stand, speed barn, hog and sheep houses
have all gone toward the Father Of Waters.
W. ]. Duve lost his slaughter house and ice
house with upwards of 300 tons of ice. w.
II. Davidson had several hundred head of
hogs in the fair grounds buildings and they
are also gone, together with several head
of cattle. The exact amount of damage
| cannot be ascertained tonight, as roads
and bridges are obliterated in all direc-
tions.
The Home Telephone company farm lines
| are all in working shape and reports from
the outside country indicate corn badly
washed out and a great amount of It will
| have to be replanted.
On the main street, where the several
new brick buildings were in course of con-
| struction, the wind blew down the west
wall of w, ]. Duve's saloon building, leav-
| ing 1t a total wreck.
A telephone report from Louisville re-
| ports the little station of Meadow, four
miles south of here, blown away. This
| report cannot be verified tonight, as tele-
phone and telegraph lines are down.
]. A. Bailey was out In his barn when
| the flood came. He succeeded in cutting
his horses loose and then climbed into a
tree with six little pigs and remained there
for almost two hours with ten foot flood
raging between him and mother earth. He
was rescued by neighbors after the food
receded. The heaviest loss will fall upon
W. ]. Duve in the loss Of his new buiId-
ing. slaughter house. live stock and Ice
house and contents, which leaves Spring
| field without ice.t
PapilliOn Again Flooded.
PAPILLIoN, Neb.. May 25-(special Tel
egram.)--At 8 o'clock tonight Papillion was
4 again visited by a food. Rain and hail fell
| for thirty minutes. The water In the creek
has raised until It covers the entire busi-
ness part OF toWR.s-rhe current Is very
| swift and a great deal OF damage Is being
4 d0nQ The nyaf o. Gttl ID
midnight things will be in a serious condi-
tion unless 1t goes down. People are nov
ing from their houses and are trying to
| save all their effects possible. The Union
Pacific tracks are washed out between here
and Gilmore and also for half mile west
| OF here The Missouri Pacific is washed
| out In bad shape at Portal Trains are all
being held with no show of movement
EXETER, Neb., May S.-Cspecial. Am
| other severe rainstorm broke over this
vicinity Sunday evening. II was accom-
panied by terrific thunder and lightnins,
but did no particular damage, except 70
sun further delay the farm work. Many
who have planted their corn consider those
fortunate who have not began, as IL is
being washed from the ground in some
places. The railroad embankment is the
only possible means of egress out Of the
southwest portion of the town as the
streets are completely submerged and the
sidewalks are partly washed away
YORK, Neb., May 5.-(Special)-T
continued rainfall Is making a large num-
Der OF ponds on farm lands in this county.
| where there is not suficient drainage,
Water Is standing in places that was never
known to hold water before. The farmers
of this county arc making efforts to drain
their land into draws on land adjoining.
Hundreds OF acres will be drained. Thou.
sands OF feet of ditch and tiling are con.
tracted for Land tiled and drained has
proven to be the richest and most produc.
tive.
HUMBOLDT, Neb., May 25-(special)-
Another downpour of rain came to this
section shortly before midnight last night
accompanied by a terrific wind from the
northwest, which for a time had many OF
the characteristics of a tornado Fortu-
nately however very little damage was
done by this element The rainfall caused
all the streams TO become swollen TO the
extent that many are bank full The Ne
maha is out OF Its banks In many pIaces
and indications are that II Will flood the
entire valley by night Considerable corn
was washed out and several wheat fields
are now under water, so much damage 4,
sure to result