The Green Forest tribune., 1903-06-13
FLOOD LOSSES IN KANSAS.
Millions Have Been Swept Away
 in the SunfIower State.

Kansas has suffered as re- suit of the recent floods more than any other state. No exact figures of the loss sustained can, of course, be given, but those who have an intimate knowledge of the sections submerged and the extent and force of the floods have been making estimates, and the conclusion which they have reached may be considered fairly reliable. The damage done in the principal cities and towns is estimated as follows: North Topeka, S250,OOO; Lawrence, $500, ,000; Salina, S2O0,OOO; Man haitian, S150, 1000; St. Marys, $40, . GOO; Wamego, S10,000; Blue Rapids, S2O,000; Clay Center, S30, ,0OO; Enterprise S3O,OOO Con- cordia, S35, ,O00; Junction City, S1O0, ,OOO; Solomon, $50, ,O0O; Abi- lene S250, ,000; Ellsworth, S2O, ,OOO; Lindsborg, S100, ,000; Hutchinson S1OO, ,OOO; Minneapolis, S100, : 900; Emporia, S64 ,000; Florence, S5O, ,OOO; Lincoln Center, $50, ,0OO; Atchison, S1OO,00O; Burlington, S20. .0OO; Hill City, $50, 1000; Beloit, S30,00O; Argentine, S2, : 900, ,OOO, and Kansas City, Kan. , and suburbs, S8,000,000. No account has been taken of the smaller towns, although nearly 200 of these were affected.
 The very lowest estimate that can be made of the loss done to crops is S5,000,000. Owing to the lateness of the season and the condition of the soil, it is very doubtful if any profit will be drawn during the remainder of the year from inundated farms.
 Two generations ago, in 1844, when the Missouri and Kansas River valleys were flooded even more deeply than they have been this time, Kansas City was nothing but town site, almost unoccupied; Topeka's foundation was still a matter of ten years in the future, while as for Kansas City, Kan, thirty years were to pass before men began to gather in numbers on it's site.
 In those days Independence was the the only town worthy of the name in that region. It had been founded in 1927, had re- gently been the headquarters of the Mormons, and was the start ing point for adventurers into the uneXplored west. It's site was four miles from the Missouri river, and it was safe from the danger of the waters.
 In 1881, the time of the last flood which at all approached the present one in extent, Kansas City was flourishing city of 55, . GOO; it's neighbor across the river in Kansas had about 5000 in- habitants, and Topeka popula- tion numbered 15, ,00O, The Kan sas City people were for the most part safe, however, in their hills, and in both the other places the residents had the advantage of the most favorable location for their homes. Those who suffer- ed in the low lands which were Hood-swept were comparatively few in number.
 How different is the situation to-day. The cities have all grown rapidly, and their manu- lecturers have seized the river lands for their buildings, attract ing around them thousands of homes, whose occupants were ignorant and needless of the possibilities of flood times. To- peka had doubled it's population since 1880, many of the newcom- CTS settling in lowlands north of the Kansas river. Kansas City has tripled it's size and Kansas City, Kan, has multiplied it's people almost twenty fold.
 Now come the. torrents of water, bringing loss of life and the destruction of prop erty in a measure so large that the floods of 1903 will always remain among the worst memories of the three cities. The steady growth of the cities proved to have been a steady advance into danger, and o v>out <,f flo