The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-06-12
FLOODS ARE EATING
!. AWAY The LEvEES'
st, Louis Beginning to Fear the
Full Force of the Rising
Mississippi.
MADISON LEVEE BREAKS
City of Venice, ILL.,, Is Already Deserv.
ing of Its Name-Some Denizens
Are Living in Empty Box Cars,
Kindly Loaned by Railroad.

st. Louis, June S.-The terrific force
Ind the magnitude of the flood which
sweeping down the Mississippi,
steadily increasing in volume, sur
mounting and demolishing barriers of
protection and greedily tapping at
property and reaching for lives as it
'esistlessly extends farther beyond the
ordinary river confines. is now being
.elt in st. Louis and vicinity to an
alarming extent.
The flood is the one absorbing topic
Of conversation, and throngs Of people
:ongregate upon the Eads bridge and
I'LL the street approaches to the flooded
eVee to view the torrent of muddy Wa
;er that is swirling past ST. Louis and
spreading out over the loWlands with
devastating energy.
Government Forecaster Bowie last
eight issued a bulletin predicting a
stage of thirty-tive feet by today noon;
:hirty-siX feet by Sunday, and thirty
seven feet on Monday.
The Mississippi north of the mouth
Of the Missouri is rising STILL but the
:apidity Of the rise has been dimin-
shed because of the breaks in the le-
wees.
The great Sny levee, which extends
FOR miles along the Illinois shore from
Hannibal nOrthWard, broke yesterday,
and the angry waters went rushing
through the crevasse to devastate thou
sands of acres of fertile farming lands.
Possibly some lives may be lost, but
40 reports of loss of life were received
lp to late hour last night.
Madison Levee Goes Out.
Late in the day the flood forced a
passage through the levee at Madi-
son, ILL.,, just north of st. Louis. This
leVee is fifteen miles long, and for days
men nave been hard at work endeavor-
ing to strengthen it, but the river
found its weak point in a sewer way,
and the water broke through like a
geyser. Carloads of bags of sand and
all other available material were hur-
rled to the break and dumped in, but
me force of the flood washed out the
illing and the break constantly widen
ed. West Granite, a town of 1000 peo-
pie, is located in q depression between
The leVee and a railroad embankment.
Ample warning had been sounded, and,
he inhabitants had sought safety when
the deluge came. 1t is believed all es-
capped, but the town is under water.
Like the ancient city of Venice, the
streets of Venice, H., almost opposite
St. Louis, are waterways, and the in
Gabitants go about in boats. Venice
was the first town in this vicinity to
feel the full force of this flood and has
been under water for two days. There
is reason for grave fears that the wa
ters may break through additional
ievees and railroad entertainments and
rush down upon East St. Louis, inhict-
ing by the suddenness of the on
slaught very great damage.
In St. Louis the buildings along the
river front have practically been aban-
doned, as the first floors are over
foot under water, which stands two
feet deep on the top of the steamboat
levee.
Levee denizens are preparing for the
worst
Refugees Live in Box Cars.
Hundreds Of refugees from West
Granite last night sought shelter in
freight cars on the Wabash tracks. In
anticipation OF such an emergency the
Wabash had trains of empty box
cars shunted in on the side
tracks, and these cars, together
with cars on other roads in
the vicinity, last night formed shelter
for over 700 families. Each family has
the use of car. Many families have
succeeded in saving some of their fur
niture, and hurriedly made themselves
as comfortable as possible in their novel
temporary homes. Long trains Of in
habited freight cars are also on the
siding at Venice and Madison.
At midnight the river stage regis
tered 34.6 feet, rise of almost inch
es since I o'clock. Another break ac-
Cured at midnight in the levee at West
Granite and fifty families living in the
vicinity were forced to flee for their
lives The entire town is now mum
dated.
The situation on the east side of the
river is reported as very critical.
Breaks in levees and railroad embank-
mentS are expected hourly.
So far no loss of life has been re-
ported.
A small break occurred last night in
the Chicago and Alton embankment at
Mitchell, twelve miles above East St.
Louis, and 1000 acres Of land were
flooded.
Louisiana, Mo-, June 6.-The shy
levee broke opposite here at 10 o'clock
yesterday morning.
One hundred thousand acres Of farm
land protected by the levee probably
will be flooded. It is estimated the loss
.es resulting will aggregate millions.
Quincy, ILL.,, June G.-The Mississippi
is rising from Keokuk to st. Louis,
and three levees north of here have
broken, flooding nearly 10000 acres of
land under cultivation, with much
more threatened. Two hundred fam
lilies have moved out in skiffs, and the
crop loss is estimated at 100000, to say
nothing of the damage to homes and
loss of stock.
RIVERS FALLING FAST.
Union Depot at Kansas Civ Will BE