Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-06-04
DARK HOURS IN Topeka.
Agonizing Cries Mingle With Hun
dreds of Pistol Shot Signals
of Distress.
FIRE AND FLOOD CLAIM MANY LIVES.

Special Train Carrying n Steamboat
to Stricken City-Rescue Work
Goes On-GaIveston Responds No.
bly, With Contributions for Sur
vivors.
Topeka, Kas, June with one
hundred and seventy-fve or two hun
dred lives lost; millions of dollars of
property destroyed; hundreds of pis-
toll shots as signals of distress, blend
ed with the agonizing cries of unwill-
ing inhabitants of tree tops and roofs
of houses, and the waters creeping
upward and then slowly subsiding and
alternately changing hope to despair,
the capital city of Kansas passed the
memorable Sabbath day of its ex-
istence. Through all this discomfort
ing condition of affairs was added the
presence of a cold and dismal rain.
The ardor of heroic rescuers was
not abated in the least by the condi-
tons which confronted them. For
long dreary hours knee-deep in water
and sometimes in water up to their
necks, they worked with might and
main. To-day they can proudly point
to three hundred or more rescued
ones who, otherwise, might have been
swept away in the current.
Condition Briefly Stated.
Briefly stated, the present condition
of the food is this:
One hundred and seventy to two
hundred people drowned.
Eight thousand people without
homes.
Four million dollar loss of proper.
ty.
Identified dead, five.
People missing, 200.
Houses burned, result of fire in
lumber from stacking lime, probably
two hundred.
Banks collapsed, two.
Wholesale grocery stores flooded,
two. ",
Big business blocks almost ready
to crumble, so.
Wholesale commission houses de-
serted, six.
Rock Island trains containing $50
passengers held here by high water.
City waterworks plant useless.
The known drowned:
Karl Rupp.
Orville Rupp.
Two Rupp girls.
G. II. CARROTS four-year-old son.
Twenty unidentified bodies.
Estimate on Number of Dead.
Leading men have made a careful
examination of the flood and all it's
conditions, and as a result of their
investigation they give $50 as the
probable number of lives lost. A
more conservative estimate places the
number of dead at IT'S.
The higher number is as apt to be
correct as the lower. The number of
dead is merely a matter of estimate.
Twenty members of rescuing parties
tell of how they saw people drop
from houses only to be swept away
by the flood and others tell of men
who, terrified at the approach of the
fire, dropped into the water where
they sank and did not reappear.
The Missing Not Included.
This estimated number of dead does
not include the large number classed
as missing who can not otherwise be
accounted for. Neither does it include
the number Of people who are sup
posed to have lost their lives in the
fire. In the latter class there is alb.
solutely no means of arriving at ever
an approximate number of victims.
The water is SO high and the cur
rent so strong that all that can be
done now is to rescue those in tn,
buildings surrounded by water.
Launches Picking Up Survivors.
1t will be at least three days before
the correct number of dead will b.
decided upon. Work of rescuing the
victims of the floods is being pushed
forward with vigor. Better results
have characterized the efforts of TIL,
organized forces since four o'clocl
Sunday afternoon than during all tn,
preceding "a hours. Two little steam
launches are now putting up and dowl
the river picking up survivors. 4
larger steamboat is expected here b,
u special train on the Rock Islant
within "a hours. If possible to rul
the train the boat will be brought tt
a point two miles above the city ant
there launched.
A trainload of small boats wa,
brought in Sunday, but they were use
less in battling against the might,
current.
Cows Arrival Saves Two Liyer.
A COW swan to the Melan bridge
Sunday, and is now making its HON,
there. A woman and a little baby wer,
brought to the bridge later by res
cuers. Both were almost starved.
rescuer got a bucket and MIXED tn,
cow and gave the milk to the woman
and baby.
Buildings in the submerged distric
continue to collapse. 1t is reported
that two or three big store building
|, on North Kansas avenue which es
, capped the fire Saturday night are nov