New-York tribune., 1903-06-01
cnv The Associated Prcss->

condition of affairs was added the presence OF a
cold dismal rain.
The a-duous work of the heroic rescuers was
not abandoned in the least by the conditions
which confronted them. For long. drearE hours
,<nee deep in water. and sometimes In water up
TO their necks, they worked with 1nfght an"
main. Tonight they can point TO three hun
dred or more rescued persons, who otherwise
might have been swept away in the curren;
Leading men have made a careful exantna-
sion of the food and all its conditions. and as a
result Of their investigt'on they give 700 as the
probable number Of lives lost. A more con-
servative estimate places TIE number Of dead
at 175 The .igher number Is as likely TO De
correct as the lowe. The number Of dead Is
merely a matter Of guess
The conditions here tonight may he sum-
married as follows:
People drowned, 175 to 200.
People missing. 200
People homeless. S,cOo
Identified dead .
Floating bodies seen, %
Loss OF property, S4,ooo,oo-
Houses burned result OF fire in LUMBER from
Aeiacking lime. probably 100
Banks collapsed, > -
ble. so -.oa =
wholesale grocery stores flooded =
Passengers IN Rock Island trains held py
high water 150: city waterworks plant ruined
Twenty members of rescuing parties tell OF
how they saw people drop from houses. to be
svept away bv the food and others tell of men
who terrified at the approach Of the hre
dropped into the water, where they sank and
did not reappear.
This estimated number Of dead does not IN
eIude th. large number classed missing. VINO
cannot otherwise be accounted for. Neither
does At include the number who are supposed TO
have inst their lives in The fire. In the latter
class there is a absolutely means of arriving at
even an approximate number Of victims The
water is so high and the current so strong that
all that can be done now is to rescue those IN
the buildings surrounded ty water. 1t will be at
least )trree days before the correct number of
dead will be known
work of rescuing the victims of the food is
,,etnel pushed with vigor. Better results have
charaLterizeG the efforts of the organized forces
since ID O'Clock this afternoon than during all
rne rsrsces5ins tvyenty-four hours Two little
steanA launches are now putting up and down
the riter picking up survivors A larger steam
boat Is expected here by a special train on the
Rock lrslaud within twenty-four hours If 1t Is
possikle to run the train the boat will be
brought to point two miles above the city and
launched there,
A ttainload of small boats put out to-day. but
they here useless in battling against the mighty
curretat
A wire cable was stretched across the Kansas
ave bridge To this will be attached a sand dip
and Refugees viii be brought across in this. If
the flood does not rise higher. and those NOT yet
reached can keep their places few hours
longAr there need not necessarily be a much
IargerN loss of life
oeive4 for the benefit of the sufferers The
amouApt given by Topeka citizens alone viii ag-
grega9e S1oOoo0. To this is to be added an
fanlefse quantity Of clothing. provisions and
gene fl supplies. Outside towns have gener-
ousls offered aid. notably among which IS Gal
To1 light the portion Of Topeka not affected by
The 1 pod is crowded with refugees and people
from\ the surrounding country. who have come
TO witness the food conditions.
Tbefe Is great anxiety tonight to what to-
snorroE Will bring forth. If the river does not
receive Many more flood water west vest OF Of here: the
II the waiter rises at Manhattan and Wamego
to-morros lvin see & repetition OF the worst Of
the flood 81 les and the distress here will be
greatly intensified. Either contingency is with
, Topeka isl doing nobly by her sufferers. The
realthiest CITY of Kansas is proud to acknowl-
edge that Eo calls for outside help need to be
made. II fvin be necessary to raise great fund
for relief work. Weeks must elapse before order
can be restored from the existing chaos. Hun
dreds OF houses will have TO be rebuilt entirely
From the pontoon bridge TO the Melan arch
bridge as far the eye could reach to the
north, is one vast expanse Of water, dotted here
and there by badly wrecked crumbling build
fnrsl The half mile from Second-aye to the
Mel&n bridge is covered with water six to twelve
feet deep. through which a swift current is flow
ing On either side OF the pontoon bridge
sixty-tilree brick business buildings coEpleti0v
ruined by high water. Two have collapsed,
while the foundations of others are crumbling.
The money loss in this respect will aggregate
S5Go0n. This is the district in which all the
wholesale commission houses are and immense
snlou1ts have been lost by the commission men
AT slfis is on the south side of the river, where
VI damage has been comparatively lnsfgllllcdrll
IS believed that last nights reports about
- burning buildings were somewhat over
- N. Investigation to-day showed that only
ssgJt one-third of the buildings on the north
ssse tgere destroyed by fire. Fully half of the
IN 8sning buildings damaged by the
aid that they are absolutely useless. There
s p ii a house in the entire north part Of town
Lha+ihas not been seriously damaged.
TtE current is swifter and more destructive
tonight than at any time during the food.
.sTt Is impossible tell how long ft will take
tn get our Kansas City-Topeka line open,' said
rEe1eraI Manager Nudge of the Santa Fe to-
nav. I'VE cannot Tell how much track is gone
untfl the waters rtcede, Tor what condition the
rext ~ fhe track is in. We have been using the
Frisco tracks from Olathe into Kansas City,
l,,,t high water knocked the Frisco out near
Tosedale We are trying to get into Kansas
City over the Missouri Pacific tracks from
ottawa but do not know yet how we will sue
ceeG.
AT the present time We are cut on from Kan
sas CITY completely. Our main line from
Topeka TO Newton is open again. but with the
heavy rains that have been falling II would not
he surprising if we have some more trouble near
strong City. This has been the worst storm the