The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-07
PEOPLE AROUSED TO POSSIBILITY
OF A RECURRENCE OF DISASTER
1t Has Been Suggested That the Channels of The Rivers
Be Changed and Cut Deeper, So That the Effects of
Another DeIuge Would Not Be So Disastrous.

Kansas. the State Of paradoxes. famous
for It's tornadoes and droughts. has set the
pace as disastrous flood center.
AS the home Of cyclones and many isrns.
Kansas long has held the lead. As the Cen
trail Western expanse, where the sustenance
Of the count. :; often is blighted by the with
ering sun. 1t has an established reputation.
This spring, IN three weeks Of downpour,
Kansas absorbed unto itself most of the
rain that fell in the country. with the re-
suit that all its previous disasters by cy-
clones or droughts were eclipsed. Thousands
upon thousands Of acres OF crops were laid
waste. Hundreds upon hundreds Of domes-
tic animals were drowned. Scores of human
beings met death. and many many millions
that were invested in the rich kaw Valley
were lost
Evolved within the State of Kansas a
tide of waters descended which not only
hurled death and destruction upon its own
river towns and property, but unloaded
vast volume of water on Missouri and the
South. there to work further havoc and
Z ruin.
Y KAw oUTDoES ALL
ITS CONTEMPORARIES.
It is true that all the rivers Of the North
and Northwest were filed to flood-stage by
the abnormal rainfall. but the Kaw. a ram
pant, mile-wide stream, coursing eat as
a great wall Of water. outdid all COMPETE
tors. Imagine a wild mountain torrent as
wide as the Mississippi averaging from if
teen to twenty feet in depth, charging a
fertile valley. its current churning it inc
Titan dance Of waves.
Such was the Kaw. Such was the noun
tain Of water that was hurled upon Topeka
Such was the torrent poured upon Kansas
nd rrA oh he la-
packing-house center, one of the largest
railroad distributing points, and one of the
largest manufacturing districts in the Unit
ed States.
The haw, normally little more than the
st. Louis River des Peres, a creek where
. boys may roll their trousers to the knee
Rand wade with safety. in one burst Of fury
wreaked more damage than the concerted
wrath Of the Gulf of Mexico did upon Gal
weston The visitation did not come SO sud-
denly as at Galveston. nor did it rend with
such violence But in dollars, the Kaw will
have cost more than the tempest, and when
any clear idea can be obtained of the loss
of life, it is not the least improbable that
the river will exceed in this tragic ASPECT
of the comparison.
The first reports did not exaggerate in any
particular, save regards the loss of life
at Topeka. In the matter of material DAM
age wrought, the calamity was even un-
Gerestimated.
TRAFFIC WITH THE
WEST ENTIRELY CUT OFF.
The traffic facilities of the entire central
est were crippled. The railroad terminals
q every road of Importance entering Kan.
sas City were submerged The Rock Island
the Union Pacific, and the Santa Fe, thres
4 of the chief transcontinental lines, were
washed out for miles. all the way practical.
ly from Kansas City to Topeka. and al
minor points further west. The Santa FL
managed to run a few passenger and mai
trains over the Missouri Pacific to Ottawa
there to reach the Santa Fe temporary
branch. The tracks Of the Missouri Pacific
into Kansas City practically were the only
ones available after two days of the food
Seventeen bridges over the Kaw were de
stroyed. and ell those spanning the Mis-
souri, between Kansas City and Sedalia wer,
rendered unsafe.
The loss occasioned to traffic is beyont
computation. The situation is not yet IN
raveled in this respect. Add the fact thai
the large shops Of the Missouri Pacific, tn
Santa Fe and the Union Pacific, that TIL
freight depots Of a score of roads; that al
the terminals. including Union Station. ar,
some of them undermined, some of then
weakened, and some of them utter wrecks
Consider that thousands of cars are eithe
fioated away or their contents ruined. anC
that the thousands of tons of freigh
stored In the depots is water soaked.
This is in Kansas City alone. and ha
TO 90 with the railroads alone. Take in thel
the packing plants. the largest in tn.
country and the world, six million pound
of meat under water, thousands Of cattl
drowned. and the great buildings compris
ing the plants soaked and many lettering
Then the other industries. Suppose tha
such a wall Of water poured through Mil
Creek Valley IN St. Louis, surrounding
structures like the Cupples block. and as
sailing all Of the multitude of other ware
houses. factories and foundries that hove
near the transportation center. Should tina
occur. st. Louis would be in the plight o.
Kansas City.
THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND
ARE RENDERED HOMELESS
Eight thousand persons were rendered
homeless at Topeka: 10000 in Kansas City
Kas.: 5000 in Kansas City, No., and hal
as many in the numerous smaller town
that cluster along the Kaw and its tribu
taries In Kansas and along the Missouri II
Kansas and Missouri.
Imagine torrent eighteen feet deer