The Topeka state journal., 1903-06-18
KANSAS CITY FLOOD.
Interesting Description Of Dis
aster by Secretary Martin.

George w Martin. secretary of the
State Historical society, who made z
visit to the Kaw's mouth, says that
Kansas City Kas suffered far greater
damage from the flood than did North
Topeka. He made "A thorough invests
cation Of conditions i'm Kansas City.
kss.. and writes this regarding the
matter;
II have made a visit to the valley
portion of Kansas City. kas; that ia.
A1mourdale and old Kansas City kas,
Wyandotte being on the hilltop NO
tongue or pen can describe the destruc-
ton there. Compared with it the de-
structiol tn North Topeka Is child
play-nardly circumstance.
"We arrived at the Union depot about
40 O'Clock a. m. This place looks .
little soiled. but il is i'm good shape con-
aideriug- We walked around seNerdt
blocks in the neighbOrhoOd, thence our
the railroad tracks to Hickory and
along this street to Ninth, which We
followed west TO the state line. on the
Kansas side we moved along tenllal
avenue to James street. and along this
to the Kansas river near its mouth
where we crossed i'm "A sSim lOr fiVe
cents. we walked then up Minnesota to
Sixth street distance of two miles
from lhe Union depot. Here we found
plenty of teams to convey people to
Kansas avenue in Armourdale W.
drove south on Seventh to Central
thence west to Tenth. and thence south
across the railroad tracks. the Sl00, ,OOB
viaduct on Seventh over the railroads
being among the wrecks. We landed
OF Usage avenue. We walked east from
a half TO three quarters of a mile eac1l
on Usage and Kansas avenues These
are well built business streets. occupied
py the tracks of the metropolitan street
railway to Argentine We returned by
wagon to Wyandotte where we took q
Missouri Pacific train for the unio;-
denot.
This makes a remarkably good route
Tor seeing everything except the stock
yards That portion Of the route COW
cred hy the Missouri Pacific train gives
one the best showing of the destruction
Of railroad property i'm addition to the
track of the Santa Fe going into the
city. From the crossing of the Union
Pacific north to the mouth of the river,
the wrec<age is CHASTITY, if you can app
ply sucn term TO a mixture of locomo-
tives. cars. boilers. oil tanks. houses, I
steel bridges steel rails twisted is
though they were the tiniest wire. all
mixed up and strewn about like a Childs
piaythings, with the ground for five or
SIX feet deep scooDed from under them.
Usage and Kansas avenue are two
blocks part and run parallel Imagine
two or three good looking frame resi-
denceS on their sides up against CrOs-
hys or Mills fronts, with the same con-
dition ola the opposite side of TOpeka's
main street for a half mile. with mix
ture of an possible debris scattered about,
and Tar1 for pedestrians through like
a lone trail i'm the forest. and men saw
ing and cutting at sections of houses to
get a roadway for teams, and you may
get an idea of the two business streets +
in Armourdale. But YOU viii not. There
has been nothing yet published about the
flood that has given any adequate idea
of what is to be seen. An officer of a
New York charity association says that
Armourdale is worse wrecked city
than TohnstOwn or Galveston.
Tho water was higher al ArmOurdaie
than iu North Topeka. and the current
much swifter than it was here. 1t is
scarcelv a mile and a half across from
the west bluffs of Kansas City, Mo. to
the BLUFFS i'm Kansas City. Kas the
Missouri was much lower than the
Kansas. hence the suction or force Il
that point was greater than elsewhere
in the valley. / am not helittling the
dreadful condition in North Topeka
that cannot be done. but there were
larger interests at Armourdale, more
distractions and there had to be
greater havoc.
In our Eve miles walk we did not
hear complaint. Everybody was
cheerful and Industrious i'm the task oi
cleaning up Those we heard talk said
that Armourdale would be a better
town than ever A man in the wagon
with US said that he had just finished
q house in q lately plated addition
ana the owner of the addition was
Offering 20 return the money to every
purchaser dissatisfied, but he said. he
cannot have my lot; l viii build a bet
ter house on it than the one I lost
How to get the labor and the teams
10 do what must be done is the prob
lem. How to- restore speedily sixteen
bridges. ana three or four viaducts so
as not to lose certain great industries,
planned before the flood. is a source Of
worry. The Missouri side of the city
may thus secure some temporary ad-
Yantages In this frightful destruction
j wish the people of Kansas could com.
Irenend what they might have down
there ON their side of the line instead Of
having it across the line in another
state. About six of the bridges and two
Of the viaducts Will have to be restored
by the county or city and if they nead
any more authority than they have it
ought TO be given immediately
DI course there could be no condition
q the river which would have affected
sucn Hood, but the truth emains that
we have been stealing from the river ever
SINCE settlement We have been encroacl-
ing until the water has not pear the room
= once had ! have been interested in
the flood of 1874 ever since hearing Lucy
D. Armstrong of the Wyandotts nation
talk about if. One enthusiastic Armour
oalian busy in clearing away a pile of
trash as big as "a house. said the couutr.
and the people could stand a flood iize
that of ls44 once every fiftt-nine years
IN "a letter received this morning from
Colonel w. 3. Stone of Galeua president