Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-03-26
PRIVATE LEVEES GIVE WAY
But the Upper Line Still Withstands the
Awful Strain.
Thousands of Acres ssaquena Counys Fertile Lands Will Be
Flooded BreakForces Concentrated at Maones and
New Will Probably Be Completed
Within Hours.

yicksburg, Miss, March 22,-The
private Ievee protecting the. Hamp
Davis place in Issaquena county gave
way this afternoon, flooding thousands
of acres of cultivated land. The
breaking of tnis leVee will affect Sc
riously weakened leVees extending
from Duvalls to Gholara, distance of
four miles, and news of break in
that line is momentarily expected.
The private levee at the Davis place
also gave way tonight.
Deeson, Miss, March 22.-With a
superhuman strength, the mighty riv-
er has been held the last two days,
and tonight all levees from Friars
Point to this place are reported intact.
With two more days of fair weather
and an absence of rain and wind the
fighters at the weak places say that
danger will have passed and the strug-
gle have been won. At this place
warm sun shone and hardly breeze
stirred The effect of the weather
was to harden the thoroughly soaked
levees and to restore confidence TO
the people. Today was a day of rest
and watching here. Haggard and un-
kempt. worn with the ceaselesss vigil
and toll of weeks past, the tired resi-
dents rested their oars and contented
themselves with watching No work
was performed, but reserves were on
hand ald a close scrutiny was kept
over the weak place at Australia. The
fifty convicts which nave been at
work at Australia for the past week
were returned to the convict farm,
two miles east of here, for days
rest. Clean clothes will be supplied
them and they will be brought back
in the morning to continue work un-
til all danger has passed.
Prayers for the Levees.
In some of the churches near here
prayers were said that success might
reward the unceasing toll of weeks.
In their picturesque way the negroes
also prayed and mumbled as they
walked along the streets. Some of
them importuned the powers that the
work o. the white man might prevail.
The huge boil that yesterday threat
ened to eat away the badly diseased
levee near Australia showed an i'm
provement today. A barrel had been
sunk over it and brush and sacks
placed on top in an effort to choke
the overflow of earth and sand.
large stream is still oozing through
this work, but the flow of earth has
been somewhat checked and the water
coming through is clearer than on
yesterday.
Dams have been built alongside of
the leveee and sipage water collected
in order that the pressure of this
water might stop the hundreds of 9th
er boils that are constantly appear
ing Some success has followed this
work, but in many places streams are
still oozing through the surface of
the water and the danger cannot by
any means be said to have passed.
The river, is still rising about
three-te1ths in "a hours, and this rise
is expected to continue several days
more. The workers say that only
six inches more of water will reach
here.
Hard Work at Malone's.
At Ward Lake. near Sherrard. and
twenty miles above this place, no
work was performed today. The 250
. convicts that have been at work there
for a week were given rest and
this morning they will be sent to Ma
lone's landing, to assist in the com
pletion of the new loop At Ma
, lones landing no rest was taken by
the workers. During the whole of
last night work on the second pro-
lection levee was pushed and this
morning a relief shift took up the
task of packing buckshot dirt Oh the
interior of the new embankment. The
convicts from Ward Lake that will
arrive in the morning will assist the
day crew, and ii is expected that the
new levee will be completed within
forty-eight hours. The first protec-
tion levee is stiIl intact tonight and
It is possible that this bank of sand
may hold through the present critical
period
No chances are being taken by the
engineers, and the siphons are still
at work pumping the water between
the two embankments to minimize the
force Of the water on the new loop
should the river break through the
first protection.
More Confident Air.
More confidence is expressed at
Hill House over the condition at Ma
lones than has heretofore been heard.
In the face of the increased force to
be employed in the morning. and the
rise which is still coming down, the
engineers tonight assert that all dan
ger has passed and that the levee at
the weak spot near Malone's landing
will hold through the present flood
period.