The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-01
DESOL ALTON REI1NS WHERE
ONCE STOOD HAPPY HOMES
Flood Situation the Valley of the Ka River Such Appa
the StOutest Heart.
Angry City Topeka
of Lives Lost

prom said the desoIate condition Of the
country on the north side is worse than
anything he ever heard of. The loss of
life from drowning alone, he said, will
hardly be covered by $50, without in
Guiding the large number Of missing
Chief of Police Missing.
Chief of Police Golf and his family
are among those not yet accounted for
They may be among those on the tops
Of the buildings. but this is hardly
probable, as their house was in the di-
rect path Of last nights fire
Isaac StandOn succeeded in reaching
the 3 street Baptist church with 500
pounds Of provisions. He was two hours
in making the trip of not much more
than mile. Half a dozen persons are
in an abandoned street car just north
of the bridge, and have been there for
thirty hours but will be rescued.
Eighteen people were rescued late this
afternoon from a house at 1908 North
Monroe street. From this place the
current is now swift and after great Ia
Dor the place was reached man
who has just returned from the scene
Of the flood says he could see as many
as ten persons hanging from trees near
the SardOu avenue bridge at the foot Of
Walden. Santa Fe employees, started
out in boat early today to rescue a
Russian whom they saw on top OF a
house not far from the bank of the
river. They got the Russian in the
boat which Immediately capsiZed- The
three found resting places in trees,
where they remain al this time. An
other party is trying to rescue the three
At 3 o'clock the water had Teceded eX-
actly one and One-half inches an hour.
Before this a rise of an inch had been
reported The gauge went up and
down all afternoon until at 3 O'Clock a
fall set in.
Rescued by Cable.
At O'Clock the water had left the
first floor Of the Rock Island general
offices. but was yet six feet deep just
outside the building. 1t was then that
a gang of telegraph linemen succeeded
in getting heavy wire cable stretched
across the top Of the pOntoOn bridge a
large hand dipper was attached to this
and used to take large quantities OF
provisions to those who were not yet
rescued. The first flood victim to be
rescued by means of the cable was the
Rev. A y. Pearson. pastor Of the
North Topeka English church. Mr..
Pearson said:
We spent three days on the top Of
our house We were fairly warmly
dressed but had only two loaves OF
bread for our family Of four during
that time All day Saturday and to-
day we had nothing to eat. Our SIT
uation was desperate and extremely un-
comfortable. but we at no time lost
faith i'm the ultimate ability Of our
friends to rescue us Yesterday my
wife and children were rescued Today
my turn came, and I cannot begin to
tell how thankful am
w N KeDpard and wife. aged people.
were rescued at 4 o'clock. They were
so numb that they could not feel and
had 10 be knocked down into the wa
ter before the men could reach them.
They were standing close together IN
the attic of a house. and so severe had
been their experience that their minds
gave way under the strain They can
not recover
Mother and Child Drowned.
A Mrs. Anderson and her year-old
baby have been for three days in a
tree in plain sight Of people who were
powerless to rescue them. The mother
clasped her child close in her arms and
managed to brace herself against a
limb in a reasonably secure position.
For three days she kept UP the battle
for life At O'Clock her rescue was
very near but she lost consciousness.
Both mother and child fell into the
water and We're drowned. being imme-
diately drawn under by the current
Harvey Parsons. a local newspaper
man. had a thrilling experience. He
took d boat Friday night and made his
way TO house in the hope Of making
some rescues. A woman and her baby
names unknown. were in the house. and
Parsons took them into his boat. They
had proceeded only a short distance
trived to get himself and the others up
into a tree and there they remained
until o'clock this afternoon. when
rescued They were brought to a place
of safety, but viii probably not sur
vive.
Two small steamboats, We're put into
service at 4-30. one from Ottawa and
the other from st. Joseph. By this
means the work Of rescue was greatly
facilitated. One of the boats brought
eighteen people over and landed them
near the dessicating plant They
fioated down half a mile and became
lost north of the Melan bridge. This
was before the flood had reached its
height
Fourteen people had entered
stranded street car. but soon had to
seek the roof Standing in this I'M
certain position for twenty four hours.
their condition was desperate until
they were taken off at 4:45 with the
aid of the big cable.
Dramatic Story.
3. l. Wise. former city engineer. was
dragged from the hay loft of a barn.
He was unconscious and numb from
cold. but soon revived. His story Of
the beginning of the food is dramatic.
BY aid of the small steam and gasoline
launches forty men in South Garfield
park were rescued. They had perched
themselves in trees. They had had
nothing TO eat for thirty-six hours
These men were in q fenced grove.
where they could not keen a close
watch of the situation All they could
see was the angry water rushing about
among the trunks of the trees. One Of
the men said they could not hear each
Other speak above the roar Of the wa