The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1903-06-04
Every Building in Eddyyille Was
Under Water.
(From Mondays DaiIy.)

/
ed Eddyville. The entire town is un-
der water, and comparatively few
houses have not been invaded by the
unwelcome element. On Main street
the water is from two to seven feet
deep and all the stores have suffered
terribly Even the new banking
house of Manning & Epperson is
flooded The school house, the
/ churches, the city headquarters and
other public places have been turned
into houses of refuge, and many Of the
sufferers have gone to the farm
houses back in the country, or to
friends in other towns. The work of
Erescue has gone manfully on by will
ing hands, and the town has done it.
self proud in the way it has thus far
cared for all of its citizens. Very lit
tie business is being transacted,as the
only means of transportation through
the streets is by boats. Some of the
dwelling houses in the lower parts of
town have as high as ten feet of water
in them. All light buildings have
been carried away by the swift cur
rent and the houses in the flooded dis
trict have all been badly damaged.
Families on the higher ground have
moved most of their belongings up
stairs and are ready either to move up
entirely or leave the premises. The
wagon bridge and the Iowa Central
bridge were still intact Sunday even
| ing but both were expected to go out
at any time. The Iowa Central had a
big gang of men at work, doing all
they could to strengthen the weak
places. The water was almost up to
the floor of the wagon bridge. The
settlement across the river from Ed
/ dyville was wiped completely from
the map, and almost as far as eye
could reach was nothing but sea of
water. The flood covered the Iowa
Central tracks as far as quarter of a
mile from the depot, and north OF
town was held in bounds by the Rock
Island grade. Below the Rock Island
| depot, however, the water overran the
track, rendering traffic too dangerous
| to be attempted
Many Visit the Town
Fully two thousand people from
Oskaloosa took advantage Of the ex-
cursions on the Iowa Central Sunday
to visit Eddyyille and see the flood.
| Despite the fact that no announce
| ment of the excursion was made until
| Sunday morning and notwithstanding
the incessant rain that poured all day,
every train was loaded. After reach
| ing the high land this side of Eddy
vile the excursionists had to get off
and walk nearly a mile down the Rock
Island tracks to get to the town site.
1t was a muddy, disagreeable tramp,
but almost the entire distance was
lined all day with double line of UNI
brellas and men and women in rubber
boots. Nearly every attendant, de-
spite their efforts to keep dry, was
soaked to the skin, but the sight was
worth the soaking, and never did a
crowd put up with unpleasantness
with better grace.
A Peculiar Incident.
When the water reached the lime
house in the Riggs lumber yard, the
lime began to slack rapidly. The heat
became so intense that an explosion
followed The structure was set on
fire and consumed by the flames in
the midst of the surrounding food.
The electric light plant is high and
dry, and most of the town is illumin-
ated as usual The carbons in the
lamps are repuaced by men in boats.
All stock from the low lands has
been driven back to the hills. A
BILLY goat" was rescued from a wat
cry grave Sunday afternoon by two
men in a boat. The animal was about
| starved and made little resistance to
the proceedings. AS soon as he struck
| a solid foundation he went to work on
the first green grass in sight, and STUFF
fed himself in contentment.
Wilbur Bass, John Bradbury and
Robert Walton. clerks in the Oska-
loosa postoffice, carried down lot Of
mail to Postmaster Delong. 1t was
| welcome arrival, as the town had been
isolated for nearly two days.
Desperate efforts were made to save
several pianos from the floods. One
was blocked up against the cehing,
and at last reports the bottom was on
ly few inches above water. Another
| was set up on chairs, but in Few
hours was floating about the room.
The Fasnaugh & Hull store, an old
land mark, familiarly known for years
as the Manning & Epperson store, has
about two feet of water in it. In or
der to save about car load OF Hour
and other goods hole was cut
through the ceiling and the goods ele-
vatad by ropes and baskets into the
/ second story.
Suffering among the people will be
1 unavoidable until the waters subside.
All means of preparing food have been
crippled and the work OF getting sup
plies to the town is most difficult. Out
side help will be necessary and Oska-
loosa should act with generous hand.
4 number Of serious cases OF sick
ness have already developed as re-
isult Of exposure and excitement incl