The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-06-02

CHEYENNE, WyO-, May d.
Hon. W. J. Bailey. Topeka. Kan:
Am inexpressibly shocked at reports Of
dreadful calamity that has befallen To-
peka If there is anything the federal
authorities can do. of course let me know.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
The message reached the governor at II
o'clock this morning.
EPIDEMIC is FEARED.
That sickness will follow the food as
soon as the river goes down is the general
belief OF. all the physicians. The great
hollows in North Topeka cannot be drain
ed without pumping and the physicians
are agreed that the city should compel
all property owners whose land will not
be self-drained to do so.
There is considerable scarlet fever and
measles scattered about in the half sub
merged houses in North Topeka and in
some of these the people are still unres-
cued. They are in a most deplorable con-
dition. The spread of these two diseases
will undoubtedly follow the fall of the
water Even should the hollows be drain
ed the walls of the houses will be damp
for weeks and this will aid in the spread
of disease
one physician. who was seen yesterday
and asked regarding this phase of the
matter. said:
1T will undoubtedly cause great deal
of sickness, but that is not a thing which
is bothering me at present. l have no
doubt, however, but that to the devasta-
ton and destruction of property will be
added the horrors Of many kinds Of ma,
lgnant fevers."
sELF-PossEssEo.
1t was pitifui to note the condition
some Of the refugees were in when they
were received on the South Side Moth
ers with little ones held firmly I'm their
arms sobbed with nervous dread, while
they shivered and shook with fear and
cold Taken altogether. though there
was not such display Of emotion as one
might look for under such circumstances
Most of those who came over were quiet,
and some OF them were entirely self-pos-
sessed In the case of many of them it
seemed that the magnitude OF the disaster
and the troubles through which they had
gone had numbed their sensibilities. They
were crushed by the weight of the catas-
trophe; SO cast down that they had no
words with which TO give expression TO
their feelings.
Martha Clutz is q little eleven year-old
girl who was brought over during the
afternoon, The chiId's feet were bare.
water-soaked. and blue with cold In her
hands. pressed against her bosom. she
clutched pieces Of bread and cheese
Where do you live" asked the man
who was carrying her TO the ambulance
which took her Up town
"On the North Side. was the naive re-
ply OF the little one.
one woman who vas assisted over the
pontoon was leading a water spaniel by
a string She acted as though she were
afraid the water spaniel would get wet.
Many Of the women feared that they
.ou.u ne separated from their children
whea they reached the pontoon The
children would be taken BIZ men who
started for the south end with them. and
others helped the women along. Mrs
VII HansR came over in boat with her
TWO children but did not know where her
husband was, and she worried for fear
that she would be separated from her
little ones. one Of them was sick. She
had been through a terribly trying expe-
rieuce, J. f. Wilson. OF the wens-Fsrgo
Express company. who helped her on the
North Side. said that she had been six
times under water before she was brought
She looked ii. too. Her clothes were fair
y soaked Mrs Hanan seemed TO fear
that she was making q good deal Of
trouble
Il am not 50 very heavy myself" she
said. ALPHABETICALLY. TO the man who Vas
assisting her across the pontoon. but my
clothes make me seem so. They are just
soaking wet" She is a little slip OF a
woman-snd the last woman her escort