The Indianapolis journal., 1903-06-01

Crawling Hours of Horror and
Graphic Stories of Heroism.


TOPEKA. Kan. May 31.-North Topeka
Is a scene of utmost desolation. Not a
square foot of land can be seen in any di-
rection. Thera Is but a small chance of any
of the residences being left standing Sher-
ry, Oakland and the region about the Re-
form School north of North Topeka are
all under the rushing waters, but the sit
uation Is favorable in these places, COM
pared with what North Topeka is under
going. The plan of trying to cross the river
near the remains of the Kansas-avenue
bridge has been abandoned. Boats will be
taken In wagons to point near Auburn
dale. a suburb two and a half miles south
west. They will then be launched and al
lowed to float with the current to points
where people are to be rescued. The plan,
OF course. will involve much danger to the
rescuers. but this is lost sight of in the
desire to help the unfortunate ones. 1t Is
impossible to force the boats through the
current Nearly all the fires have been put
out by the heavy rain which had been
falling nearly all night. The sky was over
cast this morning and the rain bid fair to
continue all day. 1t was soon recognized
that rowboats would be of no use in bat
tling with the current Steam launches
must be secured at once and to this end
rush messages were sent to the superin-
tendent and agent of the Rock Island at
st. Joseph and to Mayor Bergundthal and
the secretary of the Commercial Club, as
follows:
Topeka wants three to six steam
launches and twelve to eighteen clinker-
built rowboats. with men to handle, sent
here by special train at once to rescue
people in North Topeka"
The agent was ordered to load the train
at once, secure a clear track and proceed
to Topeka. The train had to feel its way
as far as possible on the submerged tracks
and then the boats would be launched To-
peka citizens guaranteed all the expenses
Of the undertaking. 1t was expected that
the launches could reach here about 4
o'clock. In which event many of the peo-
pie on the North Side could be saved. Boats
were received here on a number of spe-
cial trains run by the Missouri Pacific and
Santa Fe over circuitous routes, but the
current in the river seemed to be grow
ing more powerful every minute, and they
were powerless To cope with It.
SCANT ENCOURAGEMENT.
Meanwhile the beleaguered ones were
pciHs encouraged dS lar dS pOSSlDle 10 mold
on little longer in the hope that rescue
would soon be effected. The eighty-five peo-
pie in tie Page elevator in North Topeka
were In desperate straits for food, having
had nothing to eat since Friday. At 10
o'clock two boatloads of provisions were
started to them. They had not reached the
elevator after engaging in a hard battle
with the waters for over an hour Expo
| liceman c. N. Capron, just returned from
a fruitless attempt to rescue some personal
friends, said he could make no headway
against the current though he and his COM
| panions put forth the most strenuous ef-
forts with their three-oared boat.
Mr.. Capron said the desolate condition
of the North Side is worse than anything
he ever even heard Of The loss of life
from drowning alone, he said. would he
hardly covered by 15G. without the large
E. L. Baily and E. NJ Alexander Der
formed some Of the most heroic work of the
night In the darkness. about o'clock this
morning, at the greatest risk of their own
lives. they succeeded in reaching one of the
burning lumber yards, and rescued a dozen
women and children. On the way to the
south shore one Of the women tainted from
fatigue and fright. and this all but
| swamped the boat. The men made super.
human efforts, and finally reached the pom
willing hands seized them and carried them
over the bridge to safety.
This Is only one of a hundred thrilling
rescues. The most prominent men of the
| town donned oil skins, and submerged in
water up to their breasts, worked for hours
| in the cold water Children were given
! the precedence in the work Of rescue. and
as result there are scores of families on
| this side of the river to-day with no head
| The women and children were almost fran
| tic In their all-consuming anxiety for the
oHor de- ov,A fof hnr 1.aff al
| of the swirling flood. In the bulletin win.
| dows of the newspapers appeared notices
| signed by scores Of women ash ing that in
| formation be sent to them OF their hus-
bands as soon as their fate was known
The next thing looked forward to with
| agonizing anticipation was the arrival OF
certain in the extreme. the railroads
| were all In helpless condition.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES.
| E. L. Cowdry and his brother are amons
| those who escaped from the flood. wher
asked for story OF his experience Mr.
| Cowdry said:
"Oh. 1t was terrible; 1 can't describe it
/ 1t seems like 1 have lived in a horrible
| nightmare for the past two days. Early or
| Thursday we saw that the water would bt
| high. but with the usual persistence of peo-
/ pie who dislike to leave their own homes
! put of the time as long as possible. 1t came
near being our undoing- Friday the whole
| of North Topeka, 1t seemed. overfiowec
within an hour. The dreadful water came
creeping up faster than the people coult
| get out. We were forced to leave in such q
| hurry that we could not even take blank
/ ct. / am satisfied that our house was de.
/ stroyed, as il was In the direct path of the
/ fire. All i have in the world is the clothins
| that am now wearing. Hundreds Of other:
| are I'm as bad condition as we are"
/ Mr.. Cowdry was unable to make an esti
| mate OF the loss of life. as he left the dan
| gerous locality before the fire was at IL.
/ height.
| H ]. Henry, hardware merchant, frs
| sent his father and mother to safety anC
/ then undertook to remain and keep thei-
| property out Of the hands of looters III.
| managed to escape when the flood came b,
| riding a trusty. horse. AS far as Mr. Henry
| knows. at noon to-day. his stock OF hard
/ ware had been swept away with the build
| ing and entire establishment. These ar,
/ only few OF numerous instances of dis
/ tress Hundreds who were rich are nov
| poor and the poor people in distress
| Many lost absolutely everything they had
/ the savings of years taken by water. Nov
they have only the titles to the water-cov
| cred land.
POLICE CHIEF MISSING.
Chief OF Police Con and his family ar,
among those not yet accounted for. The,