The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-06
|LEVEES GIVE TO IF FLOOD St, s'.,s Feels Force of |.e Waters. 37-FOOT STAGE EXPECTED On Illinois Side Much Damage
 Has Been Done. Thousands of Acres of Fertile Lands Are overfowed-west Granite,
 Town of 2,o0o Inhabitants,
 Under Water.
37-F0OT STAGE EXPECTED

St. Louis. June 5.-The terrific force and the destructive magnitude of the great flood that is sweeping down the Mississippi are steadily increasing ir volume and are now being felt in St. Louis and vicinity to an alarming extent
 At 2 o'clock tonight the stage had reached S4.2 feet. a rise of or foot since [ o'clock this morning. Government Fore caster Bowie tonight issued a bulletin predicting a stage of 35 feet by tomorrow noon, 36 feet by Sunday and s7 feet by Monday.
 The Mississippi north of the mouth of the Missouri is rising still but the ra- pidty of the rise has been diminished be- cause of the breaks in levees. The great Shy levee which extends for miles along the Illinois shore from Hannibal north- ward. broke today and the waters devas- tated thousands of acres of fertile farm ing lands. Possibly some lives may be lost but no deaths had been reported up to o'clock tonight.
 Later fin the day the flood forced a pas sage through the levee at Madison III. just north of St. Louis. This levee is fifteen miles long and for days men have been hard at work endeavoring to strengthen it. Carloads of bags of sand and ell other available material were dumped in but the flood washed out the filling and the break Is constantly widen ing. West Granite. a town of 2.00O people. Is under water. St. Louis Buildings Vacated. In St. Louis. the buildings along the river front have practically been aban- doned as the first floors are over a foot under water which stands tonight two feet deep on top of the steamboat levee Venice, H., has been under water. for two days. ..-,s,sss sss.a.A,, q, ..,.--
 Tn South St. Louis fuiiy 100 families living near the mouth of the river Des Peres were forced to leave their homes today. Men and in some cases even wo-
 men, worked to their waists in the swirl ing waters. Many families had remained in their homes even after the water had risen several feet deep in the first floors. but today were driven forth.
 A Burlington switch engine, having on board switching crew of four men, toppled from the undermined track into five feet of water north of the Merchant s bridge today. The men felt the engine sinking and leaping into the water, swan ashore.
 The interrupted train service has very materially improved although more or less delay attends their running. Owing to the fact that portions of the Wabash Missouri Pacific. Missouri, Kansas and Texas, Chicago and Alton and Santa Fe tracks iS7e under water west of St. Louis, the Missouri Pacific has temporarily be- come the main outlet to the West
 The St. Louis and San Francisco, run ming to the southwest has not been in convenienced by the flood and is running regularly. The St. Louis, Iron Noun tain and Southern, running to the south along the Mississippi has not been reach ed by the high water and traffic is not i'm peded. The Burlington trains running west are using the Wabash tracks to St. Peters where they connect with their owr line.