Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-06-04
At MOUTH OF THE KAN.
Kansas City and Vicinity Passing
Through the Worst Flood
In Its History.
MANY HUMAN LIVES HAVE Been LOST.
Millions of Dollars Worth Of Property
Destroyed and the Railroads Temper
arily Put Out of Bnsiness-The City
Without Water supply and Thousands
Rendere Homeless.

ers nearly fosr feet above the disas-
trous level of 1881 and their swollen
tide spread over IL square miles Of
the city and its suburbs, Kansas City
is enduring the wcrst food of it's his
tory.
Twelve bodies have been counted as
they floated past. In nearly every in
stance they were lying across pieces
of wreckage. On the roof of a cabin
that came swirling down could be
seen the body of a woman and her
child.
The financial loss has been increas-
ing all day, and lids fair to continue.
The heaviest loss is at Armourdale,
where the losses to the packing indus
try and Others are placed conservative
ly at So, 500, 200. Argentine, another SUI
burb, has suffered losses estimated at
$4,000 Other losses, which can mot
be estimated, will increase the total
very materially.
City without Water supply.
T~wo-thirds of Armourdale is under
water. Over forty-tive hundred peo-
pie in this suburb found safety in the
the higher part of the town. All
bridges over the Kaw river are down,
and the only communication with Ar
mourdale is by boat.
Kansas City is without a water sup
ply, the flood having disabled the
pumping station, and the utmost care
is being taken that no fires shall
break out. Even a small fire, it is
feared, would start a conf1agration.
The city is blockaded with trains
unable to get out. Not a train went
out Sunday except to the east.
Union Station Useless.
The Union station, by the rise of
the food, is renGered practically use
less. At one end the water was three
feet deep Sunday, and at the other
it was a foot higher. In the baggage
room baggage was fastened to tackle
and suspended in the air out of the
reach of water.
T%wo-thirds of Argentine, a railroad
and manufacturing town on the south
bank of the Kansas river, six miles
from Kansas City, is inundated by ten
to twelve feet of water, and probably
$780, 900 of damage has been done.
Forty-tive of the $500 inhabitants
are homeless and nearly three thou
sand are destitute. Five bridges have
been swept away, all the railroad
tracks and factories are under water
and business is suspended. Various
rumors of loss of life can not be veri-
fed, but an unknown negro woman is
known to have been drowned. She
was clinging to a log which struck the
accumulated wreckage at a bridge, and
was carried under. The Santa Fe's
property loss is very heavy, but can
scarcely be estimated until the flood
has abated. The company has 100
miles of track in the Argentine yards,
and several miles of freight cars stand
submerged.
Freight Cars Floating Away.
Some ears have broken loose from
their trucks and hoated down the riv-
err. The current has left the old chan
mel and has moved south, taking all
the buildings in its path.
The Turner's bridge, three miles
above Argentine went out at 1890
o'clock Sunday morning. It's wreck
age lodged against the county bridge
at Argentine, which succumbed at
noon. The belt line steel railroad
bridge just below the county bridge
fell Immediately afterwards. Then, in
succession. the Twenty-fourth street
bridge, owned jointly by the Metro
politan Street Railway Co. and the
county, and the county bridge at Fifth
street were carried away. The rail-
road bridge was valued at $4,000, and
the other four at $4,000 each, making
the bridge loss $175,000.
Five hundred frame dwelling houses
are under water, and with a further
rise many will be swept away.
Thirty Cars Burning.
Late Sunday afternoon the walls of
a building at the foot of Fifth street
fell with a crash.
At nine o'clock seven fires were
burning in as many places in the rail
road yards, all of them having origi-
mated from lime stored in freight
cars, the lime having become heated
by contact with the water.
At four o'clock the most serious
blaze of the day broke out in some
lime cars standing opposite the west
end of the Union depot and directly
behind the round house owned jointly
by all the roads entering the depot.
The flames ran rapidly from car to
car, and within three hours 80 OF
them had been destroyed. Among
them were several oil tanks which
for a time threatened damage to ev-
erything in their vicinity.
Great Sheets of Blazing Oil.
The wind carried the great sheets
Of flame toward the south and the
current swept patches of blazing oil in
the opposite direction. Fortunately
there was an open space directly
north of this fire which afforded
egress for the burning oil, and it was
carried swiftly out to the river.