Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1903-06-01
SMALL BoATsFoUNO USELESS FOR REscI
Large Number Arrive, but Little Gould B
Done with Them.
STEAM LAUNCHES FINALLY REACH SCENE
These Are Able to Face the Current anC
Work Proceeds Rapidly.
GREAT DANGER AT KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
stock Yards and Packing Plants
Under water and Men work All
Might ResCuinE the Live
stock,

stock.
TOPEKA. Kan, May 3l.-There Ia ground
for hope that the worst is passed. SO
treacherous has the Kansas river proved
| itself tonight in the rise of the water, so
slowly as to bo imperceptible the fve-mile
stream is settling into it's rishtful chan
| neil Up and down the official gauge has
fiuttered all day, tonight, however, City
! Engineer McCable issued bulletin giving
out the cheering intelligence that the wat
ers had subsidized to the extent of exactly
| IA inches 1t may be a few hours before
another drop may be noticed With lI5
! to 200 lives lost, millions of dollars of prop
erty destroyed, hundreds of pistol shots as
| signals of distress, blended with the
| ssonizing cries Of unwilling inhabitants of
| tree tops and roofs of houses and the wat
| ers creeping upward and then slowly sub
siding and alternately changing hope to
despair. the capital city has passed the
| most memorable sabbath day OF Its exist
ence. To all this djscomfortlng condition
of affairs was added the presence of cold,
dismal rain. The ardor Of the rescue
work Of the heroic rescuers was not
abated in the least by the conditions which
confronted them for long dreary hours,
|
up to their necks. they worked with might
and main. Tonight they can proudly point
to 300 or more rescued ones who otherwise
might have been swept away in the cur
rent Briefly stated, the present condition
of the food is this:
Summary of Conditions.
One hundred and seventy to two hundred
people drowned
Four-million-dollar loss of property de-
stroyed.
Identified dead, fve floating bodies seen
twenty; people missing, 200.
Houses burned. result of fire in lumber
from stacking lime, probably, 200
Banks collapsed, two
i Wholesale grocery stores flooded, two.
/ Big business blocks almost ready e
\. crumbie hfty. -.
Wholesale Commission houses deserted
six. -
Rock Island trains containing 15o pes
sengers held here by high water.
City water works plant useless.
known drowned
KARL RUPP.
| ORRvILLE RUPP.
TWO RUPP GIRLS
G. II. GARRETT's 5-YEAR-oLD SON.
|
Estimate Loss of Life.
Lsa ling men have made a careful eX
animation of the flood and all its condi
tions and as a result Of their investigation
they give 25O as the probable number o
J lives lost. more conservative estimat'
places the number of dead at 176 Thi
higher number is as likely to be correc
as the lower. The number Of dead II
merely a matter Of estimate. Members o
rescuing parties tell how they saw peop
drop from houses only to be swept ava!
by the flood and others tell of men who
terrified at the approach of the fire, droppe
into the water, where they sank and di
not reappear This estimated number o
! dead does not include the large numbe
classed as missing who cannot otherwis
: be accounted for, neither does 1t includ
the number who are supposed to have los
their lives in the fre In the latter clas
there is absolutely no means of arriving a
even an approximate number of victims
The water is so high and the current .
: strong that all that can be done now
to rescue those in the buildings surrounde
by water. 1t will be at least three day
I, before the correct number Of dead will b
decided upon.
, steam Launches Effective.
Work Of rescuing the victims of tn
food is being pushed forward with Nigol
Better results have characterized the ei
forts OF the organized forces since o'cloc
this afternoon than during all the precee
ing twenty-four hours. Two little steaI
launches are now pufhng up and down tn
river picking up survivors A larger steam
, boat is expected here by a special train o
: the Rock Island within twenty-four hour
II possible TO run the train the boat wi
be brought to a point two miles aboN
the city and there launched.
A trainload OF small boats were in III
today, but they were useless tonight ba
: Ting against the mighty current.
A wire cable has been stretched acroi
the Kansas avenue bridge. To this will
attached a sand dip, and refugees VIII
u brought across in this manner. II Il
U mood does not rise further and those NJ
yet reached can keep their places a fe
hours longer. there need not necessarily
q much larger loss OF life.
Large contributions have already bee
= received for the benefit OF the sufferer
The amount given by Topeka citizens aloi
will aggregate $4,000 To this is TO
added an immense quantity OF clothin
provisions and general supplies. outsi'
d towns have generously offered aid, notah
Io among which is Galveston, Tex
d Tonight the portion OF Topeka not a
y fected by the food is crowded with refuge
,e and people from the surrounding count
i, who have come to witness the nood conc
,r tions.
n There is great anxiety tonight as to VIII
"A tomorrow will bring forth. II the rtv
does not receive any more flood water we
of here the Improvement In the situati
here will be marked II the water rises
Manhattan and Wamego tomorrow will s
m a repetition OF the worst OF the iood seen
u ~ and the distress win be greatly intensihS
ID Either contingency is entirely within I
h. range OF possibility.