Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-06-11
fighting THE TORRENT.
Over Two Thousand Men at Work
Building Dykes Along the River
on the Illinois Side.
DANGER. POINTS RAPIDLY APPEAR.
Thousands of People CongreGate on
the Missouri shore and watch the
Surging Tide from Safe Dis
tance-CaIls for Help Are Multi
plying.

st. Louis, June s.-Over two thou
sand men are fighting the food along
the Illinois shore to-day. All day Sum
day the work was kept up in the hope
of saving as much property as possi-
BILE. AS the waters crept up and
spread out workmen increased their
feverish speed. Skifrs are unable to
stem the current, ana appeals for aid
from the east side can only be re-
sponded TO when steamers are at
hand. Calls for aid are coming from
dozens of places north and south of
st. Charles.
Over one thousand men are kept at
work night and day building dykes,
and Mayor Cook of East St. Louis is
driving from place to place in the
threatened district. giving instruc-
tions to foremen.
Thousands of people congregated at
safe distance on the river front
Sunday and watched the surging wa
ters sweep by. All sorts of wreck
age churned about in the great river,
and occasionally roofs of houses and
Shanty boats came into view.
Two hundred families have left
Granite City for Springfield and other
towns outside of the flood district.
Two thousand more stood upon the
depot platform, yainly clamoring to
be taken to some safe refuge. Two
railroads are still running trains
north and east from Granite City, but
communication by rail with st. Louis
and East st. Louis was cut off Sunday.
One woman was drowned in Madison
and one man was seen to fall from the
top of a house and disappear in the
water at the break in the approach to
the Merchants bridge at Venice. No
names were obtainable. These were
the only deaths reported during the
day.
Early this morning Russell f. Caro-
ner, abroad his yacht Annie Russell,
received a telephone message from
Scott Blewett, secretary of the Amer
lean Car and Foundry Co., saying that
10 Oh llle COilipdhy WIZ
at the Madison works and that $50
others were in imminent danger.
The use of the Merchants bridge
discontinued on account of break in
the east approach.
Breaking leyees have flooded the
towns of Venice, Madison. West Madi-
son and Newport, rendering hundreds
Mt
crushed like egg shells by the swift
torrent when the levee broke.
The Tri-Cities are in darkness be-
cause of the flooding of the electric
light plant.
Granite City is still foot above the
flood, and hard work on the levees and
railroad embankments may save the
town with its big manufacturing
plants.
The stock yards in East st. Louis
are still three feet above the food,' but
no business can be transacted on ac-
count of the lack of railroad service.
Farmers have been prevented from
cutting Ievees south of East st. Louis
bv citizens armed with riot guns. In
| answer 10 ii tdli II OIi Dts hOhlo
Night Chief-of-Police Gillaspy Sunday
sent all the available men he could
spare across the river to assist in
| guarding property and patroling the
| levees. Twenty men were sent over.
The river at two o'clock this morn
ing marked 37.4 feet, the highest point
reached since 1858. The weather bu-
| reau reported the Missouri still rising
! as far up as Hermann, indicating that
| the predicted stage of 3S feet at st.
| Louis would be reached to-day. The
Mississippi above Alton is reported
| stationary.
River men expect that the crest of
| the food will reach st. Louis tonight,
or early tomorrow morning, by which
time the worst will be over and the
decline. it is expected, will be rapid.