The Tupelo journal., 1903-06-19
TURNING POINT REACHED.
The River at st. Louis and Vicinity
Reached Its Highest Mark,
37.o5 on Thursday.
THEREAFTER BEGAN TO FALL SLOWLY.
East St Louis, Ill. an Island In a Lake of
Three Hundred and Twenty Square
Miles. Extending From Alton, Above,
to the Bluffs BeIow-Dan9er to City

st. Louis, June 1.-THE Mississippi
has reached its highest mark, and re-
manned stationary Thursday.
Except for a strip of land running
st. Louis is to-day a damp island
in a lake of 800 square miles. With
the exception of deep water in the eel
lars and low places this part of the
city is dry.
The lake is SO miles long, from Al
ton to the bluffs below East st. Louis;
and averages ten miles in width, max
ing its extent 800 square miles.
With the danger of further thrush
of water somewhat lessened the relief
committees are taking up their work
with energy, under the direction of
Chairman Al Keechler, and offices in
the Arcade building are open.
Patrols have been organized for the
dry as well as the flooded parts of
the city, and boatmen report, after
thorough inspection of the flooded
district, that all persons wishing to
leave their homes have been taken
away, and the others are provided
with food.
The crowds on the streets are tran
gull. the relief committees are at
work and have sufficient provisions
for the immediate necessity, and
those in need are being reached as
rapidly as possible.
The levee across the main part of
the city still holds, and the water on
the Relay depot levee has dropped
one inch.
South of Broadway the water has
risen slightly, and is still seeping
through crevices, but at no place has
the street caved in.
From Broadway to Missouri ave-
nue. the low places are filling up, and
most of the residences in that section
have water on the lower floors, hav-
ing been built before the new street
grades were established.
Along the Baltimore & Ohio rail
road e~mbankment, as far as Coles
station, the embankment remains in
tact, with no seeming dangerous
points.
On this levee the water has fallen
and the current has turned toward
the main river. At points where the
current had been against the levee
the water has fallen from two to
three inches, and the levee watchers
are relieved of the strain of the past
three days.
y The shortened line of levees has
been carefully %patrolled, and all
breaks reported were soon stopped,
except that at Hunters switch, on the
Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern rail
road embankment, from which water
reached the northeast part of East st.
Louis at noon.
Two hundred non-residents of East
st. Louis were lined up in front of the
city hall on Main street at four
o'clock Thursday afternoon, and at
the points of bayonets. in the hands
of a dozen members of the national
guard were marched over the viaduct
and the Eads bridge into ST. Louis.
They were not wanted in the Town,
and the best way to get rid of them
was adopted. it was believed, by the
East ST. Louis officials.
The city officials feared that many
of the gang were there for loot. All
claimed that their missions over the
river were for humanity's sake, but
they were not believed. A dozen or
more of them showed an inclination
to resist being sent out of the city.
They were given to understand that
they would be roughly handled, and
they quickly concluded to make the
trip.
The river at midnight showed a
stage of 37.S5, fall of one-tenth Of a
foot in "a hours.