The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-06-12
DANGER POINT PASSED.
St. Louis Fears Destruction of Pro,
crty and Los of Life.

St. Louis Fears Destruction of Prop
crty and Loss of Life.
ST. Lonis, June 6.-The terrific force
and the destructive magnitude of the
great flood that is sweeping down the
Mississippi is steadily increasing in
volume, surmounting and demolishing
barriers of protection and greedily lap
ping at property and reaching for
lives as it resistlessly extends farther
and farther beyond the ordinary river
confines, is now being felt in st. Louis
and vicinity to an alarming extent.
The food is the one absorbing topic of
conversation, and throngs of people
congregate upon Eads bridge and fill
the street approaches to the flooded
levee TO view the torrent of muddy
water that is swirling past st. Louis
and spreading out over the lowlands
with devastating energy.
Levees Break.
At seven o'clock Friday night the
stage had reached 34.2 feet, a rise of Z
foot since seven O'Clock in the morn
ing. Government Forecaster Bowie is
sued a bulletin predicting a stage of IS
feet by to-day noon, SO feet by Sunday
and 81 feet on Monday. The Mississippi
north of the mouth of the Missouri is
rising still, but the rapidity of the rise
has been diminished because of the
breaks in ~levees. The great Sny lev6e.
which extends for miles along the Hi
nois shore from Hannibal n~orthward,
broke Friday and the angry waters
went rushing through the crevasse to
devastate thousands of acres of fertile
farming lands. Possibly some lives
may be lost, but ITO reports of loss of
life had been received up to eight
o'clock Friday night. Later in the day
the flood forced a passage through the
levee at Madison, ILL.,, just north of ST.
Louis. This levee is Is miles long and
for days men have, been hard at work
e~ndeavoring to strengthen it, but the
river found it's point in a sewer way
and the water broke through like a
geyser. Carloads of bs gs of sand and
all other available material were hur-
ried to the break and dumped i'll, bun.
the force of the flood washed out the
filing and the break constantly wi
dened. West Granite, a town of 1000
people, is located in a depression be-
tween the levee and a railroad embank-
ment. Ample warning had been sound
ed and the inhabitants had sought
safety when the deluge came. 1t is
believed all escaped, but the town is
under water.
Building Abandoned.
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 two
feet deep on the top of the steam
boat levee. Levee denizens are prepar-
ing for the worst. All day wagons
have been hauling away the contents
of the flooded stores, excursion boats
are doing a thriving business, being
thronged with sightseers anxious to
make the trip down to the southern
boundary of the city and return to
Eads bridge.
Driven from Their Homes.
In South ST. Louis fully 100 fami-
lies living near the mouth of the
1aiNel LES IeieS were IOfceQ 10
their houses Friday by the advancing
water, and many families living in
house boats fled to land for shelter.
Men, and in some cases even women,
worked to their waists in the swirl
ing waters. with ropes and wire ca
bles, anchoring their homes to the
railroad tracks and to trees on high
ground. Wagons were backed into
the river up to their beds, and fur
niture loaded in. Many families had
remained in their homes even after
the water had risen several feet deep
in the first floors, but the rising flood
tide began to sway the houses
threateningly, and the brave occu-
pants were driven forth.