The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1903-06-04
HUNDREDS OF
LIVES LOST
FLOOD AND FIRE RESPONSIBLE
FOR APPALLING CATASTROPHE
AT TOPEKA, KAN.
Two HUNDRED KNOWN TO Be DEAD
ACCURATE LIST OF THE VICTIMS
CANNOT BE OBTAINED FOR
SEVERAL DAYS.
loss TO PROPERTY $4.OOO.OOO
TWO HUNDRED HOUSES BURNED
AND MANY BUSINESS BLOCKS
ARE DESTROYED.
loss TO PROPERTY S4.OOO.OOO

Topeka, Kan. June with 175 or
200 lives lost; millions of dollars OF
property destroyed. with hundreds of
pistol shots as signals of distress,
blended with the agonizing cries OF Un.
willing inhabitants of treetops and
roofs of houses, and the waters creep
ing upward and then slowly subsid-
ing and alternately changing hope to
despair, the Capital City passed the
most memorable Sabbath day OF its ex-
istence. To all this discomforting
condition of affairs was added the
presence Of a cold, dismal rain.
North Topeka Is a scene of utmost
desolation. Not a square foot OF land
can be seen in any direction. There is
but small chance of any of the resi-
dences being left standing at the end
of the flood period.
There is ground for hope that the
worst has passed. The fiye-mile-w!de
Kansas river is settling back into It's
original channer Last night City
Engineer McCable issued a bulletin
giving out the cheering intelligence
that the waters had subsidized to the
extent of exactly rs inches. 1t may
be some hours before another drop
may be noticed.
The ardor of the work of the heroic
rescuers was not abated in the least
by the conditions which confronted
them. For long dreary hours knee
u L., II, HrT
up to their necks, they worked with
might and main. They can now point
to 800 or more rescued ones who 9th
erwise might have been swept away in
the current. Briefly stated, the pres
ent condition of the food in this;
One hundred ard seyenty-fiye to 200
people drowned
Eight thousand people without
homes.
Four million dollars loss of prop
erty.
People missing 200.
Houses burned, result of fire in lum-
Der yard from stacking lime, probably
200.
Banks collapsed, 2.
Wholesale grocery stores flooded. 2.
Big business blocks ready to crubl.
BILE, so.
Wholesale commission houses de-
serted, s.
Rock Island trains containing $50
passengers held here by high water.
City water works plant useless.
Probably $50 Dead.
Leading men have made a careful
examination Of the food and all its
conditions, and as a result of their N
vestigation they give $50 as the prob
able number of lives lost A more
conservative estimate places the mum
Der of dead at 175 The higher mum
Der il as apt TO be correct as the low,
err. The number of dead is merely 4
matter of guessing. Twenty members
of rescuing parties tell how they saw
people drop from houses, only to Dc
swept away by the flood, and Others
tell of men who, terrified at the ap
proach of the fire, dropped into the
water, where they sank and did moi
reappear.
This estimated number of dead does
not include the large number classed
as missing, who cannot otherwise 5e
accounted Tor. Neither does it in
clude the number who are supposed to
have lost their lives in TIE fire
In the latter class there is absolutely
no means of arriving at even an ap
proximate number of victims. The
water is so high and the current Sc
strong that all that can be done row
is to rescue those in the buildings sur
rounded by water. 1t viii be at least
three days before the correct number
of dead will be known. Work of res
cuing the victims of the food is being
pushed with yigor If the food does
not rise any further and those rot
yet reached can keep their places g
few hours longer there need not neces
sarily be much larger loss of fife
Large contributions have already beer
received for benefit of the sufferers
The amount given by Topeka citizen!
alone will aggregate 100000. To thi:
is TO be added an immense quantity d
clothing, provisions and general sup
plies. Outside towns have generous
ly offered aid notable among them Il
Galveston, Tex.
Last night the portion of Topeka
not affected by the food was crowded
with refugees and people from the sur
rounding country who have come Il
witness the food conditions There (.
great anxiety as TO what the morrow
will bring forth. If the river shall no
receive any more flood water west D
here the improvement in the situation
here will be marked. If the waite
shall rise e. Manhattan and Wamego
to-day will see a repetition of tn,
worst Of the flood scenes and the dis
tress here will be greatly intensified
Either contingency is entirely within
the range of possibility.