The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-06-12
DANGER POINT PASSED.
G. Iout. Fears Destruction of Prop
erty and Loss of Life.

erty and LOSS of Life.
st. Louis, 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 flood 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.
Leyees 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 35
feet by to-day noon, sc 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 levee.
which extends for miles along the 1lli-
nois shore from Hannibal northward,
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 no 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, H., just north of St.
Louis. This levee is 15miles long and
for days men have been hard at work
e~ndeavoring to strengthen it, but the
river found its point in a sewer way
and the water broke through like a
geyser. Carloads of bags of sand and
all other available material were hur-
ried to the break and dumped in, but
the force of the flood washed out the
filling 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.
buildings Abandoned.
In St. Louis the buildings along the
river front have practically been aban-
doned. as the first floors are over a
loot under water, which stands two
feet deep on the top of the steam-
BOAT levee. Levee denizens are D
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-
hes living near the mouth of the
River Bes Peres We're forced to leave
their houses Friday by the advancing
water. and many families living in
house boats fed 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 deem
in the first floors, but the rising food
tide began to sway the houses
threateningly, and the brave occu-
pants We're driven forth.
IN xOyn,A