Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-06-13
ARE EATING
AWAY The LEvEES
St. Louis Beginning to Fear the
Full Force of the Rising
Mississippi.
MADISON LEvEE BREAKS
City of Venice, 49,, Is Already Deserv'
ing of Its Name-some Denizens
Are Living in Empty Box Cars,
Kindly Loaned by Railroad.

Qnn the HdS llluut VI hV hcDN
is sweeping down the MISSISSIPPI
steadily increasing in volume, sur
mounting and demolishing barriers Oh
protection and greedily tapping at
property and reaching for lives as IL
resistlessly extends farther y the
ordinary river confines, Is now being
felt in st. Louis and vicinity to an
alarming extent.
The Hood is the one absorbing topic
of conversation, n throngs or people
congregate upon the Eads bridge and
fill the street approaches to the hooded
levee TO view the torrent OF nude wa
ter that is swirling past st. Louis and
spreading out over the lowlands with
devastating energy.
Government Forecaster Bowie last
night issued q bulletin predicting a
stage of thirty-five feet by today noon;
thirty-six feet by Sunday, and thirty
seven feet on Monday.
The Mississippi north OF the NOUN
of the Missouri is rising still, but the
rapfdity Of the rise has been dimin-
ished because of the breaks in the le-
wees.
The great Sny levee, which extends
for miles along the Illinois shore from
Hannibal northward, broke yesterday,
and the angry waters went rushing
through the creyasse to devastate thou
SdIlhS Vi dCICo VI A"AiAiiAo A"AN'
Possibly some lives may be lost, but
no reports of loss of life were received
up to a late hour last night.
Madison Levee Goes Out.
Late in the day the flood forced "a
passage through the levee at Madi-
son, H., just north of st. Louis. This
levee is fifteen miles long, and for days
men have been hard at work endeavor-
ing to strengthen it, but the river
found it's weak point in a sewer way
and the water broke through like q
geyser. Carloads Of bags of sand n
all other available material were hur-
ried to the break and dumped in, but
the force of the flood washed out the
filing and the break constantly widen
ed. West Granite, q town of 1000 peo-
pie, Is located in a depression etwee
the levee and q railroad embankment.
| Ample warning had been sounded, n
the inhabitants a sought safety when
the deluge came. 1t is believed all es-
capped, but the town is under water.
Like the ancient city of Venice, the
streets of Venice, H., almost opposite
st. Louis, are waterways, n the In
h%abitants go about in boats. Venice
was the first town in this vicinity to
feel the full force Of this flood, and has
been under water for two days. There
is reason for grave fears that the wa
ters may break through additional
levees and railroad embellishments and
rush down upon East st. Louis, infiict-
ing by the suddenness of the on
slaught very great damage.
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 steamboat
levee.
Levee denizens are preparing for the
worst.
Refugees Live in Box Cars.
Hundreds of refugees from Wesv
Granite last night sought shelter In
freight cars on the Wabash tracks. In
anticipation of such an emergency the
Wabash had trains of empty box
cars shunted in on h side
tracks, and these cars, together
with cars on other roads In
the vicinity, last night formed shelter
for over 700 families. Each family has
the use of a car. Many families have
succeeded in saving some of their fur-
niture, and hurriedly made themselves
as comfortable as possible in their novel
temporary homes. Long trains of In
habited freight cars are also on the
siding at Venice and Madison.
At midnight the river stage regis
tered 34.6 feet, q rise of almost 5 inch
es since I o'clock. Another break &C
Cured at midnight in the levee at West
Granite and fifty families living in the
vicinity were forced to flee for their
lives. The entire town Is now mum
dated.
The situation on the east side of the
river is reported as very critical.
Breaks in levees and railroad embank-
ments are expected hourly.
SO far no loss of life has been re-
ported.
A small break occurred last night In
the Chicago and Alton ~embankment at
Mitchell, twelve miles above East st.
Louis, and 1000 acres of LAND were
flooded.
louisiana, Mo-, June 6.-The Sny
Ievee broke opposite here at 10 O'Clock
yesterday morning.
one hundred thousand acres of farm
land protected by the levee probably
will be flooded. 1t is estimated h loss
es resulting will aggregate millions.
Quincy, H., June 6.-The Mississippi
Is rising from Keokuk to st. Louis
and three levees north Of here have
broken, flooding nearly 10000 acres OF
land under cultivation, with mucf
more threatened. Two hundred fam
lilies have moved out in skiffs, and TIT
crop loss Is estimated at $500, 900, to say
nothing of the damage to homes anC
loss of stock.