Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-03-31
WORST FLOOD
IN YEARS
HALF OF INDIANA UNDER WATER
AND SITUATION GROW
ING WORSE.
Ten LIVES ARE PROBABLY LOST
TERRIFYING POSSIBILITIES CON-
FRONT THE CITIZENS OF
INDIANAPOLIS.
WHOLE CITY MAY BIZ fNGUlftD
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN DIFF.
FERENT SECTIONS DRIVEN
FROM HOME.

indianapolis, March 29.-The food
I'm Indiana, incident To the thawing OF
the heavy SHOWS of the winter and
the almost unprecedented heavy rains
of the past few days, has gathered
force and volume with the passing of
the hours, and it is hardly an exag-
~geration to say that half the state is
under water, while nearly all OF it is
suffering from the effects OF the sub
mergence. In Indianapolis the situa-
ton is replete with terrifying posi-
bilities.
Anderson and Marion are the
points of most desperate emergency,
though the situation is extremely
critical at many other places. Be-
tween Gas City and Marion five mem
bers c: the family Of James Martin
are bloodhound in their home, and
heroic efforts have been made to res
cue them. but in vain.
Possibly ten lives may be lost. At
Anderson SEQ families have been
housed in the old armory after being
Driven From Their Homes,
and at Marion the same number Of
families have been cared for by more
fortunate residents. Portland and
Vincennes report losses of s100,00
each fer the cities and their contigu-
Gus territories. and at the former
place two men were drowned.
Thirty Bridges were carried out in
Knox county. Noblesville's water
works plant is six feet under water,
and a railroad bridge has been car
ried away, with four lives lost. Fort
Wayne, Terre Haute. Wabash, Lo-
gansport, Lafayette, Richmond in
fact, nearly all the principal cities
and towns of the state-report food
situations equal to or exceeding the
worst previously reported, with the
situation hourly growing worse.
railroad and interurban traffic in
the state is practically at a standstill.
Many of the leading railroads, includ-
ing the Pennsylvania, the Evansville
& Terre Haute and parts of the Big
Four, the Lake Erie & Western and
the Southern, have annulled their
schedules indefinitely.
Several cities are in darkness,
water having quenched the fires of
the electric plants and power plants.
and many industries have beer forced
to shut down. The loss to farmers,
especially in the bottoms, is heavy.
In Indianapolis areas of residence
districts are covered with water, hun
dreds of families driven from their
homes, street a service paralyzed
and all the suburban towns complete
ly cut off.
Many residences have been swept
from thei, foundations and demol-
ished. White river, which subsidized
somewhat, with overlooking banks
early yesterday morning, is now ris-
ing at the rate of two inches an hour.
Fall creek, which runs through the
northern section of the city, broke it's
banks and poured a stream five feet
high out on a thickIy settled district.
Wabash, White and other smaller
streams are devastating thousands Of
acres in Southern Indiana, and at many
points are five to ten miles wide. The
Ohio rose fifteen feet Saturday night,
and has inundated Lawrenceburg
and other portions of Dearborn coun-
ty. At Wabash City miles of bottom
land are flooded and hundreds Of
homes depopulated. Fears are en-
tertained that, as White river is In
creasing its floods and force so rap
idly, the entire city of Indianapolis,
with its 250.000 population, will be en-
quilted within a few hours. The po-
lice force is now guarding the vari-
Gus bridges, plotting the people over
and warning them in various ways.
The police force being inadequate,
the resident companies Of the state
national guard have been called out
to assist the police. At 10 o'clock
last night one Of the large and sub
stantial bridges of the river broke
loose and was swept away.
There has been much suffering and
many deaths may result from expos
ure. One hundred and eighty feet Of
1.-THE levee along the Wabash river
near Oaktown gave way and the
water rushed through. covering thou
sands OF acres and driving hundreds
Of people from their homes. Many
left just In time to IA their lives.
and much live stock was destroyed.
Michigan Still Under Water.
Detroit, March 29.-About the best
that can be said Of the food situation
is that at many Of the affected points
conditions are no worse. This Is not
true. however. Of Bay City and Sag
NAV. The neighborhood Of the two
cities yesterday supplanted Grand
Rapids and the Grand river as the
center Of the greatest danger. The
cold spell asted as a check on the
I6ood. but a rise in temperature indi-
Gated for to-day makes the outlook
anything but promising.
At South Bay City the water has
risen beyond all records for twenty
hve years.