Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-06-04
SUFFERING
Heavy Rains in the Kaw Water.
shed Result in Much Loss
and Discomfort.
MANY OF THE .HoMEs FLOODED
Town Property, Oil Fields and Farm
Lands Suffer from the Excess
i've Dampness.

Kansas City. Mo-. June Further
rains in southern Kansas the past IL
hours have caused caused conditions
in the valley of the Neosha and Cot
tonwood rivers 70 become the worst
The streams are higher than at any
time in the past 20 years and are stil
risinc
Hundreds OF thousands of dollars
worth of bridges have been destroy
ed and growing crops greatly dam
aged. But two lives. a woman and a
damage was wrought in the great oil
fields of southern Kansas.
Confined to Raw.
Kansas City, June 4-The heavy
rains OF the last few days in Kan
sas are confined mostly to the Kaw
watershed. AS a result the valley
of the rivers which flow southeast are
flooded. The tributaries of the Kaw
are not dangerous. The worst floods
are in the NeoshO, Cottonwood, Verdig-
ALo anu AANC1Ss
All creeks through this section are
flooded and impossible. The rivers
all drain to the southwark. Reports
from Chanute, Humboldt, NeOShO
Falls and Strong City, EmpOria and
Cottonwood Falls say the rivers are
flooding their valleys and doing great
damage to town property, oil fields
and farm lands throughout their en-
tire lengths i'll Kansas.
No Danger at Kansas City.
Independence reports similar condi-
tiOns along the Verdigris, while the
Walnut the Little Arkansas and the
Arkansas are out of their banks and
still rising. The rain fall in the Kaw
river watershed i'll Kansas is described
by the weather bureau officials as be-
ing generally moderate To heavy"
They do not expect that any trouble
Will result from the river at this point
The river is rising slowly, but unless
there is n very heavy rain fall in the
watershed dangerous water stage
will not be reached.
People Driven from Their Homes.
At EmpOria the Cottonwood rose
three inches an hour and is now as
high as last year, when Ii reached the
highest water mark ever known. The
Cottonwood is still rising rapidly. 1t
has broken across the bottom lands
between the river and Dry creek,
which is three miles south of the rIY-
er and runs parallel with the river for
several miles. Emporia is too high to
no I,r1t I,n Los
inundated and many negroes driven
out. AT Fort Scott and vicinity the
flood of six weeks ago has been re-
peated. The Marmaton there Is a
mile wide and has cut off BelltOwn. 81
suburb, where several hundred persons
have been driven from their homes.
Heavy Loss on Household Goods.
AT Newton the flood is receding. Not
less than 100 homes are uninhabitable
as the result of the high water. In
some cases the foundations OF houses
were undermined and the walls dam
aged. The loss on household goods IL
heavy, while scores of barns and 9th
er small buildings were washed away.
Three street bridges were swept away
and every bridge i'll the city was dam
aged and is unsafe. The flooded Sec
tion covers an area of not less than
thirty blocks. There were several in
stances of conspicuous bravery dis
played by rescuers. Not a train from
east or south has reached Newton for
thirty hours. At Strong City the wat
er is running through the main street
and the first floors of the Postal Tele-
graph building. the Bank of Strong
City and several business houses have
been invaded.