The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-06-27
RIVER is FALLING.
Reached High Mark at 2 O'clock
Sunday.
Still Lacked IL Inches Of Reach
Ing May 80 Record.
CAUSED SMALL SCARE.
North Topeka People Again
Feared an Overflow.
Effect Of Heavy Rainfall in West
Is Felt.
CAUSED SMALL SCARE.

At o'clock this morning the Kaw
river was 16 feet above low water
mark. according to the gauge at the
Rock Island bridge, and was slowly
falling with prospects of a more rapid
decline later in the day. 1t went down
six inches during the night. Sunday
morning at o'clock the water stood
at III feet. just II inches lower than
on May 80, at which time the high
mark of this year, ID feet, was
reached. By noon it had come up
another inch, and occasional a little
scare among the people of North To-
peka. who remember wildly last
years catastrophe. But later in the
afternoon and this morning, failing"
reports came from up the river and
on the feeding streams. and these
with the receding of the water at this
city, set all fears at rest.
No rain bulletins had come to the
weather Office here this morning, and
Director Jennings stated that if there
is any rain in the state it is probably
in the southeastern part, and will
have no effect on the Kaw. He had
however not yet received advices from
all of the points which feed the Kan
sas river. The sky in Topeka pre-
saged a shOwery day.
Readings on the river gauge from
Saturday morning until this morning
by the government service were as
follows:
Saturday. a. m.....11.2 feet rising
Saturday p. m IS. / "a feet rising
Sunday, z a. m. It'll feet rising
Sunday, II noon. ....17.2 feet rising
Sunday, p. m 6.6 feet falling
Monday z a. m. 1910 feet falling
The big rise was occaSiOned by the
heavy rainfall at Concordia, where
7.47 inches of rain fell during last
week, of which six inches fell Satur-
day and Sunday. The reports from
that town show the daily fall for the
week to be this; Monday, 10; Tues
day, 81; Wednesday, .27; Thursday,
10; Friday, .OS; Saturday, 4.97; Sun
day, 1.04. But the precipitation has
been general all over the Kaw river
shed. An average of two inches of
rain has fallen since Thursday night
swelling all of the tributary streams
and causing the big rise.
The Kaw, Republican and Smoky
Hill rivers carried more water Satur-
day night and Sunday than at any
time for forty years, with the excep-
ton of the big flood that swept down
the valley year ago. All day Satur-
day and at night the three rivers
stood at point within six feet of the
highest mark made by last summe r's
great deluge- At Junction City the
Smoky broke over its banks on Sat
urday night and drove a good many
people III the railroad district in the
east part of the city from their houses
Little damage was however done as
many left from fear of being entirely
hemmed in.
Some trouble was caused at Kansas
City The water backed up through
IN sewers into some of the low parts
OF Argentine and ArmourdaIe A few
people left their homes. This morn
ing they returned.
At Topeka no damage is reported.
At no points near the city did the
river get over its banks The only
place in North Topeka at which an
overflow is feared during high water
Is up on the west bank, a distance of
mile and One-half above the railroad
tracks. But there were no indications
OF the stream backing up there on
Sunday and little alarm was felt.
None of the bridges about Topeka
were damaged. The false work still
remaining under two spans of the
Rock Island bridge was there this
morning. The city railway bridge
was badly wrecked by the flood just
before Decoration day, but Sunday
rise affected it very little. Scarcely
any drift is on the river here. al
though the Kansas City reports say
that the debris which the Kaw has
carried into the Missouri within the
past two days is exceptionally great
Much of 1t came in the shape of heavy
logs, and these janmed against the
Rock Island pile bridge until it dam
aged the structure and made it un-
safe for transportation. The bridges
in Topeka experienced no sucI
trouble.
A washout at Lomax caused the
Missouri Pacific to run run trains
through Topeka on the Santa Fe Sun
day A report was published in Sun
days Kansas City paPers stating tina
by Tuesday the river would reach it
highest point of the year. Weather
Director Jennings was asked in regard
to the matter today. Il saw that too
but it was not in the official report
That story is much like the nine foo
rise which was reported as cominl
this way Saturday. It didn't ma
terialize. No" concluded Mr. Jen
nings, there is no reason for makins
such a representation. The storl
was not official, apparently"