The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-06-09
FLOOD DANGER IS PAST.

houses and small wooden buildings
and wooden bridges were washed out.
Aside from the mud and ordinary
water damage this is about the ex-
tent Of the loss.
Deepest at WolfTs.
Just this side of the Holmes .addi-
ton, near Garfield park. the water
was deep and the current swift.
In no case where personal effects
have been moved to the upper stories
of the houses and stores was there
any damage. and the people were pre-
pared this time and had moved their
property.
Really, the deepest water to con-
tend with in Topeka during the flood
was at the Wolff packing plant on this
side of the river, and not in North
Topeka. The water was over six feet
deep on the north side of the plant
early this morning, but all perishable
stuff had been moved to the upper
stories. The Seymour poultry house
had three feet of water to contend
with this morning, but suffered little
damage.
The fear of floating ties from the U.
P. treating plant a ptle up the river
from the avenue on the north side was
unfounded. A few ties that f1oated
down did little harm. The railroad COM
pany had nearly a million ties in their
yards at the plant, and a high flood
would have meant a loss to them of
hundreds of thousands Of dollars in
ties alone, to say nothing of the dam
age to buildings in North Topeka.
No Loss of Life.
Should no heavy rains fall during the
next few days and the river go down as
fast as indications now point, the real
flood damage to North Topeka in 1908
will be confined chiefly to the expense
and trouble of moving goods and per-
sonal effects and the moving back and
cleaning up after the flood has subsid
e9.
There has been no case reported of
personal danger to any one. No stock
was lost. No valuable personal pro-
perty lost or damaged. When one sums
up the total of damage and loss of life
and privations of 1908. one is apt to
regard the flood this year as a weak
reflection of the disaster five years ago.
Men were wading about in all the
flooded streets of North Topeka at
O'Clock this morning. The current at
a few points was swift but the water
was not deep enough to be dangerous.
On every hand there was talk of
moving back into homes and stores
The people of North Topeka are not
discouraged nor disheartened They
have not suffered nearly so much as
they had feared Monday morning.
High Point Reached.
At o'clock Monday afternoon the
government river gauge recroded 26.7
feet: From 4:30 to o'clock the rise
amounted to an inch and one-half:
From to Z o'clock an inch: From
to 1880 o'clock half an inch: From
1880 to o'clock half an inch: From
to $50 o'clock, half an inch: From
$3.50 to 9:10 one-fourt hof an inch:
From 9:10 to 11:15, half an inch:
Fro mills to 1890 one-fourth of an
inch: From 1890 to 2:3O one-fourth
of an inch: From 2:30 to O'Clock
the river remained stationery, at 272S
feet
When this condition was reached
the government observers who have
hardly slept for the past 4s hours,
went home satisfied that the crest of
the flood had passed this point. A
reading taken at 7:45 this morning
indicates 27.1 feet or a fall or an inch
and one-half since the high point was
reached at O'Clock. This measure
ment is about 5.4 feet below that of
the great flood of 1903 which reached
1926 feet.
The water reached such a stage at
4:30 Monday afternoon that the gov
ernment river gauge located at the
south end of the Melan bridge was
abandoned. The current became so
strong that the heavy float which is
used in measuring the stream bobbed
about like cork in swift water. The
high water and the swift current
across Kansas avenue at Crane street
MADE 1t almost impossible to reach the
Melan bridge and the government
gauge. was abandoned and another
esta biished at the Parkhurst-Davis
buildings which answered the n1,r.
pose though the measurements taken
may vary slightly
santa Fe Runs Trains.
The Santa Fe is the only one of the
trunk lines centering in Topeka which
IN IN maintaining any train service into
Topeka. The Santa Fe has Jared well
in keeping it's tracks during the nres-
ent nigh water and pretty good train
service Is being maintained on this
road
On the main line of the Santa Fe
trouble is being experienced in but
two places and both between Topeka
and Kansas City At Lakeyiew a nor
tion or bridge is threatened. This
mas wlthstood the effects of the high
water thus far but is not considered
In good condition for running trains
AS soon as the bridge department can
reach Lake View the bridge will be
put in repair and it is thought by the
Santa Fe officials that within two or
three days this bridge will be in good
condition.
At Holiday Monday afternoon al
rapid rise was reported in the river
point was abandoned This portion of
the Santa Fe was still in service this
morning although the officials have
taken steps for detouring which can
be utilized on a moments notice
should 1t be considered best to ahan-