The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-26
Dallas Suffers Heavy Loss With Four Deaths and Thous-
 ands Made Homeless
WATERWORKS SWAMPED
 AND C|TY'S LIGHTS OUT
Trestle Falls iWth a Number of sisat. seers and Four People Drown. Thousands of Dollars
 Raised for Victims.

| Dallas, Tex, May 25.-Four lives known to have been lost. more than s1,o0O,oO0 worth of property destroyed. 40O0 people made homeless and telegraph and tele- phone wires west and southwest from the city out of commission are the results of a record breaking rise and overflow of ! the Trinity river last night and today, making the greatest volume of water ever known in this city. The flood at nigh.- fall passed the record made by the rise in 1s66 52 feet. when business houses stu- i ated in what is now poorer residence | section of Dallas were swamped The same section of the city tonight Is under several feet of water and thousands have lost their household effects, while the resi- dence section of North Dallas is cut of from the business part of the city so far as street car lines are concerned.
 Only one line is operating to a part of North Dallas. The water works plant is cut of commission and the light plant Is swamped.
 l Mayor Hay has issued a proclamation closing all business from 7:30 o'clock to- 1 night until o'clock tomorrow morning. Funds were raised this afternoon for the relief of the homeless.
 l Tonight two companies of infantry and one of artillery are patrolling the streets of the city under the direction of the police and no one is permitted to go on the streets without permits from the authori- | tres. In the residence sections the patrol consists of two volunteer citizens from each city block This was made neces- sary by the cripl>s ! of the water works and to prevent if diary fires.
 Madef Leave Town.
 All objectionable characters were given until sundown to leave the city and many of these had to walk out. There is not street light burning in Dallas tonight. | One hundred special policemen were draft | ed and sworn into service for three days These constitute the police reserves.
 The noteworthy feature of more than thrilling interest today happened this morning, when pressed on the north by the weight of debris and probably un- | dermined on the south by the whirling eddies of the main current of the Trin- l ity river, the trestling west of the | steel bridge of the Texas and Pacific railroad gave way and 10 men were thrown into the water in full view ot 10000 spectators that lined the banks ] for a half mile down stream Seven of these men were rescued at great hazard. The names of the three men | drowned are unknown and their bodies l have not been recovered at a late hour tonight. The other death occurred about 4 o'clock this morning when an unknown man was drowned.
 Street car service was greatly ham, pered during the day.
 Reports that many negroes had been drowned cannot be verified as the ut most confusion prevails in that quar- | ter.
 Rescuee By Steamers.
 This morning Sheriff Ledbetter of | Dallas county, accompanied by squadron of deputies pressed into ser | vice the steamer Nellie Maurine and | rescued over 200 people who were | clingng to the tops of their houses 1 and perched in trees at points in West | Dallas and along the Eagle Ford road.
 Tonight service has been resumed on | the Fort Worth, Dallas and Interurban as far Oak Cliff, from which point l passengers are conveyed to Dallas by | boat. The gauge at o'clock tonight | showed 52.4 and at that time the river had begun to recede.
 Reports of rain later tonight, how ever, along the river north of this city give rise to fears that another l flood will follow.
 At a mass meetnf this afternoon l s65, ,000 was raised by personal sub scription. for the aid of those mado | homeless.
 Citizens of Oak Cliff, the Ninth ward. have arranged for a mass meeting to 1 be held in that section of the city ] Vadp nj Ch at tyhi icl .r,1a vrttl | be formulated for the construction of 1 viaduct across the river and inter vening low lands into this city to be l based upon the present stage of water. | If this Is carried out 1t will mean that l the viaduct will be over mile long.